Further Investigation of Popular Misconceptions about Suicide

Abstract

This study encompasses a replication of the study “Popular Misconceptions About Suicide: How Popular Are They?”, conducted by George Domino in 1990, as well as further analyses of the data obtained in our study. Ninety-seven undergraduate students were administered the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ). The twenty SOQ items concerning misconceptions were analyzed for the percentage of endorsement by the students. Like Domino, we found that these misconceptions may not exist as texts indicate. A 2 × 2 ANOVA using each respondent's total number of endorsed misconceptions, with gender (male/female) and ethnicity (white/non-white) as quasi-independent variables, showed no significant main effects. Next, chi-square analyses conducted on the individual items (frequency of subject endorsement on each) revealed differences among ethnic groups but not among gender groups. Finally, a one-way ANOVA comparing people's knowledge of suicide between those who have known versus those who have not known a suicide victim showed no significant differences.