Death anxiety and dishonesty

Study 1 There were 402 adults (221 females) recruited from a professional data collection company (https://www.wjx.cn/). Participants have received remuneration from the company for their participation. Measures include: (1) death anxiety. 9 items selected from the Scale of death anxiety (Cai, Tang, Wu, & Li, 2017b). Each item describes a feeling or perception an individual may have when thinking of their own death and dying, for example, "In the last month, whenever thinking of death, I have often felt scared." Participants were asked to answer how much they agreed with each item on a 7-point scale according to the facts (1 = not at all, 7 = very much). (2) dishonesty. 12 items selected from the Self-Reported Inappropriate Negotiation Strategies (SINS) Scale (Lu, Lee, Gino, & Galinsky, 2018; Robinson, Lewicki, & Donahue, 2000). Each item describes a dishonest tactic that could be used in a negotiation, for example, "Pretend to be disgusted at an opponent's comments". Participants were asked to imagine that they are engaging in a negotiation, which is very important to them and their business, and indicate the extent to which they think each tactic is appropriate to be used in such situation on a 7-point scale (1 = not at all appropriate, 7 = very appropriate). Study 2 Participants were 158 students recruited from a university in China. They received 10 yuan (Chinese currency) for their involvements. We employed a one factor ( self-benefited vs. other-benefited) between-subjects design. Procedure: Stage 1: participants reported their demographic information and then completed the measurement of death anxiety online. Stage2: After a week, participants were asked to complete the rest questionnaires of the study. Measures: (1) death anxiety. The death anxiety was measured by the Scale of death anxiety (Cai, Tang, Wu, & Li, 2017b), 17 items. Participants were asked to answer how much they agreed with each item on a 5-point scale according to the facts (1 = not at all, 5 = very much). (2) self- vs. other-benefited dishonesty. The dishonesty propensity was measured by the same 12 items used in Study 1. Participants in the self-benefited condition were asked to imagine that they are engaging in a negotiation, which is very important to them and their business. In contrast, in the other-benefited condition, participants were asked to imagine that they are helping one of their friends to engage a negotiation, which is very important to the friend and the friend's b