Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-ktprf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-06T10:56:42.318Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Human suicide: a biological perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2010

Denys deCatanzaro
Denys deCatanzaro
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaL8S 4K1
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Human suicide presents a fundamental problem for the scientific analysis of behavior. This problem has been neither appreciated nor confronted by research and theory. Almost all other behavior exhibited by humans and nonhumans can be viewed as supporting the behaving organism's biological fitness and advancing the welfare of its genes. Yet suicide acts against these ends, and does so more directly and unequivocally than any other form of maladaptive behavior. Four heuristic models are presented here to account for suicide in an evolutionary and sociobiological framework. The first model attributes suicide to the extraordinary development of learning and cultural evolution in the human species. Learning may make human behavior so independent of biological constraints that it can occasionally assume a form entirely contrary to the principles of biological evolution. The second model attributes suicide to a breakdown of adaptive mechanisms in extremely stressful novel environments. The third model involves kin and group selection, arguing that in limited circumstances suicide may occur because of beneficial effects it has on other, surviving individuals who share the suicidal individual's genes. The last model suggests that suicide should be tolerated by evolution when it has no effect on the gene pool. This model holds particular promise in accounting for aspects of suicide not attributable to culture. The evidence indicates that suicide is most common in individuals who are unlikely to reproduce and unable to engage in productive activity; such individuals are least capable of promoting their genes. A complete explanation of suicide may derive only from an analysis of its biological significance.

Keywords

suicideself-destructionsociobiologyevolutionaltruismlife-threatening behavior

Information

Type
Target Article
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , June 1980 , pp. 265 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Akiskal, H. S., and McKinney, W. T. (1973) Depressive disorders: toward a unified hypothesis. Science 183:20–29. [HA]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akiskal, H. S., and McKinney, W. T. (1975) Overview of recent research in depression. Integration of ten conceptual models into a comprehensive clinical frame. Archives of General Psychiatry 32:285–305. [HA]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alexander, R. D. (1979) Evolution and culture. In Evolutionary biology and human social behavior: an anthropological perspective, ed. Chagnon, N. A. and Irons, W.. North Scituate, Mass.: Duxbury Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Anisman, H. (1978) Neurochemical changes elicited by stress: behavioral correlates. In Psychopharmacology of aversively motivated behavior, ed. Anisman, H. and Bignami, G.. New York: Plenum Press. [HA]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anisman, H.; Pizzino, A.; and Sklar, L. S. (1980, in press) Coping with stress, norepinephrine depletion and escape performance. Brain Research. [HA]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bachman, J. (1972) Self-injurious behavior: a behavioral analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 80:211–24. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baechler, Jean. (1979) Suicides. Trans. Cooper, Barry. New York: Basic Books. Originally published in 1975 as Les suicides. Paris: Caemann-Lëvy. [JDD]Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1971) Psychological modeling. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton. [DdC]Google Scholar
Barash, D. P. (1977) Sociobiology and behavior. New York: Elsevier. [DdC]Google Scholar
Barchas, J. D.; Akil, H.; Elliott, G. R.; Holman, R. B.; and Watson, S. J. (1978) Behavioral neurochemistry: neuroregulators and behavioral states. Science 200:964–73. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Batchelor, I. R. C. and Napier, M. B. (1953) Broken homes among attempted suicides. British Journal of Delinquency 4:99. [DdC]Google Scholar
Beck, A. T. (1967) Depression: clinical, experimental and theoretical aspects. New York: Harper and Row. [DdC]Google Scholar
Beck, A. T. (1972) Depression: cause and treatment. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. [RDW]Google Scholar
Beck, A. T. (1976) Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. New York: International Universities Press. [RDW]Google Scholar
Beck, A. T.; Kovacs, M.; and Weissman, A. (1975) Hopelessness and suicidal behavior: an overview. Journal of the American Medical Association 234:1146–49. [DdC, RDW]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A. T.; Rush, A. J.; Shaw, B. F.; and Emery, G. (1979) Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: The Guilford Press. [RDW]Google Scholar
Blest, A. D. (1963) Longevity, payability and natural selection in five species of New World Saturniid moth. Nature 197:1183–86. [WJH]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bogard, H. M. (1971) Collected thoughts of a suicidologist. In Identifying suicide potential, ed. Anderson, D. B. and McClean, L. J.. New York: Behavioral Publications. [DdC]Google Scholar
Breed, W. (1966) Suicide, migration, and race. Journal of Social Issues 22:30–43. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breed, W. (1972) Five components of a basic suicide syndrome. Life-Threatening Behavior 2:3–18. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlson, N. R. (1977) Physiology of behavior. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. [DdC]Google Scholar
Carr, E. G. (1977) The motivation of self-injurious behavior: a review of some hypotheses. Psychological Bulletin 84:800–816. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caspari, E. (1967) Gene action as applied to behavior. In Behavior - genetic analysis, ed. Hirsch, J.. New York: McGraw-Hill. [DdC]Google Scholar
Chagnon, N. A. (1979) Mate competition, favoring close kin, and village fissioning among the Yanomamö Indians. In Evolutionary biology and human social behavior: an anthropological perspective, ed. Chagnon, N. A. and Irons, W.. North Scituate, Mass.: Duxbury Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Clough, G. C. (1965) Lemmings and population problems. American Scientist 53:199–212. [DdC, WJH]Google Scholar
Conner, R. L. (1972) Hormones, biogenic amines, and aggression. In Hormones and behavior, ed. Levine, S.. New York: Academic Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Daly, M., and Wilson, M. (1978) Sex, evolution, and behavior. North Scituate, Mass.: Duxbury Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1976) The selfish gene. New York: Oxford University Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1979) Twelve misunderstandings of kin selection. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 51:184–200. [RD, DSW]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
deCatanzaro, D. (1978) Self-injurious behavior: a biological analysis. Motivation and Emotion 2:45–65. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
deCatanzaro, D. (1979) A reinterpretation of self-injurious behavior: a synergism of learning, physiological, and sociobiological factors. Manuscript submitted for publication. [DdC]Google Scholar
deCatanzaro, D., and Baldwin, G. (1978) Effective treatment of self-injurious behavior through a forced arm exercise. American Journal of Mental Deficiency 82:433–39. [DdC]Google ScholarPubMed
deCatanzaro, D., and Gorzalka, B. B. (1979) Stress and male sexual behavior. Manuscript submitted for publication. [DdC]Google Scholar
Demographic Yearbook-1976. (1977) New York: United Nations. [DdC]Google Scholar
deVos, G. A. (1968) Suicide in cross-cultural perspective. In Suicidal behaviors, ed. Resnik, H. L. P.. Boston: Little Brown and Co. [DdC]Google Scholar
Diggory, J. C. (1976) United States suicide rates, 1933–1968: an analysis of some trends. In Suicidology: contemporary developments, ed. Shneidman, E. S.. New York: Grune & Stratton. [DdC]Google Scholar
Dorpat, T. I.; Anderson, W. F.; and Ripley, H. S. (1968) The relationship of physical illness to suicide. In Suicidal behaviors, ed. Resnik, H. L. P.. Boston: Little Brown and Co. [DdC]Google Scholar
Douglas, Jack D., The social meanings of suicide. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press. [JDD]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Douglas, Jack D. (1971) American social order. New York: Free Press. [JDD]Google Scholar
Dublin, L. (1963) Suicide. New York: Ronald. [DdC]Google Scholar
Dublin, L., and Bunzel, B. (1933) To be or not to be. New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas. [DdC]Google Scholar
Durham, W. H. (1979) Toward a coevolutionary theory of human biology and culture. In Evolutionary biology and human social behavior: an anthropological perspective, ed. Chagnon, N. A. and Irons, W.. North Scituate, Mass.: Duxbury Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Durkheim, E. (1951) Suicide. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press. [DdC, LDH]Google Scholar
Farber, M. L. (1968) Theory of suicide. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. [DdC, MLF]Google Scholar
Farber, M. L. (1977) Factors determining the incidence of suicide within families. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 7:3–6. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farberow, N. L. (1972) Cultural history of suicide. In Suicide and attempted suicide, ed. Waldenstrom, J., Larsson, T. and Ljungstedt, N.. Stockholm: Nordiska Bokhandelns Forlag. [DdC]Google Scholar
Farberow, N. L. ed. (1975) Suicide in different cultures. Baltimore: University Park Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Ferrence, R. C; Jarvis, G. K.; Johnson, F. G.; and Whitehead, P. C. (1975) The self-injury patient: sociological and medical profiles and implications for prevention. In Self-destructive behavior, ed. Roberts, A. R.. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas. [DdC]Google Scholar
Freud, S. (1924) Beyond the pleasure principle. New York: Boni and Live-right. [DdC]Google Scholar
Frieden, G. (1978) Masochistic behavior as an outcome of role confusion. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Southern California. [GF]Google Scholar
Frieden, G., and Fraser, S. C. (1978) Inducing masochistic behavior: the pain of feeling low. Paper presented at a meeting of the Western Psychological Association, San Francisco. [GF]Google Scholar
Gallistel, C. R. (1973) Self-stimulation: the neurophysiology of reward and motivation. In The physiological basis of memory, ed. Deutsch, J. A.. New York: Academic Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Ganzler, S. (1967) Some interpersonal and social dimensions of suicidal behavior. Dissertation Abstracts 28B: 1192–93. [DdC]Google Scholar
Gershon, E. S. (1978) The search for genetic markers in affective disorders. In Psychopharmacology: a generation of progress, ed. Lipton, M. A., Di-Mascio, A., and Killam, K. F.. New York: Raven Press. [HA]Google Scholar
Gershon, E. S.; Bunney, W. E. Jr; Leckman, J. F.; Van Eerdewegh, M.; and DeBauche, B. A. (1976) The inheritance of affective disorders: a review of data and of hypotheses. Behavior Genetics 6:227–61. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ghiselin, M. T. (1974) The economy of nature and the evolution of sex. Berkeley: University of California Press. [DSW]Google Scholar
Goodall, J. (1979) Life and death at Combe. National Geographic 155:592–621. [DdC]Google Scholar
Gorzalka, B. B., and Mogenson, G. J. (1977) Sexual behavior. In The neurobiology of behavior: an introduction, ed. Mogenson, G. J.. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [DdC]Google Scholar
Hamilton, W. D. (1964) The genetical evolution of social behavior. Journal of Theoretical Biology 7:1–16. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, W. D. (1970) Selfish and spiteful behaviour in an evolutionary model. Nature 228:1218–20. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, W. D. (1971) Selection of selfish and altruistic behavior in some extreme models. In Man and beast: comparative social behavior, ed. Eisenberg, J. F. and Dillon, W. S.. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. [DdC]Google Scholar
Honkoff, L. D. (1961) An epidemic of attempted suicide. Comprehensive Psychiatry 2:294–98. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Headley, L. (1975) Jewish suicide in Israel. In Suicide in different cultures, ed. Farberow, N. L.. Baltimore: University Park Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Hellon, C. P., and Solomon, M. I. (in press) Suicide and age in Alberta, 1951–1977: a cohort analysis. Archives of General Psychiatry. [RDW]Google Scholar
Hendin, W. (1976). Growing up dead: student suicide. In Suicidology: contemporary developments, ed. Shneidman, E. S.. New York: Grune & Stratton. [DdC]Google Scholar
Henry, A. F., and Short, J. F. (1954) Suicide and homicide. New York: Free Press. [DL]Google Scholar
Herskowitz, I. H. (1973) Principles of genetics. New York: Macmillan. [DdC]Google Scholar
Hinde, R. A., and Stevenson-Hinde, J., eds. (1973) Constraints on learning. New York: Academic Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Irons, W. (1979) Natural selection, adaptation, and human social behavior. In Evolutionary biology and human social behavior: an anthropological perspective, ed. Chagnon, N. A. and Irons, W.. North Scituate, Mass.: Duxbury Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Jacobs, J. (1971) Adolescent suicide. New York: Wiley. [DdC]Google Scholar
Jonas, A. D., and Jonas, D. F. (1975) An evolutionary context for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin 2:33–41. [DL]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalela, O. (1962) On the fluctuations of the numbers of arctic and boveal small rodents as a problem of production biology. Annales Academiae Scientarum Fennicae A IV, 66:1–38. [WJH]Google Scholar
Kallman, F. J. (1949) Suicide in twins and only children. American Journal of Human Genetics 1:113–26. [DdC]Google Scholar
Kaplan, H. B., and Pokorny, A. D. (1976) Self-attitudes and suicidal behavior. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 6:23–25. [DdC, GF]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kiev, A. (1977) The suicidal patient: recognition and management. Chicago: Nelson-Hall. [DdC]Google Scholar
King, M. C., and Wilson, A. C. (1975a) Evolution at two levels in humans and chimpanzees. Science 188:107–16. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, M. C., and Wilson, A. C. (1975b) Our close cousin, the chimpanzee. New Scientist 67:16–18. [DdC]Google Scholar
Kreitman, N. (1977) Parasuicide. New York: Wiley. [DdC]Google Scholar
Kvetňanský, R.; Mitro, A.; Palkovits, M.; Brownstein, M.; Torda, T.; Vigas, M.; and Mikulaj, L. (1976) Catecholamines in individual hypothalamic nuclei in stressed rats. In Catecholamines and stress, ed. Usdin, E., Kveňanský, R., and Kopin, I. J.. Oxford: Pergamon Press. [HA]Google Scholar
Laing, R. D. (1967) The politics of experience. New York: Ballantine. [DL]Google Scholar
Leese, S. M. (1969) Suicide behavior in twenty adolescents. British Journal of Psychiatry 115:479–80. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lesch, M., and Nyhan, W. L. (1964) A familial disorder of uric acid metabolism and central nervous system function. American Journal of Medicine 36:561. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lester, D. (1968) Note on the inheritance of suicide. Psychological Reports 22:320. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lester, D. (1972) Why people kill themselves. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas. [DdC, MPD, DL]Google Scholar
Lester, D. (1977) Bereavement and suicide: a positive perspective. In Suicide and bereavement, ed. Danto, B. L. and Kutscher, A. H., pp. 194–98. New York: MSS. [DL]Google Scholar
Levenson, M. (1974) Cognitive correlates of suicidal risk. In Psychological assessment of suicidal risk, ed. Neuringer, C.. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas. [DdC, RDW]Google Scholar
Levine, S. (1976) Stress and behavior. In Progress in psychobiology, ed. Thompson, R. F.. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company. [DdC]Google Scholar
Levins, R. (1968) Evolution in changing environments. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. [DSW]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linden, L. L., and Breed, W. (1976) The demographic epidemiology of suicide. In Suicidology: contemporary developments, ed. Shneidman, E. S.. New York: Grune & Stratton. [DdC]Google Scholar
Lingens, E. (1972) Suicide in extreme situations. In Suicide and attempted suicide, ed. Waldenstrom, J., Larsson, T. and Ljungstedt, N.. Stockholm: Nordiska Bokhandelns Forlag. [DdC]Google Scholar
McCulloch, J. W., and Philip, A. E. (1972) Suicidal behavior. New York: Pergamon Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. (1964) Group selection and kin selection. Nature 20:1145–47. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. (1978) The evolution of behavior. Scientific American 239:176–92. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayr, E. (1963) Populations, species, and evolution. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. [DSW]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medawar, P. B. (1957) The uniqueness of the individual. London: Methuen. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menninger, K. (1938) Man against himself. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World. [DdC]Google Scholar
Minkoff, K., Bergman, E., Beck, A. T., and Beck, R. (1973) Hopelessness, depression, and attempted suicide. American Journal of Psychiatry 130:455–459. [RDW]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Modigh, K. (1976) Influence of social stress on brain catecholamine mechanisms. In Catecholamines and stress, ed. Usdin, E., Kvetňanský, R. and Kopin, I. J.. Oxford: Pergamon Press. [HA]Google Scholar
Mogenson, G. J., and Phillips, A. G. (1976) Motivation: a psychological construct in search of a physiological substrate. In Progress in psychobiology and physiological psychology, vol. 6, ed. Sprague, J. M. and Epstein, A. N.. New York: Academic Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Murphy, D. L.; Campbell, I.; and Costa, J. L. (1978) Current status of the indoleamine hypothesis of the affective disorders. In Psychopharmacology: a generation of progress, ed. Lipton, M. A., DiMascio, A. and Killam, K. F.. New York: Raven Press. [HA, DdC]Google Scholar
Murphy, G. E., and Wetzel, R. D. (in press) Suicide risk by birth cohort in the United States, 1949–1974. Archives of General Psychiatry. [RDW]Google Scholar
Neuringer, C. (1962) Methodological problems in suicide research. Journal of Consulting Psychology 26:273–78. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neuringer, C. (1968) Divergencies between attitudes toward life and death among suicidal psychosomatic and normal hospital patients. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 32:59–63. [RDW]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neuringer, C. (1973) Attitude toward self in suicidal individuals. Life-Threatening Behavior 4:96–106. [RDW]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neuringer, C. (1974) Self and other appraisals by suicidal psychosomatic and normal hospitalized patients. Journal of Consulting Clinical Psychology 42:306. [RDW]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neuringer, C. (1976) Current developments in the study of suicidal thinking. In Suicidology: contemporary developments, ed. Shneidman, E. S.. New York: Grune & Stratton. [DdC, RDW]Google Scholar
Neuringer, C., and Lettieri, D. J. (1971) Cognitions, attitudes and affect in suicidal individuals. Life-Threatening Behavior 1:106–24. [RDW]Google Scholar
Nevin, J. A., and Reynolds, G. S., eds. (1973) The study of behavior. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman, and Company. [DdC]Google Scholar
Osmond, H., and Hoffer, A. (n.d.) A comprehensive theory of schizophrenia. [DL]Google Scholar
Otto, U. (1972) Suicidal behaviour in childhood and adolescence. In Suicide and attempted suicide, ed. Waldenstrom, J., Larsson, T. and Ljungstedt, N.. Stockholm: Nordiska Bokhandelns Forlag. [DdC]Google Scholar
Pare, C. M. B., and Mack, J. W. (1971) Differentiation of two genetically specific types of depression by the response to anti-depressants. Journal of Medical Genetics 8:306. [DCB]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, C. E. (1978) Selfish genes, evolutionary games, and the adaptiveness of behaviour. Nature 274:849–55. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillips, D. P. (1974) The influence of suggestion on suicide: substantive and theoretical implications of the Werther effect. American Sociological Review 39:340–54. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pokorny, A. D. (1974) A scheme for classifying suicidal behaviors. In The prediction of suicide, ed. Beck, A. T., Resnik, H. L. P. and Lettieri, D. J.. Bowie, Md.: Charles Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Renner, K. E., and Tinsley, J. B. (1976) Self-punitive behavior. In The psychology of learning and motivation - advances in research and theory, ed. Bower, G. H., pp. 155–98. New York: Academic Press. [GF]Google Scholar
Richman, J. (1971) Family determinants of suicide potential. In Identifying suicide potential, ed. Anderson, D. B. and McClean, L. J.. New York: Behavioral Publications. [DdC]Google Scholar
Ridley, M., and Dawkins, R. (in press) The natural selection of altruism. In Altruism and helping behaviour, ed. Rushton, J. P. and Sorrentino, R. M.. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [RD]Google Scholar
Ritter, S., and Pelzer, N. L. (1978) Magnitude of stress-induced brain norepinephrine depletion varies with age. Brain Research 152:170. [HA]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, A. R., ed. (1975) Self-destructive behavior. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas. [DdC]Google Scholar
Sainsbury, P. (1955) Suicide in London. London: Chapman & Hall. [DdC, RDW]Google Scholar
Schildkraut, J. J. (1978) Current status of the catecholamine hypothesis of affective disorders. In Psychopharmacology: a generation of progress, ed. Lipton, M. A., DiMascio, A. and Killam, K. F.. New York: Raven Press. [HA]Google Scholar
Schildkraut, J. J., and Kety, S. S. (1967) Biogenic amines and emotion. Science 156:21–30. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schneider, E. V. (1953) Sociological concepts and psychiatric research. In Interrelations between the social environment and psychiatric disorder. New York: Milbank Memorial Fund. [DdC]Google Scholar
Selye, H. (1973) The evolution of the stress concept. American Scientist 61:692–99. [DdC]Google ScholarPubMed
Shaffer, D. (1974) Suicide in childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 15:275–91. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shapiro, A. M. (1975) Beau Geste? American Naturalist 109:900–02. [WJH]Google Scholar
Shneidman, E. S. (1957) The logic of suicide. In Clues to suicide, ed. Shneidman, E. S. and Farberow, N. L.. New York: McGraw-Hill. [DdC]Google Scholar
Shneidman, E. S. (1968) Classifications of suicidal phenomena. Bulletin of Suicidology 2:1–9. [DdC]Google Scholar
Shneidman, E. S. (1969) Prologue. In On the nature of suicide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Shneidman, E. S. (1976a) Current overview of suicide. In Suicidology: contemporary developments, ed. Shneidman, E. S.. New York: Grune & Stratton. [DdC]Google Scholar
Shneidman, E. S. (1976b) Suicide among the gifted. In Suicidology: contemporary developments, ed. Shneidman, E. S.. New York: Grune & Stratton. [DdC]Google Scholar
Shneidman, E. S. (1976c) Suicide notes reconsidered. In Suicidology: contemporary developments, ed. Shneidman, E. S.. New York: Grune & Stratton. [DdC]Google Scholar
Skinner, B. F. (1969) Contingencies of reinforcement: a theoretical analysis. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. [DdC, WJH]Google Scholar
Slater, M. K. (1959) Ecological factors in the origin of incest. American Anthropologist 61:1042–59. [DL]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanley, S. M. (1975) A theory of evolution above the species level. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 72:646–50. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stein, L. (1978) Reward transmitters: catecholamines and opioid peptides. In Psychopharmacology: a generation of progress, ed. Lipton, M. A., DiMascio, A. and Killam, K. F.. New York: Raven Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Stearns, S. C. (1976) Life history tactics, a review of the ideas. Quarterly Review of Biology 51:3–47. [DSW]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stengel, E. (1973) Suicide and attempted suicide. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. [DdC, RDW]Google Scholar
Stone, E. A. (1975) Stress and catecholamines. In Catecholamines and behavior, vol. 2, ed. Friedhoff, A. J.. New York: Plenum Press. [HA]Google Scholar
Stretch, R.; Orloff, E. R.; and Dalrymple, S. D. (1968) Maintenance of responding by fixed-interval schedule of electric shock presentation in squirrel monkeys. Science 162:583–86. [GF]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tabachnick, N. (1970) The crisis treatment of suicide. California Medicine 112(6): 1–8. [DL]Google Scholar
Temoche, A.; Pugh, T. F.; and MacMahon, B. (1964) Suicide rates among current and former mental institution patients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders 138:124–30. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Toolman, J. M. (1968) Suicide in childhood and adolescence. In Suicidal behaviors, ed. Resnik, H. L. P.. Boston: Little Brown and Co. [DdC]Google Scholar
Tripodes, P. (1976) Reasoning patterns in suicide notes. In Suicidology: contemporary developments, ed. Shneidman, E. S.. New York: Grune & Stratton. [DdC]Google Scholar
Trivers, R. L. (1971) The evolution of reciprocal altruism. Quarterly Review of Biology 46:35–57. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trivers, R. L. (1972) Parental investment and sexual selection. In Sexual selection and the descent of man, ed. Campbell, B.. Chicago: Aldine. [WJH]Google Scholar
Venkoba Rao, A. (1975) Suicide in India. In Suicide in different cultures, ed. Farberow, N. L.. Baltimore: University Park Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Wade, M. J. (1978) A critical review of the models of group selection. Quarterly Review of Biology 53:101–14. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Washburn, S. L. (1978) Human behavior and the behavior of other animals. American Psychologist 33:405–18. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weil-Maherbe, H. (1972) The biochemistry of affective disorders. In Handbook of neurochemistry, vol. 7, ed. Lathja, A.. New York: Plenum Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Weiss, J. M. A. (1968) Suicide in the aged. In Suicidal behaviors, ed. Resnik, H. L. P.. Boston: Little Brown and Co. [DdC]Google Scholar
Weiss, J. M.; Glazer, H. I.; and Pohorecky, L. A. (1976) Coping behavior and neurochemical changes: an alternative explanation for the original “Learned Helplessness” experiments. In Animal models in human psychobiology, ed. Serban, G. and Kling, A.. New York: Plenum Press. [HA]Google Scholar
Welch, B. L., and Welch, A. S. (1970) Control of brain catecholamines and serotonin during acute stress and after d-amphetamine by natural inhibition of monoamine oxidase: an hypothesis. In Amphetamines and related compounds, ed. Costa, E. and Garattini, S.. New York: Raven Press. [HA]Google Scholar
Wetzel, R. D. (1975a) Ratings of life and death and suicide intent. Psychological Reports 27:879–85. [RDW]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wetzel, R. D. (1975b) Self-concept and suicide intent. Psychological Reports 36:279–82. [RDW]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wetzel, R. D. (1976a) Hopelessness, depression, and suicide intent. Archives of General Psychiatry 33:1069–73. [RDW]CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wetzel, R. D. (1976b) Semantic differential ratings of concepts and suicide intent. Journal of Clinical Psychology 32:4–12. [RDW]3.0.CO;2-H>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wetzel, R. D., and Murphy, G. E. (in preparation) A model to predict future suicide rates in the United States. [RDW]Google Scholar
Wetzel, R. D., Margulies, T., Davis, R., and Karam, E. (in press) Depression, hopelessness and suicide intent. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. [RDW]Google Scholar
Wiens, J. A. (1971) On group selection and Wynne-Edwards' hypothesis. In Natural regulation of animal populations, ed. McClaren, I. A.. New York: Atherton Press. [DdC]Google Scholar
Williams, G. C. (1957) Pleiotropy, natural selection, and the evolution of senescence. Evolution 11:398–411. [DdC, RD]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, D. S. (1980) The natural selection of populations and communities. Menlo Park, Calif.: Benjamin/Cummings. [DSW]Google Scholar
Wilson, E. O. (1971) The insect societies. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap. [DdC]Google Scholar
Wilson, E. O. (1975) Sociobiology. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap. [DdC, JDD, WJH]Google Scholar
Wilson, E. O. (1978) On Human Nature, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. [JDD]Google ScholarPubMed
Winokur, G. (1978) Mania and depression: family studies and genetics in relation to treatment. In Psychopharmacology: a generation of progress, ed. Lipton, M. A., DiMascio, A. and Killam, K. F.. New York: Raven Press. [HA]Google Scholar
Worden, J. W. (1976) Lethality factors and the suicide attempt. In Suicidology: contemporary developments, ed. Shneidman, E. S.. New York: Grune & Stratton. [DdC]Google Scholar
Wright, S. (1922) Coefficients of interbreeding and relationship. American Naturalist 56:330–39. [DdC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wynne-Edwards, V. C. (1962) Animal dispersion in relation to social behaviour. New York: Hafner. [DdC]Google Scholar
Wynne-Edwards, V. C. (1971) Self-regulating systems in populations of animals. In Natural regulation of animal populations, ed. McClaren, I. A.. New York: Atherton Press. [DdC]Google Scholar