Civil Society Participation and Suicide Rates: A Cross-National Analysis

Cross-Cultural Research • Vol/Iss. 58(5) • Sage Journals • • Published In • Pages: 447-473 •
By Hunter, Lance Y.

Abstract

Although research has been conducted on individual social and psychological factors on suicide rates, there has yet to be any exploration into the role of civil society participation. This article investigates whether civil society participation influences suicide rates cross-nationally. The study hypothesizes that both political and non-political participation can reduce suicide rates by providing social and psychological benefits. Using data from 2000 to 2019 across 156 countries, as well as controlling standard variables and endogeneity, they find that both political and non-political civil society participation have a negative and statistically significant effect on suicide rates. The conclusion is that engagement in civil society, whether political or non-political, may help lower suicide rates nationally.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
World BankUsed for collecting measures of control variables
World Health OrganizationData from 2020 used
Varieties of Democracy Dataset (VDEM)Used for collecting civil society participation measures

Hypotheses (9)

HypothesisSupported
Greater civil society participation in political groups should be associated with lower suicide rates.Supported
Greater civil society participation in non-political groups should be associated with lower suicide rates.Supported
The higher the gross domestic product (GDP), the lower the suicide rate.Supported
National involvement in trading will have a negative association with suicide rates.Supported
Inflation will have a positive association with suicide rates.Supported
Unemployment will have a positive association with suicide rates.Supported
Higher education level will have a negative association with suicide risks.Supported
Results of the multivariate models predicting suicide rates from civil participation will differ by gender.Unsupported
Results of the multivariate models predicting suicide rates from civil participation will differ by region.Partially Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: jonathan.zhang