Thesis
Testing two strategic models of suicidal behavior against the ethnographic record
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2014
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100403
Abstract
Suicide causes more deaths than all wars and homicides combined. Despite over a century of research on this puzzling and tragic behavior, and a recent increase in the number of treatments and intervention programs, it remains a global scourge. There is abundant research on suicidality in Western populations, but research on suicide among non-Western peoples is limited. Few studies analyze suicidality within small scale, pre-industrial societies. Using ethnographic data from 53 cultures, this study tests two evolutionary theories of suicidal behavior: (1) the inclusive fitness model, which proposes that successful suicide would increase the inclusive fitness of individuals with low reproductive potential who are a burden on kin, and (2) the bargaining model that sees suicide attempts are a costly signal of need. The models were operationalized into sets variables, which were used to code 476 suicide extracts from the Probability Sample of the Human Relations Area Files. Results indicate support for many elements of the bargaining model, especially among younger, healthy adults, but limited support for the inclusive fitness model, which might apply primarily to older adults in harsh regions.
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Details
- Title
- Testing two strategic models of suicidal behavior against the ethnographic record
- Creators
- Kristen Lee Syme
- Contributors
- Edward H. Hagen (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525047001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis