Bereavement and spouse sanctification

Prospective and follow-up data from bereaved (n = 169) and nonbereaved (n = 211) women revealed that the bereaved tended to sanctify (rate more favorably) their husband and the marriage after the husband's death. Correlational analyses revealed that those who sanctified their husband more also tended to report more intense grief. A cluster analysis suggested three subgroups of widows: (a) satisfied sanctifiers, who tended to give their husband high ratings before bereavement and even higher ratings after bereavement, (b) dissatisfied sanctifiers, who tended to give their husband low ratings before bereavement, but higher ratings after bereavement, and (c) dissatisfied nonsanctifiers, who tended to give their husband low ratings both before and after bereavement. Possible mechanisms underlying sanctification are discussed.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat