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Are Closed‐Minded People More Open to the Idea of Killing Themselves?
Author(s) -
Duberstein Paul R.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1521/suli.31.1.9.21309
Subject(s) - openness to experience , suicidal ideation , feeling , psychology , personality , trait , premise , depression (economics) , social psychology , clinical psychology , suicide prevention , poison control , medicine , medical emergency , linguistics , philosophy , computer science , economics , macroeconomics , programming language
This article summarizes the author's work on Openness to Experience (a personality trait) and suicidal behavior. It appears that people who obtain low scores on an inventory measuring Openness to Experience are less likely to report suicidal ideation but more likely to take their own lives. How can this apparent discrepancy be reconciled? Based on the premise that the expression of suicidal ideation can have adaptive consequences (e.g., by mobilizing family and treatment providers), it is hypothesized that people with major depression who are low in Openness may be at increased risk for completed suicide in part because they are less likely to feel, or report feeling, suicidal.