Does knowing that a suicide was “rational” influence grief?

Abstract

Counseling professionals and graduate students (N = 117) recruited online read a randomly assigned one-paragraph vignette about either a nonrational or rational suicide involving an imaginary loved one. Then, they completed the Grief Experiences Questionnaire (GEQ) about how they would feel. The nonrational suicide group expected significantly more search for explanation than the rational suicide group but was not significantly different on the other six GEQ subscales. All participants expected few distressing reactions to either vignette, suggesting a one-paragraph vignette may not be sufficient to induce the kind of grief many experience when a loved one dies by suicide.