Psychological Reports, 1990, 67, 307-310.
63 Psychological Reports 1990
RATIONAL SUICIDE: A TEST O F T H E PRESCRIPTIONS O F EPICURUS CONCERNING SUICIDE ' EUGENE W. MATHES Wextern Illinois UniversiQ Summary.-The purpose of this research was to test the hypothesis that the individual who believes death is the end and who expects to experience more displeasure than pleasure over the remainder of his life will choose suicide. College students (N=272) completed questionnaires measuring their beliefs about after-life, expectations of pleasure and displeasure should certain negative events happen to them, and expectations of suicide should these negative events happen to them. Support was not found for the hypothesis. The students who believed that death was the end stated that they would choose to live even if negative events promised them a life of greater displeasure than pleasure.
Epicurus (DeLaguna, 1914) suggested that the purpose of life is the pursuit of pleasure. He also believed that death involved the end of experiencing. If an individual expects to experience more displeasure than pleasure over the remainder of his life, it may be rational to commit suicide. The purpose of this research was to test the extent to which people today endorse the thinking of Epicurus. STUDYI This study tested the hypothesis that people w i l state that they would choose to kill themselves if they expect to experience more displeasure than pleasure over the remainder of their lives. Method Subjects.-Thirty-six men and 50 women students enrolled in university psychology courses participated. Their average age was 22.0 yr. (SD = 3.0) for the men and 2 1.9 (SD = 3.2) for the women. The average year in college was 3.1 (SD = .7) for the men and 3.1 (SD = .9) for the women. Subjects were primarily Caucasian and from middle-class backgrounds. They received course credit for participating. Procedure.-Subjects completed two 20-item questionnaires, the Suicide Questionnaire and the Displeasure Questionnaire. Each item of the Suicide Questionnaire presented a negative event, and then the respondent was asked whether he would kill himself if the event happened to him. The following item is an example: "If I had a leg amputated, I would kill myself." Responses were made on a five-point scale ranging from "Definitely False"
'Reprint requests should be sent to Eugene W. Mathes, Psychology Department, Western LUinois Universiry, Macomb, IL 61455.
308
E. W. MATHES
(1) to "Definitely True" (5). Total scores were computed by summing over items. The Displeasure Questionnaire presented the same negative events but asked the respondent whether the remainder of his life would contain more displeasure or pleasure if the event happened to him. The following item is an example: "If I had a leg amputated, the rest of my life would contain more displeasure than pleasure." Responses were made on a five-point scale ranging from "Definitely False" (1) to "Definitely True" (5). Total scores were computed by summing over items. At this point the suicide and the displeasure questionnaires have face vahdity only. Approximately half of the subjects completed the Suicide Questionnaire first while the other half filled out the Displeasure Quesrionnaire first to assess whether order of presentation had an effect.
Results and Discussion To estimate internal consistency reliability of the two questionnaires coefficient alpha was computed for each. The reliability of the Suicide Questionnaire was .89 for men and .92 for women. Alpha for the Displeasure Questionnaire was .91 for men and .93 for women. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance for sex x order of questionnaire presentation (suicide first, displeasure first) x questionnaire (suicide, displeasure). The null hypothesis predicted a nonsignificant effect for questionnaire but, contrary to prediction, a significant effect was observed (F1,78 = 29.9, p < .0001). The average score on the Suicide Questionnaire was 36.70 (SD = 10.9) while the average score on the Displeasure Questionnaire was 77.4 (SD = 14.2). Subjects stated that they would not commit suicide even though they anticipated lives of more displeasure than pleasure. (The neutral point on the scales is 60.) Even so, scores on the suicide and displeasure scales correlated (Pearson product-moment) .33 ( p < .05) for men and .40 ( p < .005) for women, suggesting that suicide and displeasure are not entirely independent of each other. No other significant main effects or interactions were found, so support was not forthcoming for the hypothesis that people today endorse the thinking of Epicurus on the purpose of life. STUDYI1 Why was no support found for Epicurus' concept of rational suicide? One reason may be that the subjects did not believe that death is the end, i.e., that at death experiencing ceases. To test this possibility, Study I was replicated with the addition of a measure of people's beliefs concerning the afterlife. It was hypothesized that suicide and displeasure scores would be equivalent (i.e., not significantly different) for those subjects who believe that death involves the end of experiencing. Method Subjects.-Seventy-four
men and 112 women students taking university
RATIONAL SUICIDE
309
psychology courses participated. The average age was 20.8 yr. (SD = 4.7) for the men and 20.6 yr. (SD = 5.0) for the women. The average years in college were 2.2 yr. (SD = 1.2) for the men and 2.4 yr. (SD = 1.3) for the women. Subjects were primarily Caucasian and from middle-class backgrounds. They received course credit for participating. Procedure.-Subjects completed the suicide, displeasure, and afterlife questionnaires. The Afterlife Questionnaire contained the following question and possible responses: What best characterizes your understanding of the afterlife? (1) There is no afterlife. When you die consciousness ceases and your body decays. (2) After death there will be a final judgment. Those who have accepted Christ as saviour will go to Heaven, those who have not will go to Hell. (3) After death everyone wd go to a better place than this earth. (4) After death reincarnation will take place and the individual will go through life again. (5) Other, please specify. The Afterlife Questionnaire is an intuitively constructed measure with face validity only. Approximately half of the subjects completed the Suicide Questionnaire first while the other half completed the Displeasure Questionnaire first. All subjects filled out the Afterlife Questionnaire last. Results The number of subjects in each of the five afterlife belief categories as specified by the Afterlife Questionnaire was as follows: no afterlife 8, final judgment 117, better place 23, reincarnation 11, other 27. Since this questionnaire is a single-item measure, given only once, its internal consistency or test-retest reliability could not be computed. I t was not possible to do a sex x order of questionnaire presentation (suicide first, displeasure first) x afterlife belief x questionnaire (suicide, displeasure) analysis of variance because one cell contained only one subject. Since sex and order of questionnaire presentation had no effects in Study I, it was decided that they would be excluded from the analysis of variance for Study I1 if preliminary analysis yielded no significant main effects. Significant main effects were not found for either sex or order of questionnaires so the data were analyzed by means of an afterlife beliefs x questionnaire (suicide, displeasure) analysis of variance. An interaction between afterlife beliefs and questionnaire was predicted but not found. Instead, a main effect for questionnaire was again noted (F,,L,I = 283.47, p < .0001). Even subjects who agreed with Epicurus that death involves the end of experiencing stated that, although they anticipated a future of displeasure (M = 71.1, SD = 14.5), they would not kill themselves (M = 44.1, SD = 21.9). Further, subjects who believed that everyone goes to a better place after death stated that, although they anticipated a future of displeasure (M = 63.9, SD = 15.3), they would not kill themselves (M = 39.2, SD = 21.9). Similar differences were found for the other afterlife belief categories: for final judgment,
310
E. W. MATHES
M = 69.1, SD
= 14.3 vs M = 37.6, SD = 11.7 and for reincarnation, M = 64.1, SD = 18.7 vs M = 35.9, SD = 9.6; and for others M = 64.9, SD = 15.3 vs 36.7, SD = 10.8.
How are these results from ordinary students to be interpreted? Taking the data at face value, there are several possibilities. One interpretation is that Epicurus was right but these data do not support his thinking because the subjects who stated that death involves the end of experiencing did not believe this sufficiently strongly to act on it. This interpretation does not seem likely. If lack of conviction was the problem, at least a trend in the hypothesized direction should have been observed but it was not. A second interpretation is that people are irrational, that is, the subjects could not figure out that, if pleasure were the purpose of life and the individual anticipates a life of displeasure, he should choose death because it allows him at least to break even. This interpretation does not seem likely either. The reasoning is too simple to be beyond the range of college students. A third interpretation is that contrary to Epicurus and the other hedonists, pleasure is not seen as the purpose of life. Perhaps the purpose of life is survival (Skinner, 1971) or the pursuit of meaning (Frankl, 1963), or self-actualization (Maslow, 1970; Perls, 1970; Rogers, 1961), or something else. REFERENCES DELAGUNA, T. (1914) Inhodiiction to the science ofethics. New York: Macmillan. FRANKL, V. E. (1963) Man's search for meaning. New York: Washington Square PRSS. MASLOW, A. H . (1970) Motiuation and personali~.(2nd ed.) New York: Harper & Row. PERLS,F. S. (1970) In and out of the garbage pail. New York: Bantam. ROGERS,C. R. (1961) On becoming a person. Boston, MA: Houghton Miffhn. SKINNER,B. F. (1971) Beyandfreedom and d i g n i ~ New . York: Bantam. Accepted July 20, 1990.
63 Psychological Reports 1990
RATIONAL SUICIDE: A TEST O F T H E PRESCRIPTIONS O F EPICURUS CONCERNING SUICIDE ' EUGENE W. MATHES Wextern Illinois UniversiQ Summary.-The purpose of this research was to test the hypothesis that the individual who believes death is the end and who expects to experience more displeasure than pleasure over the remainder of his life will choose suicide. College students (N=272) completed questionnaires measuring their beliefs about after-life, expectations of pleasure and displeasure should certain negative events happen to them, and expectations of suicide should these negative events happen to them. Support was not found for the hypothesis. The students who believed that death was the end stated that they would choose to live even if negative events promised them a life of greater displeasure than pleasure.
Epicurus (DeLaguna, 1914) suggested that the purpose of life is the pursuit of pleasure. He also believed that death involved the end of experiencing. If an individual expects to experience more displeasure than pleasure over the remainder of his life, it may be rational to commit suicide. The purpose of this research was to test the extent to which people today endorse the thinking of Epicurus. STUDYI This study tested the hypothesis that people w i l state that they would choose to kill themselves if they expect to experience more displeasure than pleasure over the remainder of their lives. Method Subjects.-Thirty-six men and 50 women students enrolled in university psychology courses participated. Their average age was 22.0 yr. (SD = 3.0) for the men and 2 1.9 (SD = 3.2) for the women. The average year in college was 3.1 (SD = .7) for the men and 3.1 (SD = .9) for the women. Subjects were primarily Caucasian and from middle-class backgrounds. They received course credit for participating. Procedure.-Subjects completed two 20-item questionnaires, the Suicide Questionnaire and the Displeasure Questionnaire. Each item of the Suicide Questionnaire presented a negative event, and then the respondent was asked whether he would kill himself if the event happened to him. The following item is an example: "If I had a leg amputated, I would kill myself." Responses were made on a five-point scale ranging from "Definitely False"
'Reprint requests should be sent to Eugene W. Mathes, Psychology Department, Western LUinois Universiry, Macomb, IL 61455.
308
E. W. MATHES
(1) to "Definitely True" (5). Total scores were computed by summing over items. The Displeasure Questionnaire presented the same negative events but asked the respondent whether the remainder of his life would contain more displeasure or pleasure if the event happened to him. The following item is an example: "If I had a leg amputated, the rest of my life would contain more displeasure than pleasure." Responses were made on a five-point scale ranging from "Definitely False" (1) to "Definitely True" (5). Total scores were computed by summing over items. At this point the suicide and the displeasure questionnaires have face vahdity only. Approximately half of the subjects completed the Suicide Questionnaire first while the other half filled out the Displeasure Quesrionnaire first to assess whether order of presentation had an effect.
Results and Discussion To estimate internal consistency reliability of the two questionnaires coefficient alpha was computed for each. The reliability of the Suicide Questionnaire was .89 for men and .92 for women. Alpha for the Displeasure Questionnaire was .91 for men and .93 for women. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance for sex x order of questionnaire presentation (suicide first, displeasure first) x questionnaire (suicide, displeasure). The null hypothesis predicted a nonsignificant effect for questionnaire but, contrary to prediction, a significant effect was observed (F1,78 = 29.9, p < .0001). The average score on the Suicide Questionnaire was 36.70 (SD = 10.9) while the average score on the Displeasure Questionnaire was 77.4 (SD = 14.2). Subjects stated that they would not commit suicide even though they anticipated lives of more displeasure than pleasure. (The neutral point on the scales is 60.) Even so, scores on the suicide and displeasure scales correlated (Pearson product-moment) .33 ( p < .05) for men and .40 ( p < .005) for women, suggesting that suicide and displeasure are not entirely independent of each other. No other significant main effects or interactions were found, so support was not forthcoming for the hypothesis that people today endorse the thinking of Epicurus on the purpose of life. STUDYI1 Why was no support found for Epicurus' concept of rational suicide? One reason may be that the subjects did not believe that death is the end, i.e., that at death experiencing ceases. To test this possibility, Study I was replicated with the addition of a measure of people's beliefs concerning the afterlife. It was hypothesized that suicide and displeasure scores would be equivalent (i.e., not significantly different) for those subjects who believe that death involves the end of experiencing. Method Subjects.-Seventy-four
men and 112 women students taking university
RATIONAL SUICIDE
309
psychology courses participated. The average age was 20.8 yr. (SD = 4.7) for the men and 20.6 yr. (SD = 5.0) for the women. The average years in college were 2.2 yr. (SD = 1.2) for the men and 2.4 yr. (SD = 1.3) for the women. Subjects were primarily Caucasian and from middle-class backgrounds. They received course credit for participating. Procedure.-Subjects completed the suicide, displeasure, and afterlife questionnaires. The Afterlife Questionnaire contained the following question and possible responses: What best characterizes your understanding of the afterlife? (1) There is no afterlife. When you die consciousness ceases and your body decays. (2) After death there will be a final judgment. Those who have accepted Christ as saviour will go to Heaven, those who have not will go to Hell. (3) After death everyone wd go to a better place than this earth. (4) After death reincarnation will take place and the individual will go through life again. (5) Other, please specify. The Afterlife Questionnaire is an intuitively constructed measure with face validity only. Approximately half of the subjects completed the Suicide Questionnaire first while the other half completed the Displeasure Questionnaire first. All subjects filled out the Afterlife Questionnaire last. Results The number of subjects in each of the five afterlife belief categories as specified by the Afterlife Questionnaire was as follows: no afterlife 8, final judgment 117, better place 23, reincarnation 11, other 27. Since this questionnaire is a single-item measure, given only once, its internal consistency or test-retest reliability could not be computed. I t was not possible to do a sex x order of questionnaire presentation (suicide first, displeasure first) x afterlife belief x questionnaire (suicide, displeasure) analysis of variance because one cell contained only one subject. Since sex and order of questionnaire presentation had no effects in Study I, it was decided that they would be excluded from the analysis of variance for Study I1 if preliminary analysis yielded no significant main effects. Significant main effects were not found for either sex or order of questionnaires so the data were analyzed by means of an afterlife beliefs x questionnaire (suicide, displeasure) analysis of variance. An interaction between afterlife beliefs and questionnaire was predicted but not found. Instead, a main effect for questionnaire was again noted (F,,L,I = 283.47, p < .0001). Even subjects who agreed with Epicurus that death involves the end of experiencing stated that, although they anticipated a future of displeasure (M = 71.1, SD = 14.5), they would not kill themselves (M = 44.1, SD = 21.9). Further, subjects who believed that everyone goes to a better place after death stated that, although they anticipated a future of displeasure (M = 63.9, SD = 15.3), they would not kill themselves (M = 39.2, SD = 21.9). Similar differences were found for the other afterlife belief categories: for final judgment,
310
E. W. MATHES
M = 69.1, SD
= 14.3 vs M = 37.6, SD = 11.7 and for reincarnation, M = 64.1, SD = 18.7 vs M = 35.9, SD = 9.6; and for others M = 64.9, SD = 15.3 vs 36.7, SD = 10.8.
How are these results from ordinary students to be interpreted? Taking the data at face value, there are several possibilities. One interpretation is that Epicurus was right but these data do not support his thinking because the subjects who stated that death involves the end of experiencing did not believe this sufficiently strongly to act on it. This interpretation does not seem likely. If lack of conviction was the problem, at least a trend in the hypothesized direction should have been observed but it was not. A second interpretation is that people are irrational, that is, the subjects could not figure out that, if pleasure were the purpose of life and the individual anticipates a life of displeasure, he should choose death because it allows him at least to break even. This interpretation does not seem likely either. The reasoning is too simple to be beyond the range of college students. A third interpretation is that contrary to Epicurus and the other hedonists, pleasure is not seen as the purpose of life. Perhaps the purpose of life is survival (Skinner, 1971) or the pursuit of meaning (Frankl, 1963), or self-actualization (Maslow, 1970; Perls, 1970; Rogers, 1961), or something else. REFERENCES DELAGUNA, T. (1914) Inhodiiction to the science ofethics. New York: Macmillan. FRANKL, V. E. (1963) Man's search for meaning. New York: Washington Square PRSS. MASLOW, A. H . (1970) Motiuation and personali~.(2nd ed.) New York: Harper & Row. PERLS,F. S. (1970) In and out of the garbage pail. New York: Bantam. ROGERS,C. R. (1961) On becoming a person. Boston, MA: Houghton Miffhn. SKINNER,B. F. (1971) Beyandfreedom and d i g n i ~ New . York: Bantam. Accepted July 20, 1990.
