Wolfgang Stroebe

Health outcomes of bereavement

In this Review, we look at the relation between bereavement and physical and mental health. Although grief is not a disease and most people adjust without professional psychological intervention, bereavement is associated with excess risk of mortality, particularly in the early weeks and months after loss. It is related to decrements in physical health, indicated by presence of symptoms and illnesses, and use of medical services. Furthermore, bereaved individuals report diverse psychological reactions. For a few people, mental disorders or complications in the grieving process ensue. We summarise research on risk factors that increase vulnerability of some bereaved individuals. Diverse factors (circumstances of death, intrapersonal and interpersonal variables, ways of coping) are likely to co-determine excesses in ill-health. We also assess the eff ectiveness of psychological intervention programmes. Intervention should be targeted at high-risk people and those with complicated grief or bereavement-related depression and stress disorders.In this Review, we look at the relation between bereavement and physical and mental health. Although grief is not a disease and most people adjust without professional psychological intervention, bereavement is associated with excess risk of mortality, particularly in the early weeks and months after loss. It is related to decrements in physical health, indicated by presence of symptoms and illnesses, and use of medical services. Furthermore, bereaved individuals report diverse psychological reactions. For a few people, mental disorders or complications in the grieving process ensue. We summarise research on risk factors that increase vulnerability of some bereaved individuals. Diverse factors (circumstances of death, intrapersonal and interpersonal variables, ways of coping) are likely to co-determine excesses in ill-health. We also assess the effectiveness of psychological intervention programmes. Intervention should be targeted at high-risk people and those with complicated grief or bereavement-related depression and stress disorders.

How the Group Affects the Mind: A Cognitive Model of Idea Generation in Groups

A model called search for ideas in associative memory (SIAM) is proposed to account for various research findings in the area of group idea generation. The model assumes that idea generation is a repeated search for ideas in associative memory, which proceeds in 2 stages (knowledge activation and idea production), and is controlled through negative feedback loops and cognitive failures (trials in which no idea is generated). We show that (a) turn taking (production blocking) interferes with both stages of the process; (b) ideas suggested by others aid the activation of problem-relevant knowledge; and (c) cognitive failures are important determinants of brainstorming persistence, satisfaction, and enjoyment. Implications for group decision making and group recall are discussed.

The role of loneliness and social support in adjustment to loss : a test of attachment versus stress theory

A longitudinal study of a matched sample of 60 recently widowed and 60 married men and women tested predictions from stress and attachment theory regarding the role of social support in adjustment to bereavement. Stress theory predicts a buffering effect, attributing the impact of bereavement on well-being to stressful deficits caused by the loss and assuming that these deficits can be compensated through social support. In contrast, attachment theory denies that supportive friends can compensate the loss of an attachment figure and predicts main effects of marital status and social support. Attachment theory further suggests that marital status and social support influence well-being by different pathways, with the impact of marital status mediated by emotional loneliness and the impact of social support mediated by social loneliness. Results clearly supported attachment theory.

Cognitive stimulation and interference in groups: Exposure effects in an idea generation task

The effects of idea sharing on cognitive processes and performance were assessed in an idea exposure paradigm. Participants generated ideas while being exposed to stimulus ideas that were semantically homogeneous or diverse, and were offered in an organized or a random sequence. As compared to a control condition, participants generated more diverse ideas when exposed to ideas from a wide range of semantic categories, and they generated more ideas per category when exposed to many ideas from only a few categories. The semantic organization of ideas was higher when participants were exposed to ideas that were organized in semantic clusters than when participants were exposed to unorganized ideas. Idea exposure had positive effects in general, because it reduced response latencies for category changes. Implications for information processing in groups are discussed.

Broken Hearts Or Broken Bonds: Love And Death In Historical Perspective

Psychological theories and practices frequently neglect the extent to which their subject matter is historically and culturally defined. This issue is explored in the context of theories and therapies related to bereavement. Contemporary orientations emphasize the importance of breaking bonds with the deceased and the return of survivors to autonomous lifestyles. Placing the orientation in cultural and historical context reveals that it is largely a product of a modernist worldview. Within the romanticist ethos of the preceding century, such breaking of bonds would destroy ones identity and the meaning of life. In light of contemporary variations in subcultural meanings and values, a postmodern view is suggested in which reflexive responsibility is focal.

The Alleged Crisis and the Illusion of Exact Replication

There has been increasing criticism of the way psychologists conduct and analyze studies. These critiques as well as failures to replicate several high-profile studies have been used as justification to proclaim a “replication crisis” in psychology. Psychologists are encouraged to conduct more “exact” replications of published studies to assess the reproducibility of psychological research. This article argues that the alleged “crisis of replicability” is primarily due to an epistemological misunderstanding that emphasizes the phenomenon instead of its underlying mechanisms. As a consequence, a replicated phenomenon may not serve as a rigorous test of a theoretical hypothesis because identical operationalizations of variables in studies conducted at different times and with different subject populations might test different theoretical constructs. Therefore, we propose that for meaningful replications, attempts at reinstating the original circumstances are not sufficient. Instead, replicators must ascertain that conditions are realized that reflect the theoretical variable(s) manipulated (and/or measured) in the original study.

Production blocking and idea generation: Does blocking interfere with cognitive processes?

Production blocking (group members must take turns expressing their ideas) is an important cause of productivity loss in brainstorming groups. However, it is not yet clear why production blocking has this detrimental effect. We hypothesized that delays between the generation and articulation of ideas, arising when group members wait for their turns, interfere with the cognitive process of generating ideas. In three experiments, production blocking was simulated for individuals working at computer terminals. Production blocking interfered with idea generation in two ways. First, it disrupted the organization of idea generation when delays were relatively long. Second, it reduced the flexibility of idea generation when delays were unpredictable. Implications for group information processing are discussed.

Why Groups are less Effective than their Members: On Productivity Losses in Idea-generating Groups

There is pervasive evidence that people produce more ideas and more good ideas when working alone rather than in groups. This chapter will first review the evidence for the productivity loss in brainstorming groups and then evaluate the various theoretical explanations which have been offered to account for these findings in the light of empirical research. This evidence suggests that the productivity loss in idea-generating groups is caused mainly by mutual production blocking due to the constraint on groups that members can talk only in turn. We then discuss various strategies that have been developed to overcome the disruptive effects of production blocking. However, since so far even the most successful strategies have raised the productivity of group members only to the level they would have achieved if they had worked individually, our final section discusses an ‘illusion of group effectivity’ as a reason for the persistence of the belief that group discussions are an effective means of generating i...

Couples at Risk Following the Death of Their Child: Predictors of Grief Versus Depression

This longitudinal study examined the relative impact of major variables for predicting adjustment (in terms of both grief and depression) among bereaved parents following the death of their child. Couples (N = 219) participated 6, 13, and 20 months postloss. Use of multilevel regression analyses enabled assessment of the impact of several predictors and facilitated analysis of factors that were either shared by parents or individual. Grief was predicted mainly by shared parent factors: childs age, cause and unexpectedness of death, and number of remaining children. By contrast, depression was predicted by individual parent factors: gender, religious affiliation, and professional help seeking. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

The Impact of Vulnerability to and Severity of a Health Risk on Processing and Acceptance of Fear-Arousing Communications: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis of studies of the persuasive impact of fear appeals evaluated the contribution of our stage model of the processing of fear-arousing communications relative to other fear appeal theories. In contrast to other theories, our stage model (a) specifies the cognitive processes underlying persuasion through fear-arousing communications, (b) proposes that threat-induced defensive processing does not interfere with the effectiveness of fear-arousing communications but actually contributes to it, and (c) predicts that vulnerability and severity manipulations have differential effects on measures of attitude as compared with intention and behavior. To evaluate these predictions, the authors expanded on previous meta-analyses by assessing the independent as well as joint effects of vulnerability to and severity of a risk, both on information processing and on measures of persuasion (attitude, intention, behavior). Overall, findings were consistent with the stage model. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.