STEREOTYPES OF SUICIDE CAUSES FOR 3 AGE GENDER COHORTS

On the basis of open-ended questions and interviews using vignettes of fictitious male and female suicide committers of ages 15, 40, and 60, a list of reasons attributed to their suicides was obtained. From thi s list, a 45-item (5-point Likert scale) checklist was developed. This checklist was administered to a total of 232 respondents in a factori al design. The subjects were asked to respond to items concerning the fictitious suicide committer of their own age and gender, as well as t o items for the other two age/gender cohorts. Thus, two groups of subj ects answered the checklist. One group of respondents rated the checkl ist separately for the 3 age cohorts of fictitious male committers (15 -year-old male, 40-year-old male, and 60-year-old male). The other gro up rated the checklist for the three fictitious female committers. Tle rank of endorsement for each cause was tabulated separately for age/g ender cohorts, and indices of overall agreement were computed. The res ults indicated high agreement among all respondents on the causes of s uicide considered to be most likely for a given cohort, as well as a d istinct differentiation among cohorts and gender groups. The findings were with reference to cultural stereotypes about suicide causes, and arguments were elaborated on the contribution of these shared beliefs to an individual's decision to commit suicide.