Mass Media, Cultural Attitudes, and Suicide: Results of an International Comparative Study

In this research, reports about suicide (n=2203) in the years from 1981 & 1991 were gathered from 3 central & regional papers in Hungary, Japan, the USA, Germany, Austria, & Finland. A content analysis was performed on the basis of the following variables: mentioning of the name, personal data, prominence of the suicidal person, qualification of the suicide, methods, motives, positive or negative consequences, alternative, & the expression(s) used to refer to the act. After a coding process, an analysis was conducted as to whether any significant differences existed in the rate of the several characteristics in the countries from the point of view of possible imitation-identification & cultural differences. (7 refs.)