The dynamics of the personality’s world image in a situation of loss of a loved one

Abstract

The article presents the results of changing the image of the personality’s world in a situation of experiencing the loss of a loved one. The longitudinal study, which included three measurements with a difference of three months, involved 80 people who had experienced the death of a loved one from 1 month to 2 years ago. To study the dynamics of the image of the world, we used: a modified version of the semantic differential of Ch. Osgood, the test of existential motivations by A. Langle, the technology “Depth of meaningfulness of life” by P. Ibersol, the questionnaire of post-traumatic growth by R. Tadeshi and L. Calhoun. Statistical methods: frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, content analysis, one-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA), nonparametric Friedman criterion. Results: 1. The dynamics of the image of the world in a situation of loss is characterized by heterochrony and unevenness: changes in the perceptual layer of the image of the world are quite local in nature and show that the most sensitive to changes is the characteristic “chaotic — ordered”; changes in the semantic layer of the image of the world turned out to be the most dynamic and associated with the transformation of attitudes towards other people towards openness, positivity, compassion; changes in the nuclear layer of the image of the world are more concerned with the emergence of a sense of new opportunities, new interests, a desire for change, increasing the value of life, gaining new life meanings. 2. With regard to the object, term and cause of loss, as well as age and gender, their situational influence in the process of experiencing loss on changes in the image of the world and its components can be noted.