Specific emotional schema of death-related images vs unpleasant images / Esquema emocional específico de imágenes relacionadas con la muerte frente a imágenes desagradables

Abstract Understanding the specific emotional responses elicited by death and how it differs from other unpleasant stimuli is essential for understanding people’s behaviour. In study I, 113 students viewed a set of unpleasant images or images of death. Death images rated lower arousal (p = .020, d = 0.31, CI [−.06 to .80]) and lower control (p = .015, d = 0.68, 95% CI [.23 to .93]) than unpleasant pictures. The results also indicated that viewing death-related images did not induce a state of anxiety; in study II, 84 students (42 participants with prior experience related to death) viewed pleasant, neutral, unpleasant and death images. The participants with prior experience reported lower arousal for death-related images (p = .004, d = 0.87, 95% CI [.45 to 1.36]). In both studies, images of death induced a specific emotional schema according to Izard’s theory that can be modulated by having previous experience.