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Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
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Representations of Self and Other in Conjugal Bereavement

Nigel P. Field

Pacific Graduate School of Psychologyn.field{at}pgsp.edu

Daniel Hart

Rutgers University

Mardi J. Horowitz

University of California, San Francisco

A semantic space perspective on representations of self and other was applied to investigate the perceived quality of the past relationship with the spouse in relation to adjustment in conjugal bereavement. According to this perspective, the proximity, or extent to which representations of self and others share similar trait content features, may have important affective implications. Forty-seven bereaved individuals rated different representations of themselves and important others on a set of idiographic features as a basis for determining proximities among the representations. Proximities addressing the quality of the past relationship with the spouse were predictive of the extent and type of blame-related emotions (anger versus guilt) aroused in an empty-chair role-play involving their deceased spouse. These proximities were also predictive of the SCL-90-R global severity index measure of psychological adjustment, and the results indicated that this relationship was partly mediated by the blame-related emotions in the role-play.

Key Words: conjugal bereavement • other-blame • relationship conflict • self-blame

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Vol. 16, No. 3, 407-414 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/0265407599163006
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