Emotion discrete terms (e.g., sad, happy, and angry) are not only used to describe the faces of living people but could also be used to describe those of dead people. This study was carried out in two phases among college and non-college participants drawn from a small community in the mid-west region of the United States. Study one was made up of 108 participants (age range 17–81), with a mean of 38, and study two was made up of 211 participants (age range 17–52), with a mean of 19. The results showed that both positive and negative emotion discrete terms were used to describe a deceased person's face. But contextual and demographic variables such as the type of death, age, and sex of the deceased, as well as the age and sex of the viewer were influential. It is suggested that the emotion discrete term that the viewer attributes to the face of a deceased loved one would affect his or her mourning trajectory. This study has implications for counselors who work with bereaved individuals, for funeral directors who prepare deceased persons for viewing, and for researchers interested in the relation between emotions and grieving.
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