Superstition and gender discrimination are two serious social problem
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Previous studies have tried to account for the uniqueness of gender ratios in Chinese suicide through physiological and psychological differences between men and women, and the means employed in the fatal act. From the point of view of the socio-psychological traits, this study examines the effects of religion (religiosity), superstition, and perceived gender inequality among Chinese women on the degree of their suicide intent. A four-page structured interviews were performed to the consecutively sampled serious attempters of suicide hospitalized to emergency rooms immediately after the suicidal act in Dalian areas, China. Both univariate analyses and the multiple regression model have found that the higher the degree the religiosity and superstition on metempsychosis, the stronger the suicide intent Chinese women had. The perceived gender inequality is positively correlated with suicide intent, and it is especially true for Chinese women. The socio-psychological traits and traditional culture values and norms have important impacts on suicide patterns in Chinese societies.
Chinese suicide rates are distinguishable in the gender ratios: Chinese women are at higher risk of suicide than Chinese men (Phillips, Li, & Zhang, 2002; Zhang, 2000), while the reverse is found elsewhere in the world (Brockington, 2001; Pritchard, 1996). Previous studies have tried to account for this uniqueness in Chinese suicide through physiological and psychological differences between men and women (Zhang et al., 2003; Zhang, Yeates, Li, & Chao, 2004), the means employed in the fatal act (Phillips et al., 2002), as well as the low status of Chinese women in Chinese societies (Ji, 2000). However, those studies have offered either incomplete or biased explanations on why Chinese women are more likely than Chinese men to kill themselves. In this current study, we aim at providing another perspective to understand the Chinese phenomenon.
We test our research hypotheses in suicidology by studying people who have seriously attempted suicide in the absence of suicide cases, based on the evidence that suicides and attempters are from two tightly overlapping populations (Beautrais, 2001) and it is greatly possible to assess the characteristics of suicides by studying attempters from the same general population. Maris et al. (2000) proposed a 10-level continuum of suicidality from the lowest to the highest suicidality, in which a serious suicide attempt that requires emergency room treatment is just one step before completed suicide. However, the degree of suicide intent of all those admitted to emergency rooms may vary and the intensity of suicide intent may relate to some socio-psychological traits.
In a study on race, religion, and female suicide attempters, Kok (1988) compared suicide attempt rates in Chinese, Malay, and Indian women in Singapore and did not find that a comparatively low rate of attempted suicide in Chinese women was due to their religion. Although some studies of religious commitment suggest a protective effect against suicide (Stack, 1983), it is not a simple causal connection and there are other variables or factors involved (Maris et al., 2004). Therefore, we study some socio-psychological traits and states of individuals and their effects on those individuals’ suicidal behaviors, specifically the effects of religion (religiosity), superstition, and perceived gender inequality among Chinese women on the degree of their suicide intent. We want to understand the unique gender ratios in Chinese suicide rates and speculate that the culture in China, including the belief systems, may account for the high suicide rates for Chinese young women. With the current study, it is hypothesized that religion/superstition on metempsychosis or reincarnation related to perceived gender inequality increases a suicide attempter's degree of suicide intent.