Cross-Cultural Study of the Thwarting-Disorientation Theory of Suicide

A cross-cultural survey of 58 cultures investigated the thwarting-disorientation theory of suicide. Hypothesized that suicide takes place in contexts in which a person’s social ties are disrupted or threatened with disruption by the discretionary acts of himself or someone else. Also, it was posited that the more opportunities that a society provides for the occurrence of thwarting disorientation, the greater would be its suicide rate. Evidence confirming these hypotheses was obtained.