Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1992, 75, 1134.
O Perceptud and Motor Skills 1992
SUICIDE A M O N G ASIAN AMERICANS A N D SOCIAL DEVIANCY ' DAVID LESTER Richard Stockton State College Summary.-As with African-Americans, the suicide rates of Chinese-Americans were lower in states where there were many Chinese. Suicide rates of Japanese and Filipinos did not f i t this pattern.
Lester (1987) showed that black individuals had higher suicide rates in states where there were fewer blacks. For example, the black suicide rate in the nine states with less than 0.6% blacks was 9.98 per 100,000 per year and in the four states with 1.3% to 1.8% blacks was 12.17. The median black suicide rate in the 16 states with 2.6% to 8.8% blacks was 8.26 and in the 19 states with more than 10.5% blacks 5.63. For Japanese, Chinese, and Filipinos, only two states have large numbers, California and Hawaii. For Japanese, the suicide rates (and percent Japanese) in Hawaii were 11.26 (24.9%), in California 8.78 (1.1%), and in the rest of the USA 7.02 (0.1%). For Chinese the respective figures were 5.33 (5.8%), 8.07 (1.4%), and 8.89 (0.2%). For Filipinos the respective figures were 5.23 (13.9%), 3.08 (1.5%), and 3.18 (0.1%). It can be seen that the suicide rates of Chinese were higher the smaller the percentage of Chinese in the area, whereas for Japanese and Filipinos the trend was in the opposite direction. Thus only the suicide rates from Chinese-Americans fit the hypothesis of social deviancy. REFERENCE
LESTER,D. (1987) Social deviancy and suicidal behavior. ]ournal of Social Psychology, 127, 339-340.
Accepted October 31, 1992.
'Address enquiries to D. Lester, Ph.D., Psychology Program, Richard Stockton State College, Pomona, NJ 08240.
O Perceptud and Motor Skills 1992
SUICIDE A M O N G ASIAN AMERICANS A N D SOCIAL DEVIANCY ' DAVID LESTER Richard Stockton State College Summary.-As with African-Americans, the suicide rates of Chinese-Americans were lower in states where there were many Chinese. Suicide rates of Japanese and Filipinos did not f i t this pattern.
Lester (1987) showed that black individuals had higher suicide rates in states where there were fewer blacks. For example, the black suicide rate in the nine states with less than 0.6% blacks was 9.98 per 100,000 per year and in the four states with 1.3% to 1.8% blacks was 12.17. The median black suicide rate in the 16 states with 2.6% to 8.8% blacks was 8.26 and in the 19 states with more than 10.5% blacks 5.63. For Japanese, Chinese, and Filipinos, only two states have large numbers, California and Hawaii. For Japanese, the suicide rates (and percent Japanese) in Hawaii were 11.26 (24.9%), in California 8.78 (1.1%), and in the rest of the USA 7.02 (0.1%). For Chinese the respective figures were 5.33 (5.8%), 8.07 (1.4%), and 8.89 (0.2%). For Filipinos the respective figures were 5.23 (13.9%), 3.08 (1.5%), and 3.18 (0.1%). It can be seen that the suicide rates of Chinese were higher the smaller the percentage of Chinese in the area, whereas for Japanese and Filipinos the trend was in the opposite direction. Thus only the suicide rates from Chinese-Americans fit the hypothesis of social deviancy. REFERENCE
LESTER,D. (1987) Social deviancy and suicidal behavior. ]ournal of Social Psychology, 127, 339-340.
Accepted October 31, 1992.
'Address enquiries to D. Lester, Ph.D., Psychology Program, Richard Stockton State College, Pomona, NJ 08240.
