DEATH THREAT, PARENTAL LOSS, AND INTERPERSONAL STYLE - A PERSONAL CONSTRUCT INVESTIGATION

Twenty people who had experienced the death of a parent between the ages of 12 and 18 were compared to 22 people whose parents had not divorced, separated, or died using two measures of death threat, ore based upon an Interpersonal RePertory Grid (IRG) and the second being the provided form of the Threat Index (TIp) as well as a measure of interpersonal style, the Fundamental Interpersonal Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B). The death-loss group had significantly higher scores on the Wanted-Inclusion scale of the FIRO-B as compared to the control. Thus, they tended to exhibit a strong interpersonal style marked by a desire to be included and noticed. For the Wanted-Affection scale of the FIRO-B, death-loss group males scored higher than control group males, but death-loss group females scored lower on the same scale than female control group members. Further, the death-loss group had lower death threat scores, as measured by the IRG, than the control group. Last, no evidence was found for the role of death threat in mediating the impact of loss of one's interpersonal relationship.