Becker（1973）指出，人们对生的欲望和对死亡必然性的认识是并列存在的。死亡的不可预测性和不可避免性，给人类带来了潜在的对失去生命的恐惧。一方面，人类能够自我知觉到死亡宿命的必然，并由此产生死亡焦虑。另一方面，出于对生的本能性的渴望，个体又会避免接触与死亡相关的事物，并积极寻求自身或外界的防御手段来缓解死亡带来的恐惧和焦虑。根据恐惧管理理论的观点，死亡提醒假设认为，若某样事物能缓冲死亡焦虑，死亡提醒将增强人们对此的需求。从现有的恐惧管理机制上延伸，亲密关系的形成和维持可能是文化世界观的重要成分，也是自尊的重要来源，因而亲密关系可以作为应对死亡恐惧的一种心理防御。若亲密关系具有恐惧管理功能，人们暴露在死亡提醒之下会更渴望建立亲密关系；如果破坏亲密关系的维持，则死亡想法的可及性更高。本研究通过三个研究设计，基于过去理论研究的空白，对亲密关系的死亡焦虑缓冲机制进行探究，并提出以下三个研究问题（1）不同死亡提醒操作对个体死亡焦虑唤起是否存在差异，与唤起水平之间的关系如何。（2）亲密关系满意度在死亡提醒操作下的变化。（3）作为亲密关系满意度的构成要素 – 承诺、欣赏、付出感，如何在死亡凸显效应下影响满意度和死亡焦虑水平，其可能的机制是什么？本研究的参与者为在校大学生，死亡提醒组275人，中性控制组261人。本研究研究结果发现：（1）不同死亡提醒操作对个体死亡焦虑唤起水平存在显著差异，通过对比三组实验材料均可唤起焦虑水平上升，其中只有经典范式操作与控制组存在显著差异。（2）亲密关系满意度变化量存在显著差异，亲密关系的死亡提醒效应可表现为在死亡提醒条件下，个体对当前关系满意度的评定显著提高。（3）付出感在亲密关系满意度和死亡焦虑之间存在完全中介效应，即死亡焦虑高的个体对关系的付出越高，对关系越满意。基于以上结论，本研究强调关注亲密关系满意度在亲密关系的死亡焦虑缓冲机制，同时为亲密关系的恐惧管理理论与实践提供了丰富的实证研究证据，为亲密关系在死亡凸显效应研究中的作用提供了支持。

According to terror management theory (TMT), people respond to a reminder of their inevitable death by defending their anxiety buffer, which was originally proposed with two psychological mechanisms in dealing the terror of death awareness – cultural worldview validation and self-esteem enhancement. This thesis intends to strengthen the idea that close relationships serve as an additional death-anxiety buffering mechanism and review the expanding body of empirical evidence that supports this claim. The thesis proposes three studies that have found empirical confirmation in a number of experimental studies based on a thorough examination of the sociocultural and psychological roles that close relationships play in society. Through three research designs, this thesis explored the death anxiety buffering mechanisms of close relationships based on gaps in past theoretical research. Study 1 aimed to identify the most effective way on reminding one’s death-related thoughts under mortality salience in Chinese cultural context, and found that by comparing the participants’ level of death anxiety in three types of experimental manipulations, only the one mortality salience manipulation had a significant difference with the control group. Study 2 examined the maintenance of close relationship provided a symbolic shield against the terror of death, a significant difference was found in the change in relationship satisfaction, therefore the mortality salience effect of close relationship may be explained by a significant increase in the individual's rating of current relationship satisfaction under the death reminder condition. Study 3, as an extension work of Study 2, investigated relationship commitment, appreciation and sacrifice as variables affecting relationship satisfaction when death reminders heighten the motivation in close relationship seeking and maintenance. A full mediation effect of sacrifice was found between relationship satisfaction and death anxiety, individuals with high death anxiety sacrifice more to the relationship and experienced higher level of satisfaction. Based on the above findings, this thesis emphasises the focus on relationship satisfaction in the anxiety buffering mechanism of close relationship, and provided rich empirical research evidence for the theory and practice.