Citation

Walker RL, Flowers KC. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2011; 41(1): 12-20.

Affiliation

Rheeda L. Walker; Kelci C. Flowers, Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1943-278X.2010.00008.x

PMID

21309820

Abstract

Race group differences in suicide death classification in a sample of 109 Black and White university students were examined. Participants were randomly assigned to read three vignettes for which the vignette subjects' race (only) varied. The vignettes each described a circumstance (terminal illness, academic failure, or relationship difficulties) that preceded the vignette subject's ambiguously premature death. Participants were asked to describe "what happened." Black participants were significantly less likely than White participants to attribute a vignette target's death to suicide and also less likely to report that suicide is acceptable. Implications for future research and prevention efforts are discussed.

Language: en