Mortality salience effects refer to the universal phenomenon that people would defend their worldview or strive for self-esteem after mortality salience. Mortality salience effects are instigated by the potential for death-related anxiety which is indicated by death-thought accessibility. The individual differences in age, religious beliefs, personal need for structure, self-control, attachment styles, and different situation priming affect mortality salience effects. In the future, researchers should analyse why some stimuli unrelated to death can cause mortality salience effects, make further efforts to explain and validate the potential for death-related anxiety, and clarify the influence of self-esteem on mortality salience effects.