CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH ON EUTHANASIA AND ABORTION

Based on cross-cultural studies of euthanasia and abortion, we hypothe sized that attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion were sociocultural ly determined. Using a 2 x 2 factorial design, ute examined the effect s of culture (America and China) and type of death (infanticide and ge ronticide). We found that students from the American culture were less likely to favor infanticide than those from the Chinese culture, and that students from the People's Republic of China believed infanticide to be more common and more prevalent than geronticide in Chinese soci ety. Finally, we found that education, judgment of population density and traditional family values were related to attitudes toward euthana sia, abortion, and female infanticide in the Chinese, but not in the A merican, culture.