The self-deception of the self-destructive.
317 college students as respondents were measured for suicide proneness and self-destructive behaviors and were also asked questions about self-attitudes, value for life, beliefs about suicide and self-destruction, religiosity and dogmatism. Those who score high on suicide proneness and self-destructiveness do not tend to be the same people, and they differ from one another. Correlations and factor analyses suggest the Suicide Prone are aware of their tendencies and are influenced by their value for life and beliefs about suicide and self-destruction. The Self-destructive are tied to negative self-evaluations, are less aware of their self-destructive tendencies, and score significantly higher than the Suicide Prone on dogmatism. Belief structure of the highly dogmatic person may allow those who are self-destructive to deny negative self-attitudes and to be unaware of self-destructive behaviors which are inconsistent with their beliefs.
Illinois State University, Normal.
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Lee
D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D003071:Cognition; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*