“When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best”: Examining the Person-Centered Quality of Message Features Provided in Sympathy Cards

Sympathy cards are a popular channel by which grief support is communicated. In order to better understand the supportive messages used in sympathy cards, a content analysis was performed. The messages found in one hundred cards from major greeting card companies were coded based on their level of person centeredness (Burleson, 1994) and their use of grief management strategies (Marwit & Carusa, 1998). Results indicate sympathy cards typically rely on moderate and high person centered messages. The majority of strategies previously identified by the modified Support-Intended Statements Scale (SISS) were used. However, one unique strategy labeled “difficulty knowing what to say” was identified.