In a recent response, I responded to the connection between infidelity and suicide. After responding, I did some further research to see what the research found. Several fascinating things came out.
One article published in 2000 had some interesting findings.
First, the research sample is small (54 respondents). This means that the findings apply to a limited population (Southwestern US, college aged). They found some correlation between suicide and infidelity.
Although the connection is not as strong as some of the others, it does exist. They also found that this connection is stronger for men than for women.
When you consider that research also shows that when men are divorced, they are three times more likely to commit suicide than married men. It grows more concerning, given that infidelity was found to be a factor in divorces 29% of the time in a 2007 study on divorce.
Since the ‘official’ reasons for divorce do not always list infidelity, even if it is known, the number may be higher. Think about what that means. About 1/3 of divorces are due to affairs. Since affairs put a person at risk for suicide and that risk increases three fold with a divorce, there is reason for concern here.
The numbers get weird when you consider that women are more likely to try suicide than men, yet men are more successful when they exercise that option.
The 2000 study also found many other emotional reactions to infidelity, which it would take me several days worth of posts to cover.
This time, I was looking deeper into the direct connection between infidelity and suicide.
What I walked away with was:
1) There is a connection between infidelity and suicide, albeit the connection is weaker than other emotional reactions you have to infidelity
2) Even a small connection between the two is a cause for concern
3) More research needs to be done in understanding this connection.
NOTE: All research needs to be considered with a grain of salt and evaluated with the context in mind. Since researchers often use different definitions of what they are researching, this has to be considered, especially with infidelity and defining what ‘is’ infidelity for official purposes.
The connection between affairs and suicide is an area that needs MORE research with more populations in more countries before we know what the real story is.
Even then, as the emotional make-up of people change, and attitudes change, what is true for one generation may change. It’s not that morals change, what changes is the strength of the reactions to things and how people deal with change in their lives.
Best Regards,
Jeff
