Sex Differences and their Effect upon Cultural Evaluations of Methods of Self-Destruction

A sample of 694 college students was used to test for differences in preferences for particular methods of self-destruction for men and women. Significant differences were found for six of nine methods. Cultural evaluations of suicide methods, particularly firearms and drugs-poison, varied by sex and suicide. Women associated painlessness and efficiency with drugs-poison; men associated masculinity, efficiency and being knowledgeable of the method with firearms. These findings support previous theorizing on the relationship between sex, sociocultural patterns and methods of self-destruction. Implications for clinical evaluations of female attempters regarding their intent to suicide may be underestimated if females report they are considering drugs-poison.