The Independent sends reporters across political spectrums, refuses paywalls, and seeks donations to fund on-the-ground journalism covering issues from reproductive rights to Big Tech. Thirty years of obituaries reveal cultural priorities and how major crises reshape valued traits. A Michigan State University analysis of 38 million obituaries since 1994 examined effects of events such as 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and the Covid pandemic on which characteristics define a life well lived. Obituaries function as a window into societal values, showing who is remembered, for what contributions, and how cultural values are expressed.
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Thirty years' worth of obituaries have revealed the traits the people celebrate in the lives of the deceased, and how major crises reshape them. A Michigan State University study researched 38 million obituaries dating back to 1994, looking at how events including 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid pandemic influence the traits people associate with a life well lived.
Professor David Markowitz, the lead author of the study, said: Obituaries serve as a unique source of information about how societies value different kinds of lives. They reveal broader patterns of remembrance by showing who is remembered, for what contributions, and how cultural values are expressed through these acts of memory. Research reveals that people valued traits of tradition more after the pandemic (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
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