Question

Indicate and briefly explain different ways that people mourn death.

Answer 1

Personality research has identified three basic styles or patterns of mourning: instrumental, intuitive and dissonant. Instrumental mourners experience and speak of their grief intellectually and through physical action. They are likely to seek accurate information, analyzing facts, make informed decisions and solve problems actively. Whereas, intuitive mourners experience a full range of emotions in response to grief and are likely to appear overwhelmed by it. Such individuals are highly sensitive to their own feelings and to the feelings of others as well. Finally, dissonant mourners are characterised by a conflict between the way they experience their grief internally and the way they express it outwardly, which produces a persistent discomfort and lack of harmony.