An empirical examination of thomas masaryk’s theory of suicide

Abstract

The theory of suicide proposed by Thomas Masaryk in 1881 was reviewed and two predictions derived from the theory: namely that suicide rates should increase with decreasing religiosity and increasing modernization. Both predictions were supported. Suicide rates have increased in the majority of nations over the last hundred years and are associated with church attendance (but not with religious denomination) over the states of America in 1980. © 1997 Taylor & Francis Group, Ltd.