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Questions of culture, age and gender in the epidemiology of suicide
Author(s) -
Webster Rudmin Floyd,
FerradaNoli Marcello,
Skolbekken JohnArne
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9450.00357
Subject(s) - masculinity , psychology , hofstede's cultural dimensions theory , individualism , suicide prevention , alienation , poison control , injury prevention , incidence (geometry) , human factors and ergonomics , demography , social psychology , medicine , sociology , medical emergency , physics , optics , law , political science , psychoanalysis
Cultural values were examined as predictors of suicide incidence rates compiled for men and women in six age groups for 33 nations for the years 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1985. Hofstede's cultural values of Power‐Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Masculinity (i.e., social indifference) were negative correlates of reported suicide, and Individualism was a strong positive correlate. The proportion of variance in suicide reports generally related to these four cultural values was R 2 = 0.25. Suicide by women and by middle‐aged people was most related to cultural values, even though international variance in suicide is greater for men and for the elderly. Suicide incidence for girls and young women showed unique negative correlations with Individualism. For all age groups, Individualism predicted a greater preponderance of male suicides, and Power‐Distance predicted more similar male and female suicide rates. Social alienation and Gilligan's feminist theory of moral judgment were hypothesized to explain some gender differences.