This article summarizes the author’s work on Openness to Experience (a personality trait) & suicidal behaviour. It appears that people who obtain low scores on an inventory measuring Openness to Experience are less likely to report suicidal ideation but more likely to take their own lives. A hypothesis is offered to explain this apparent discrepancy. Based on the premise that the expression of suicidal ideation can have adaptive consequences (e.g. by mobilizing family & treatment providers), it is hypothesized that people with major depression who are low in Openness may be at increased risk for completed suicide in part because they are less likely to feel, or report feeling, suicidal. (32 refs.)