How CEOs Respond to Mortality Salience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Integrating Terror Management Theory With Regulatory Focus Theory
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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in the U.S. As chief strategists of their respective firms, how do Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) react to mortality salience associated with the number of new daily COVID deaths in the U.S.? To answer this question, we integrate terror management theory (TMT) with regulatory focus theory to examine how CEOs respond to mortality salience. Based on a sample of CEOs of S&P 500 firms, we found that mortality salience was associated with CEOs鈥� increased other-orientation, and this association was more pronounced among those with high prevention focus. Mortality salience also was associated with CEOs鈥� decreased self-orientation, particularly among those with high promotion focus. We also found that CEOs鈥� self-orientation was negatively related
to the likelihood of their firms鈥� making community donations.
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