“I could not give him the funeral he deserved”: The role of alternative mourning rituals during the pandemic

Abstract

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, measures were enforced that constrained people's ability to engage in conventional funeral and mourning rituals, which in general serve as vital mechanisms for coping with the experience of loss. This study aimed to investigate how these limitations affected early grief symptoms and the influence of alternative mourning rituals (paying tribute on social media, lighting candles in memory of the deceased, and using objects of the deceased) on moderating the relationship between individuals' perception of these limitations (such as being unable to perform the present body ceremony or fulfill the funeral wishes of the deceased) and the intensity of the grief symptoms. The study involved 227 participants, aged between 18 and 77 years, who had experienced the loss of a loved one during the pandemic. Results demonstrated that higher levels of perceived limitation in funeral ceremonies are associated with greater intensity of grief responses. Paying tribute on social media and lighting candles in memory of the deceased person moderated the relationship between the perception of limitation in fulfilling the deceased’s wishes in relation to the funeral ceremonies and the intensity of the grief responses. Using objects moderates the relationship between the perception of limitation in performing a present body ceremony and the intensity of the grief responses. Results underline the relevance of psychological flexibility, in particular concerning alternative morning rituals, that can be used as a way of buffering the impact of the perception of limitation in funeral ceremonies on the intensity of grief responses. This study offers a distinctive insight into bereavement during the pandemic, highlighting the role of flexibility in morning rituals in mitigating the deleterious effect of ritual restrictions on bereavement outcomes.