When Americans write about the dead, they mostly praise faith, family and care for others. Across 38 million obituaries, tradition and benevolence dominate, while power and thrill-seeking barely register.
The study was led by David M. Markowitz of Michigan State University, with Thomas Mazzuchi and Liane Young of Boston College and Stylianos Syropoulos and Kyle Fiore Law of Arizona State University. It was published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on August 26, 2025.
A life in about 175 words
The obituaries came from Legacy.com, which the authors describe as the internet’s largest archive of written obituaries, citing reports that it hosts notices for about 70% of US deaths. The collection spans 1998 to 2024 and all 50 states, totalling 38.2 million obituaries and about 6.7 billion words. The average obituary ran to 174.53 words, and the average age of the deceased was 75.5.
The researchers measured personal values using a validated dictionary built on Schwartz’s theory of basic human values, which lists 10 universal life goals, from achievement and power to benevolence and tradition. Gender was predicted from first names using census-based tools, which gave 19.8 million obituaries of men and 18.5 million of women.
Tradition, often expressed through religion, appeared in 80.17% of obituaries. Benevolence, caring for the people close to you, appeared in 75.73%. Universalism followed at 36.07%, self-direction at 29.68% and hedonism at 28.29%. Every other value, including power and stimulation, showed up in less than a quarter.
Obituaries shift with history
The team compared obituaries before and after three major events. Mentions of security declined after the September 11 attacks. Achievement declined after the 2008 financial crisis, dated from the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Benevolence declined for years after COVID-19 began and had still not returned to baseline.
The authors write that the COVID-19 effects were substantially larger than those for 9/11 or the financial crisis, probably because the pandemic touched far more people directly. They stress that they are describing differences before and after each event, not proving the events caused people to write differently.
Over the full period, benevolence fell while hedonism, the language of pleasure and fun, rose. Most other values became slightly more common.
Men, women and age
Men were remembered more for achievement, power and conformity, a category that includes lines about military service. Women were remembered more for benevolence and hedonism. Older people were remembered more for tradition and conformity than younger people.
These patterns shifted across the lifespan, with men’s obituaries showing more variation by age than women’s. The authors connect this to long-documented stereotypes that cast men as agentic and women as communal.
The limits are spelled out. The data contain no information on race, income or politics, gender was inferred from names, the effect sizes are small, and the findings apply only to the United States.
Still, the scale makes the pattern hard to ignore. In the few lines families choose to leave behind, a faithful, loving person is what most Americans want on the record.
Study Details:
- Title: An exploration of basic human values in 38 million obituaries over 30 years
- Authors: David M. Markowitz, Thomas Mazzuchi, Stylianos Syropoulos, Kyle Fiore Law, Liane Young
- Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publication Date: August 26, 2025
- DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2510318122