The Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ) was administered to a sample (N=738) of undergraduate volunteers, and responses were analyzed comparing attempters (N = 35), contemplators (N = 131) and nonattempters (N = 483). A factor analysis indicated seven significant factors accounting for 24.2 percent of the total variance. A discriminant function analysis, using the seven factors, yielded two significant functions that discriminated respondents on the basis of sex and prior suicide history. The results are considered in the context of three issues (acceptability, lethality, and mental illness) important to the dynamics of suicide, and in terms of Goffman's theory of deviance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AnselE. L.McGeeR. K., Attitudes Toward Suicide Attempters, Bulletin of Suicidology, 8, pp. 22–28, 1971.
2.
AllonN., Latent Social Services in Group Dieting, Social Problems, 23, pp. 59–69, 1975.
3.
KorchinS. J., Modern Clinical Psychology: Principles of Intervention in the Clinic and Community, Basic Books, Inc., New York, 1976.
4.
GoffmanE., Stigma, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 1963.
5.
MarksA.RileyC., Test of Goffman's Hypothesis of Familiarity and Deviance: Attempted Suicide and Tolerance of Deviant Behavior, Psychological Reports, 39, pp. 420–422, 1976.
6.
FeifelH.SchagD., Death Outlook and Social Issues, Omega, 11, pp. 201–215, 1980.
7.
MinearJ. D.BrushL. R., The Correlations of Attitudes Toward Suicide with Death Anxiety, Religiosity, and Personal Closeness to Suicide, Omega, 11, pp. 317–324, 1981.
8.
FarberowN. L.ShneidmanE., A Cry for Help, Blakiston, New York, 1961.
9.
DominoG.GibsonL.PolingS.WestlakeL., Students' Attitudes Toward Suicide, Social Psychiatry, 15, pp. 127–130, 1980.
10.
GinsbergG. P., Public Conceptions and Attitudes About Suicide, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 12, pp. 200–207, 1971.
11.
SaleI.WilliamsC. L.ClarkJ.MillsJ., Suicide Behavior: Community Attitudes and Beliefs, Suicide, 5, pp. 158–168, 1975.
12.
KalishR. A.ReynoldsD. K.FarberowN. L., Community Attitudes Toward Suicide, Community Mental Health Journal, 10, pp. 301–308, 1974.
13.
McIntoshJ. L., Suicide Among Native Americans: Further Tribal Data and Considerations, Omega, 14, pp. 215–229, 1983.
14.
KeefeS. E.CasasJ. M., Mexican Americans and Mental Health: A Selected Review and Recommendations for Mental Service Delivery, American Journal of Community Psychology, 8, pp. 303–326, 1980.
15.
U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States 1982–1983 (103d edition), Washington D.C., 1982.
16.
DominoG.MooreD.WestlakeL.GibsonL., Attitudes Toward Suicide: A Factor Analytic Approach, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, pp. 257–262, 1982.
17.
DominoG., Altering Attitudes Toward Suicide in an Abnormal Psychology Course, Teaching of Psychology, 7, pp. 239–240, 1980.
18.
DominoG.CohenA.GonzalezR., Jewish and Christian Attitudes Toward Suicide, Journal of Religion and Health, 20, pp. 201–207, 1981.
19.
DominoG., Attitudes Toward Suicide Among Mexican-Americans and Anglo Youth, Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 3, pp. 385–395, 1981.
20.
SwainB., The Attitudes of Physicians, Clergy, and Members of the Mental Health Community Toward Suicide, unpublished master's thesis, University of Arizona, 1983.
21.
ShneidmanE. S.FarberowN. L.LitmanR. E., The Psychology of Suicide, Science House, New York, 1970.
22.
LesterD., Why People Kill Themselves, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, 1972.
