ERIC Number: EJ965234
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0748-1187
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Finding Meaning in Loss: The Mediating Role of Social Support between Personality and Two Construals of Meaning
Boyraz, Guler; Horne, Sharon G.; Sayger, Thomas V.
Death Studies, v36 n6 p519-540 2012
Dimensions of personality may shape an individual's response to loss both directly and indirectly through its effects on other variables such as an individual's ability to seek social support. The mediating effect of social support on the relationship between personality (i.e., extraversion and neuroticism) and 2 construals of meaning (i.e., sense-making and benefit-finding) among 325 bereaved individuals was explored using path analysis. Supporting our hypotheses, social support mediated the relationship between personality and construals of meaning. Neuroticism was negatively and indirectly associated with both sense-making and benefit-finding through social support. Extraversion had a significant positive relationship to social support, which, in turn, mediated the impact of extraversion on both sense-making and benefit finding. The model explained 35% of the variance in social support, 19% of the variance in sense-making, and 25% of the variance in benefit-finding. Implications are discussed in light of existing theories of bereavement and loss. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Social Support Groups, Personality, Path Analysis, Grief, Role, Correlation, Neurosis, Extraversion Introversion, Theories, Models
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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