Many people are surprised by the intensity of their emotions when a well-known person dies. Preliminary research suggests that grief after the death of a public figure looks very similar to grief over personal relationships and can have comparable levels of intensity. People's feelings of sadness may last longer than they expect, and the sadness and grief can be intense.
Wendy Lichtenthal, Ph.D., the founding director of the Center for the Advancement of Bereavement Care at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is a bereavement science researcher who focuses on advancing bereavement science and "meaning-centered" grief therapy for families, caregivers, and others.
Bereavement theorists and scientists refer to the experience of grief following the death of a public figure as "parasocial grief." According to Dr. Lichtenthal, parasocial relationships can be thought of as one-sided relationships involving a sense of connection to a public figure who one does not personally know. She asserts that "parasocial relationships are relationships, and it is natural to grieve when someone we care about and feel attached to dies."
Research within the fields of psychology and neuroscience suggests that humans are wired to connect and attach to others. From the time we are born, we attach to our primary caregiver and protest separation. Dr. Lichtenthal states that this attachment is at the heart of grief: we do not want to be separated from people we feel attached to, and grief is a protest reaction.
A parasocial relationship does not represent the same kind of attachment as with a person we live with day to day, but it is still a relationship. We grieve the loss of whatever was received through that parasocial relationship. Research suggests that public figures can embody our hopes for the future, act as reminders of the past, or symbolize important aspects of our worldview. Political figures might offer a sense of hope, safety, or security, while entertainers might create a sense of connection through their creative offerings.
A public figure may have provided something in the present or the past, sparking memories, thoughts, and feelings connected to a certain time or era in our lives. The intensity of grief after the death of a public figure relates to the nature of the relationship. If someone felt especially connected to and close to a public figure, it is natural to grieve their death. Research suggests that the degree of perceived closeness to the public figure is associated with the intensity of the grief experienced after their death.
Dr. Lichtenthal states that one's experience of grief always makes sense. Grief may feel more intense than expected because we weren't conscious of the layers of meaning that a given loss has or the special role a person or relationship played in our lives. If a grieving person is asked more in-depth questions about who the public figure was to them, it can be found that their grief makes sense.
There is no prescribed timeframe for grief—no amount of time someone "should" grieve. When feeling hurt, pain, or sadness, it's natural to wonder how long one might endure it and what is typical or "normal." The grieving process involves processing the reality that the person who died is no longer physically present in the world and adapting to that reality over time. Reminders of the reality of loss can bring waves of pain at any time for the rest of our lives. As Dr. Lichtenthal states, "Grief does not have a stop date."
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq