Embodied meaning making: Memorial tattoos as a visual expression of grief.

Memorial tattoos are an increasingly prevalent response to the death of a loved one. This study explored the role of memorial tattoos as an active response to loss and a visual expression of grief. Twenty-two people with memorial tattoos volunteered to be interviewed and to have photographs taken of their tattoos. Through a grounded theory analysis, the core category emerged that memorial tattoos were an expression of embodied meaning making in the grief experience. Under this core category, the themes of creating permanence, constructing control, and symbolizing the bond further elucidated the meaning making process represented in memorial tattoos.

How age-of-death and mode-of-death impact perceptions of the deceased.

The goal of the current study was to explore how age-of-death (AOD) and mode-of-death MOD simultaneously influence ratings of sympathy, empathy, and tragedy toward the deceased in order to assess social value. Three hundred and fifty-eight participants, mainly undergraduates, responded to a series of vignettes that described a MOD (suicide, accident, or stroke) counterbalanced with three AODs (younger, middle-aged, and older). Overall, ratings of sympathy, empathy, and tragedy declined as AOD increased; however, the effect of AOD was not consistent across all MODs. The pattern of results suggests that death norms and perceived control of death impact the perception of the deceased.