The Role of Person-Centered Messages, Parallel Disclosures, and Reactance When Communicating Support for Parental Death

Abstract

This article evaluates communicative strategies to reduce reactance and enhance outcomes when people receive supportive messages about the death of their parent. Two experiments, a laboratory study and an online survey, manipulated person-centeredness and the presence and timing of parallel bereavement disclosures by the support provider. In both studies, moderately person-centered messages produced less reactance and better support quality, compared to low person-centered messages, and were perceived to be as effective as highly person-centered messages. The inclusion of support providers’ parallel disclosures produced different outcomes depending on person-centeredness and the timing of disclosures. A perceived threat to freedom and reactance serially mediated the associations between person-centered messages and outcomes, including emotional improvement, support quality, and source derogation, but not the interactive effects of parallel disclosures and person-centered messages on outcomes. The discussion highlights the challenges of communicating support for major life stressors.