Gender-Related Schemas and Suicidality : Validation of the Male and Female Traditional Gender Scripts Questionnaires

Background: The issue of whether gender-related attitudes underlie the sex difference in suicide has been relatively unexplored. This study sought to validate questionnaires measuring traditional male and female gender scripts in order to test the hypothesis that scores on these questionnaires predict suicidality. Methods: The responses of 348 women and 170 men were analysed using factor analysis and hierarchical multiple regression. Results: After controlling for other variables, two male gender subscales predicted risk of suicidality (Fight & Win, P<.001; Mastery & Control, P<.042), and one female gender subscale predicted reduced risk of suicidality (Family Harmony, P<.003). Conclusions: These novel findings have implications for understanding and predicting suicidality in men and women, and may be valuable in the clinical context. keywords: suicidality; gender; social script; sex difference; questionnaire validation. introduction Although suicidal ideation is reported far more often by females than males in general three to four times more men commit suicide than women (17 vs 5.3 per 100 000; ONS, 2012). This represents a large sex difference in behaviour, yet explanations based on gender differences have received surprisingly little research attention. A Danish sample found that predictors of suicidal behavior were unemployment, retirement, being single and sickness absence. In addition, in UK samples, other predictors of suicide are being aged over 45, and deliberate self-harm, in both cases moreso in men than women. Besides being male, another the leading predictor of suicide in men and women is mental illness. An exception to the general gender/suicide rule is China, where high rates occur in women, especially impulsive suicides in young women in rural areas. This is said to be due to harsh economic and social conditions in these areas, and as the conditions have improved in recent years, so the female suicide rate has fallen. Despite the wealth of evidence showing that the strongest predictor of suicide is being male, there has been surprisingly little research exploring what it is about men that creates a vulnerability to suicide. The near absence of research on gender-based explanations for male suicide suggests that our culture has yet to become fully conscious of the possible influence of gender schemas in the suicide. There may be taboos around acknowledging male vulnerability which impede a gendered exploration of suicide. Such taboos may be enculturated through unwritten rules and social scripts about what it means to be masculine, and how ‘real men’ are supposed to behave. If this is the case, then such rules themselves need to be the subject of careful research so that their influence may be understood. As the most fundamental step towards elucidating this problem, it is therefore necessary to hypothesise what form such deep-seated masculinity rules might take. The present research attempts to do just this by validating a working definition of what the rules of masculinity might look like and testing this in the general population. This research also tests a hypothesized set of rules of femininity that may act as a buffer against suicidality. The aims of this study are to: 1/ Validate the two Gender Script Questionnaires and NEW MALE STUDIES: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ~ ISSN 1839-7816 ~ VOL. 3, ISSUE 3, 2014, PP. 34-54 © 2014 AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MALE HEALTH AND STUDIES. 35