Attitudinal and Structural Predictors of the Gender Gap in Suicide: An Exploratory Analysis of Nine European Countries, 1975–1987

Abstract

Following Hagan, Gillis, and Simpson (1985), Hagan, Simpson, and Gillis (1987), and Girard (1993), we introduce a measure of egalitarian political attitudes that reflect gender differences in socialization that may affect adult suicidal behavior. Past efforts to explain national differences in the gender gap in suicide rates have not determined how the different determinants of male and female suicide rates cause the gender gap to vary among nations. We present a methodology that allows one to measure, one at a time, the impact of multiple predictors of societal integration on the gender gap. Data from nine European countries are used to illustrate this methodology.