Attitudes toward Suicide: German and U.S. Nationals

Abstract

The Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ) was administered to two samples of adult volunteers: 172 Germans and 172 U.S. nationals. An analysis of the results indicated five major findings: 1) statistically significant gender differences in attitudes toward suicide were obtained in both samples. 2) These gender differences showed consistency across the two samples. 3) Statistically significant differences between German and United States samples were obtained on all eight SOQ scales. 4) The differences between countries were significant for both males and females considered separately, with one exception. 5) Finally, four SOQ scales showed significant but modest correlation with age in both samples.