Keyword search (4,163 papers available)

"Gad Saad" Authored Publications:

Title Authors PubMed ID
1 Sex differences in OCD symptomatology: an evolutionary perspective Gad Saad 16828981
JMSB
2 Suicide triggers as sex-specific threats in domains of evolutionary import: negative correlation between global male-to-female suicide ratios and average per capita gross national income Gad Saad 17011714
JMSB
3 Munchausen by proxy: the dark side of parental investment theory? Gad Saad 20627598
JMSB
4 The consuming instinct. What Darwinian consumption reveals about human nature Gad Saad 24047091
JMSB
5 The Epistemology of Evolutionary Psychology Offers a Rapprochement to Cultural Psychology Gad Saad 33224071
JMSB

 

Title:Suicide triggers as sex-specific threats in domains of evolutionary import: negative correlation between global male-to-female suicide ratios and average per capita gross national income
Authors:Gad Saad
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17011714/
DOI:10.1016/j.mehy.2006.08.012
Publication:Medical hypotheses
Keywords:
PMID:17011714 Category: Date Added:2006-10-03
Dept Affiliation: JMSB
1 John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West, Montreal, QC, Canada H3G 1M8. gadsaad@jmsb.concordia.ca

Description:

From an evolutionary perspective, suicide is a paradoxical phenomenon given its fatal consequences on one's reproductive fitness. That fact notwithstanding, evolutionists have typically used kin and group selection arguments in proposing that suicide might indeed be viewed as an adaptive behavioral response. The current paper posits that in some instances, suicide might be construed as the ultimate maladaptive response to "crushing defeats" in domains of great evolutionary import (e.g., mating). Specifically, it is hypothesized that numerous sex-specific triggers of suicide are universally consistent because they correspond to dire sex-specific attacks on one's reproductive fitness (e.g., loss of occupational status is much more strongly linked to male suicides). More generally, it is proposed that many epidemiological aspects of suicide are congruent with Darwinian-based frameworks. These include the near-universal finding that men are much more likely to commit suicide (sexual selection theory), the differential motives that drive men and women to commit suicide (evolutionary psychology), and the shifting patterns of suicide across the life span (life-history theory). Using data from the World Health Organization and the World Bank, several evolutionary-informed hypotheses, regarding the correlation between male-to-female suicide ratios and average per capita Gross National Income, are empirically tested. Overall, the findings are congruent with Darwinian-based expectations namely as economic conditions worsen the male-to-female suicide ratio is exacerbated, with the negative correlation being the strongest for the "working age" brackets. The hypothesized evolutionary outlook provides a consilient framework in comprehending universal sex-specific triggers of suicide. Furthermore, it allows suicidologists to explore new research avenues that might remain otherwise untapped if one were to restrict their research interests on the identification of proximate causes of suicide. Global clinical and epidemiological data emphasizing other universally robust triggers of suicide would afford additional support for the postulated framework.





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