I Am Not Thinking About Dying?: Suicide Ideation Among Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures in a Seventh-Day Adventist University

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds in the United States of America. Suicide ideation involves having desirability or thoughts of harming or killing oneself. This generally precedes suicide attempts and completions. Any consideration of suicide ideation must be made within the context of culture, and its associated aspects such as gender, since these create a world view that influences all aspects of life. The purpose of this study was to describe and compare cultural and gender differences in suicide ideation in a sample of 140 participants attending a Seventh-day Adventist University in Southeast Tennessee. Specifically, cultural differences in responsibility to family and moral objections in participants representing individualistic and collectivistic cultures were examined. Participants completed the 97 item Life Experience Scale. Although men had higher suicide ideation scores than women, there was no statistical significance in this minor difference, the results are inconclusive. In addition, there are slight cultural differences in family responsibility and moral objections that are inconclusive. Possible reasons for these findings and an agenda for research are discussed. Keywords: suicide ideation, collectivistic, individualistic, culture, Seventh-day Adventist