Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, USA
Crisis. 2013 Jan 1;34(1):63-6. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000154.
Historically, people who die by suicide and those who survive them have been perceived more negatively than those affected by other types of death (e.g., Reynolds & Cimbolic, 1988). Yet, it is unclear whether these negative perceptions actually lead to decreased social and emotional support for people bereaved by suicide.
To examine whether specifying suicide as the cause of death in an obituary impacts perceptions of a decedent and willingness to provide support to the decedent's family.
A group of 253 participants were randomly assigned to read one of three fictional obituaries that were identical except for the stated cause of death (suicide, cancer, or drug overdose). Participants responded to questions about the decedent and behaviors toward the family.
Consistent with our prediction, people depicted as dying by suicide were viewed more negatively than decedents depicted as dying due to cancer. Contrary to our prediction, participants endorsed similar levels of willingness to provide support to the bereaved family regardless of the type of death specified in the obituary.
The findings suggest that, even though those who die by suicide are viewed more negatively, their survivors may receive support that is similar to people bereaved by other types of death.
历史上，自杀身亡者和幸存者比其他类型死亡（如 Reynolds 和 Cimbolic，1988）的人受到更负面的看待。然而，目前尚不清楚这些负面看法是否真的导致自杀死亡者的社会和情感支持减少。
研究讣告中明确自杀为死因是否会影响对死者的看法，以及是否会影响对死者家属提供支持的意愿。
一组 253 名参与者被随机分配阅读三个虚构讣告中的一个，这些讣告除了死因（自杀、癌症或药物过量）外其他内容完全相同。参与者回答了有关死者和对家属行为的问题。
与我们的预测一致，被描述为自杀死亡的人比被描述为因癌症死亡的人受到更负面的看待。与我们的预测相反，无论讣告中指定的死因如何，参与者表示愿意向死者家属提供支持的意愿相似。
研究结果表明，尽管自杀身亡者受到更负面的看待，但他们的幸存者可能会得到与其他类型死亡者相似的支持。
