Empirical Support for an Evolutionary Model of Self‐Destructive Motivation
Abstract
We tested predictions generated from an evolutionary account of self‐destructive motivation in two survey studies of 18–24‐year‐old university students. As hypothesized, hierarchical regressions showed that the positive relationship between perceived burden to family and suicide ideation was amplified for participants with low measured health and romantic relationship satisfaction, and for participants with relatively young mothers. The moderating effect of maternal age was also observed in logistic regressions of suicide attempts. These effects occurred independently of depression, hopelessness, and other relevant extraneous variables. Results have implications for understanding self‐destructive motivation, assessing suicide risk, and preventing suicidal thinking and behavior.
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Self-perceived burdensomeness distinguishes people with a history of suicide attempts from those without and is associated with suicidal ideation.
“Self-perceptions that one is a burden on others also differentiate between individuals with histories of suicide attempts versus no attempts (Brown, Dahlen, Mills, Rick, & Biblarz, 1999; Van Orden, Lynam, Hollar, & Joiner, 2006) and are also associated with suicidal ideation (Brown, Brown, Johnson, Olsen, Melver, & Sullivan, 2009; de Catanzaro, 1995; Van Orden, Lynam, Hollar, & Joiner, 2006).”
From The interpersonal theory of suicide. (2010) · cites this paper as Brown, Brown, Johnson, Olsen, Melver, & Sullivan, 2009
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Brown, S. L., Nesse, R. M., Vinokur, A. D., & Smith, D. M. (2003) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-9280.14461 · Cited by 1,142 · see citing works
Self-citationJoiner, T., Kalafat, J., Draper, J., Stokes, H., Knudson, M., Berman, A. L., & McKeon, R. (2007) · Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · doi:10.1521/suli.2007.37.3.353 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
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The interpersonal theory of suicide.
Van Orden, K. A., Witte, T. K., Cukrowicz, K. C., Braithwaite, S. R., Selby, E. A., & Joiner, T. E. (2010) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0018697 · Cited by 5,292 · see citing works
Understanding and preventing military suicide.
Bryan, C. J., Jennings, K. W., Jobes, D. A., & Bradley, J. C. (2012) · Archives of Suicide Research · doi:10.1080/13811118.2012.667321 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
- Authors
- Brown, R. M., Brown, S. L., Johnson, A., Olsen, B., Melver, K., & Sullivan, M.
- Affiliations
- Pacific Lutheran University (US)
- Venue
- Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-02
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-12
- ISSN
- 0363-0234 (ISSN-L)
- 1943-278X
- OpenAlex
- W2157472516
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 3.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K01MH065423)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- evolutionary psychology, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, maternal age, romantic relationship satisfaction, health status, suicide risk assessment, young adults
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Depression, Emotions, Biological Evolution, Family, Female, Health Status, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Maternal Age, Models, Psychological, Motivation, Perception, Surveys and Questionnaires, Suicide, Thinking, Logistic Models, Friends, Young Adult
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