Love, Death, and Reason for Living: Positive Romantic Relationships Reduce Death Anxiety Through Meaning in Life Among Females

While the buffering effect of romantic relationships on existential anxiety has been proposed within terror management theoretical framework, the specific mechanisms through which such relationships mitigate death anxiety remains underexplored. Across three studies ( N s = 138, 130, and 473), we examined whether positive romantic relationships reduce death-thought accessibility by enhancing meaning in life. Results revealed that positive romantic relationships reduced death-thought accessibility (Study 1) and enhanced meaning in life (Study 2). Moreover, mediation analyses indicated that the association between positive romantic relationships and reduced death-thought accessibility was explained by enhanced meaning in life among female, but not male, participants (Study 3). Taken together, these findings provide evidence that meaning in life functions as a mechanism underlying the protective role of positive romantic relationships against death-thought accessibility. Our analyses also highlight gender differences in how romantic relationships buffer against death anxiety.