Evolutionizing Grief: Viewing Photographs of the Deceased Predicts the Misattribution of Ambiguous Stimuli by the Bereaved

Abstract

We propose a cognitive-evolutionary model of grief where the function of grief is to reunite a person with an absent partner where this is possible, and where it is not, to disengage and reorientate the individual from the lost agent. The present study investigates the potential factors that affect reunion-promoting symptoms by focusing on the misattribution of external stimuli to the deceased by the bereaved -which we term 'false recognitions'. We propose three factors that relate to false recognitions: First, we propose that strong attachment to the deceased predisposes one to false recognitions; second, we predict that viewing photographs of the deceased (that were taken when the individual was alive) perpetuates false recognitions; and third, we propose that time elapsing since the death diminishes the frequency of false recognitions. In a survey of 164 recently bereaved (<25 months) pet owners in the U.S. and U.K., predictions concerning the association of the predictor and outcome variables were confirmed. The strongest predictor was the frequency of viewing photographic images of the deceased, a pattern consonant with our premise that, being evolutionarily novel, realistic photographs are treated as reliable cues that the agent remains a viable relationship partner. This research demonstrates the potential of evolutionary theory to inform mainstream bereavement research.

An evolutionary account of vigilance in grief

“…Preoccupation with thoughts about the missing person creates the cognitive conditions necessary to maintain a low baseline threshold for the detection of the agent—together, these symptoms serve to detect cues of the person’s presence in the immediate vicinity. Understood in this manner, these patterns are not a misfiring of other mechanisms, with corresponding squandering of cognitive resources, but rather the product of a correctly functioning adaptive mechanism responding to the absence of a significant other from the immediate environment [ 25 ]. Natural selection favors decision-making systems that calibrate signal detection to maximize expected value [ 38 ], a phenomenon first described in the evolutionary literature as the smoke-detector principle [ 39 ], and subsequently elaborated in regard to psychological mechanisms as error-management theory [ 40 , 41 ].…”

“…These involve the effect on cognitive components of grief following, respectively, indications that the agent is in the vicinity, alive, and a viable relationship partner, or, conversely, indications that the agent is dead. We recently tested these predictions in two cross-sectional studies [ 24 , 25 ]; we outline them in more detail below.…”

“…White and Fessler [ 25 ] tested this prediction in a survey of 164 recently bereaved (<25 months) individuals in the USA and the UK. Given the obstacles to studying grief experiences following the loss of a human partner, the study examined respondents’ experiences following the death of a beloved dog or cat.…”

“…In this paper, building upon our earlier work [ 24 , 25 ], we take the first steps toward providing a cognitive evolutionary account of vigilance in grief by examining the adaptive significance of the predominant cognitive reactions following the onset of bereavement. This theory builds upon, and extends, the ‘reunion account’, which views of the origins of grief as a separation response aimed at promoting reunification with the lost agent.…”

“…the agglomeration of ad hoc solutions), such that the optimality of responses can be constrained by differential processing of information by different mental mechanisms, and (ii) adaptive responses to ambiguous versus definitive cues. This account generates testable predictions concerning input conditions and individual differences, and we will present summaries of the results of a series of studies we designed to test these [ 24 , 25 ]. The theory also motivates new lines of investigation on the cognitive processes underpinning grief, and has potential implications for mainstream bereavement theories and practices.…”