Citation

Otsu A, Chinami M, Morgenthale S, Kaneko Y, Fujita D, Shirakawa T. Percept. Mot. Skills 2006; 102(2): 603-608.

Affiliation

Department of Health Promotion and Human Behavior, Graduate School of Public Health, Kyoto University, Japan. otsu-tky@umin.ac.jp

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16826682

Abstract

We studied the correlations among sunspot numbers, business cycles, and suicide mortalitites. Based on data from Japan between 1971 and 2001, a significant negative correlation between sunspot numbers and unemployment rate was found, R= -.17. The correlation between suicide mortality and unemployment rate was positive for males (R=.46) and negative for females (R =-.69). Both are statistically significant. The hypothesis that variation of sun activity may affect the economy and the unemployment rate and hence increase the male suicide mortality is raised.

Language: en