Learning as a shield against death: a 10-day daily diary study examining mortality salience and academic engagement among college students

Academic engagement is a critical determinant of success and wellbeing for college students. While previous research has identified the influence of stable environmental and individual factors, it has largely overlooked the impact of dynamic, daily psychological experiences. Moreover, mortality salience can be triggered by common experiences such as pandemics or accidents, yet its link to academic engagement remains unexplored. Grounded in Terror Management Theory (TMT) and Compensatory Control Model (CCM), this study employed a 10-day daily diary study with 102 Chinese undergraduates to investigate how daily mortality salience influences academic engagement. Results from a multilevel path analysis revealed significant, though modest, positive indirect associations between daily mortality salience and academic engagement both through death anxiety and personal control. These findings demonstrate that academic engagement can serve as a compensatory mechanism to manage existential threat. This study not only bridges a theoretical gap by integrating TMT and CCM but also provides practical insights, suggesting that educators can enhance engagement by fostering a sense of meaning and personal control in the learning environment.