Baumeister's Theory Of Male Suicide

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Males are more likely to complete suicide because of gender roles and cultural stigma. Masculinity in Western society focuses on being tough, independent, and showing little emotion (Coleman, Kaplan and Casey, 2011). The male gender role also has a strong focus on being the breadwinner of a family (Coleman, Kaplan and Casey, 2011). Failure to fulfill these expectations of society may result in stress leading the outcome of suicide. Feminism in the 20th century has been successful in changing the gender roles for women in the Western world, thus making them more fluid; However, the male gender role has still stayed very rigid. Research has shown that men that do not conform to gender roles tend to be punished and judged more so than women who …show more content…

A useful framework to analyze male suicide is Baumeister’s escape theory of suicide. This theory states that suicide is a method of problem solving which is used when people are unable to recognize other options for themselves in stressful situations. It occurs when people become fixated on their failures (Coleman, Kaplan and Casey, 2011). Studies have shown that men, specifically unemployed men, tend to score higher on scales which measure social perfectionism (Wyllie et al, 2012). Social perfectionism is defined as the belief that one must always meet the expectations of others and society even when those expectations are unrealistic. The unrealistic cultural expectations that males strive to achieve is likely associated with cultural expectations of gender behaviour, showing the interplay between anthropological and psychological factors. These high levels of social perfectionism can lead to fixation on failures and lead to a narrowed state of mind, or cognitive rigidity. This cognitive rigidity can drive men to suicide as they are not able to recognize other methods of coping with their stress and problems. A point of note is that certain aspects of masculinity, such as fathering, can play a positive role and be protective against suicide (Coleman, Kaplan and Casey, 2011). In fact, studies have shown that scoring higher on scales measuring masculinity can be protective against suicide (Coleman, Kaplan and Casey, 2011). These studies show that masculinity itself is not inherently problematic, but that the feeling of inadequacy at failing to live by a masculine set of standards is the main cause for

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