What is it about?

This study explores how our fear of death can shape the way we experience abstract art. We examined whether individuals who feel more anxious about mortality respond differently to artworks that are open‑ended, ambiguous, or emotionally challenging. By combining psychological measures with viewers’ reactions to abstract paintings, we investigated how existential concerns influence aesthetic experience—whether abstract art can provoke discomfort, curiosity, reflection, or even a sense of meaning. Ultimately, results showed that liking of abstract art is associated with lower death anxiety, potentially opening doors for future art-based interventions targeting individuals with high-death anxiety levels.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Understanding how people respond to abstract art when they feel anxious about death can helps us understand how art can support emotional processing. Many artworks deal with themes that are difficult to express directly, and abstract art in particular often invites viewers to confront ambiguity, uncertainty, and personal meaning. By studying the link between death anxiety and aesthetic experience, this research shows how art can become a space where people explore existential concerns in a safe, reflective way. It also encourages individuals and future studies to examine whether prolonged interaction with abstract art (e.g. through displaying abstract art at home) can eventually help individuals grow more comfortable with the notion of ambiguity and thus reduce their death anxiety levels.

Perspectives

I hope this article encourages readers to see abstract art—and even the idea of death anxiety—in a new light. Many people think of the unknown as something unsettling, something to avoid or control. But abstract art shows us that ambiguity can also be a space for discovery. At the end of the day, this research matters because it reminds us that the unknown is not inherently threatening. It can be a source of openness, imagination, and emotional growth. If this article does anything, I hope it makes people a little less afraid of what they cannot fully explain—and a little more willing to embrace the ambiguous parts of being human.

Christina Makri
University of Vienna

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Examining the relationship between death anxiety and abstract art., Psychology of Aesthetics Creativity and the Arts, August 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/aca0000884.
You can read the full text:

Read

Contributors

The following have contributed to this page