Understanding Changes in Attitudes Toward Suicide Between 1980s and 2010s in the United States

Yi Tong and Julie A. Phillips

Social Science Quarterly, 2018, vol. 99, issue 5, 1585-1598

Abstract: Objectives This study examines individual characteristics associated with suicide acceptability in the United States and how (1) effects of these characteristics on attitudes have changed over time and (2) the degree to which shifts in attitudes are explained by changes in population characteristics. Methods We use General Social Survey (GSS) data from the 1980s (n = 4,840) and 2010s (n = 5,607) and conduct an Oaxaca decomposition. Results Although Americans remain largely unaccepting of suicide, except in the case of incurable disease, a greater percentage found suicide to be acceptable in 2010s than in 1980s. Individuals who are male, white, more educated, less religious, and more politically liberal find suicide more acceptable. Changes over time in population composition (e.g., rising education levels and declines in religion) account for about 50 percent of the rise in suicide acceptability between 1980s and 2010s. Conclusions Results hint at shifting societal patterns, but the causal direction between attitudes and behavior cannot be determined.

Date: 2018
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