THE RELATIONSHIP RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION AND SUICIDE: A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AT THE GLOBAL LEVEL

Abstract

Although there is a vast literature on the nexus between religion and suicide, there is yet no study that examines the relationship between religious affiliation and suicide rate at the global level. Besides, there is scarce empirical literature that investigates the influence of Islam, Christianity, and its denominations on suicide. In order to address fill these gaps, this article explores the relationship between religious affiliation and the suicide rate in all countries around the world. By constructing a comprehensive dataset through the Association of Religion Data Archives and the World Health Organization, we look at the relationship between religiously affiliated populations and suicide rates, then consider the homogenized religious affiliation index (HRAI), in order to measure the impact of religious affiliation on suicide rate at the country level. Our analysis shows that, as the Islamic population increases, the suicide rate decreases, whereas as the Christian population increases, the suicide rate increases. Nevertheless, HRAI is negatively related to the suicide rate. Furthermore, the analysis on the denominations ascertains that Catholicism is more likely to decrease the suicide rate than Protestantism. Finally, it is shown that religious commitment is more significant than religious practice and affiliation in decreasing the suicide rate.