Normative Evaluations of Suicide and Death: A Cross-Generational Study

Attitudes toward suicide and death across two intra-familial generations were investigated to gain a better understanding of possible causal factors underlying increasing suicide rates among the young. Cultural and subcultural normative evaluations of suicide and death represent important variables in an individual's decision to choose the suicidal option. Thus, the reported increase in youth suicide rates may be a function of more “accepting” attitudes by today's youth toward suicide and death.

The investigation was conducted in a medium-sized Canadian city with a sample of 114 respondents drawn equally from two intra-familial generations. The findings indicate support for the hypothesis that the youthful generation holds more “accepting” attitudes toward suicide and death than does the parental generation. The findings also suggest that the attitudes of the parental generation toward suicide and death have undergone a significant shift from the values that prevailed when they were youths.