A Comparative Study of the Attitudes Towards Suicide Among Swedish and Persian High School Students

The present study is a comparative study of the attitudes towards suicide among Swedish (98 female and 69 male) and Persian (78 male and 78 female) high school students. Results of the present study indicated that Persian students believed that suicidal individuals should be punished; that persons who commit suicide are going to be punished in life after death and that a person is not allowed to commit suicide. Swedish adolescents hold more liberal attitudes toward suicide than Persian adolescents. More males than females believed that people have the right to commit suicide and suicide can be considered as a solution to some problems. Swedish adolescents showed greater acceptance for a suicidal person than Persian adolescents. More Persian adolescents expressed a belief in life after death as well as punishment after death than Swedish adolescents. In both groups more females than males expressed a belief in life after death. Neither Persian nor swedish students believed that suicidal individuals were Mentally ill and that suicide could be a solution to some problems.