{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T16:52:28Z","timestamp":1786121548006,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786060800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>When individuals face overwhelming situations, such as the heightened awareness of mortality triggered by the pandemic, they may adopt the \u201clying flat\u201d response. \u201cLying flat,\u201d a movement on Chinese social media platforms, refers to the adoption of a minimalist lifestyle and the rejection of intensive life or work goals. However, the psychological mechanisms driving this phenomenon remain underexplored. Drawing on psychological perspectives of existential threat and coping strategies, this study aims to investigate whether mortality salience is associated with \u201clying flat\u201d discourse and to determine if it functions primarily as a defensive or adaptive coping strategy.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We analyzed 257,410 Weibo posts to examine the association between mortality salience and \u201clying flat\u201d discourse on Weibo. Mortality salience was operationalized using pandemic death counts. We employed a keyword-assisted topic modeling approach to categorize the Weibo posts into defensive versus adaptive coping strategies. Crucially, we utilized stratified regression analyses to examine the association between mortality salience and the proportions of defensive and adaptive topics.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The results revealed that mortality salience was positively associated with the overall frequency of \u201clying flat\u201d engagement, and users predominantly engaged in defensive coping mechanisms. Furthermore, stratified regression demonstrated that higher death tolls were significantly associated with an increased proportion of defensive topics (e.g., immediate gratification and avoidance) but a decrease in adaptive topics (e.g., re-evaluating life goals).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These findings suggest that digital \u201clying flat\u201d may serve as a psychological buffer to mortality-related stress. Our results may indicate an asynchrony in these mechanisms, where adaptive responses emerge more slowly than immediate defensive reactions. We highlight the distinction between merely expressing \u201clying flat\u201d and actual behavioral withdrawal. Finally, we underscore the importance of future cross-cultural research to comprehensively understand the global manifestations of such phenomenon under existential crises.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1854408","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T05:29:18Z","timestamp":1786080558000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Deciphering the association between mortality salience and the \u201clying flat\u201d movement: a social media analysis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jingyuan","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Counseling and Education Center, Xiamen University","place":["Xiamen, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kaiyang","family":"Qin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Law and Economics, Wuhan University of Science and Technology","place":["Wuhan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fangyuan","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education","place":["Wuhan, China"]},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University","place":["Wuhan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yue","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong","place":["Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hua","family":"Pang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of New Media and Communication, Tianjin University","place":["Tianjing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"198","DOI":"10.1207\/s15327663jcp1403_2","article-title":"The urge to splurge: a terror management account of materialism and consumer behavior","volume":"14","author":"Arndt","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. 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