Citation

Moksony F. Arch. Suicide Res. 2003; 7(4): 341-352.

Affiliation

Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration, Budapest, Hungary.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, International Academy of Suicide Research, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Suicide in Hungary varies widely across regions, rates being highest in the Southeast and lowest in the West. Most researchers explain this fact by cultural differences, arguing that people in the Southeast learn, as they grow up, to regard self-destruction as an acceptable way of responding to problems encountered in everyday life. I tested this explanation by looking at the longer-term impact of region of birth, controlling for current place of residence. Conducting a case-control study, I found that those born in the Southeast but moving to another region later in their life retained, as predicted, their greater propensity to suicide. This effect persisted even after ruling out a number of alternative explanations such as differential selection and residential mobility.