Who developed the Five Stages of Grief model?

• A. Erik Erikson
• B. Sigmund Freud
• C. Carl Jung
• D. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Answer: (D)

Understanding how people respond to the news of impending or actual death is captured by a framework that describes five common emotional responses. This model helps clinicians, families, and educators talk about grief and tailor support, recognizing that people may move through these feelings in different ways and not in a strict sequence.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross developed this five-stage framework and introduced it in her 1969 book On Death and Dying. The stages—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—map typical emotional movements as someone comes to terms with loss or terminal illness. It’s important to see these as a guide to understanding experience rather than a rigid path everyone must follow, since individuals may experience some stages, skip others, or revisit them at different times.

For context, the other names listed are known for different theories: Erik Erikson proposed a sequence of psychosocial development across the lifespan, Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalytic theory, and Carl Jung contributed analytic psychology. These contribute to our broader understanding of growth and behavior, but the grief-stage model specifically traces to Kübler-Ross.