Suicidal Death of a Spouse: The Social Perception of the Survivor

The present study investigated the reactions of others to the surviving spouse of an individual who commits suicide. A group of 120 adult citizens responded to a typeset obituary notice that described the cause of death as either suicide, motor vehicle accident, or leukemia. Results indicated that the surviving spouse of a suicide was perceived differently in several ways. Compared to those spouses of accident and leukemia victims, the spouse of a suicide was viewed as being more to blame for the death, as having had a greater chance of preventing the death, and as being more ashamed of the death. Survivors of spouses whose deaths resulted from suicide face a stressful event that may be made even more difficult by the perceptions others may have of them.