Abstract

The purpose of this honors thesis was to examine possible correlations between a person’s willingness to intervene to prevent a suicide from occurring and 1) his or her personal experience with suicide, 2) his or her personality characteristics, 3) his or her level of worry for the suicidal person, and 4) the bystander effect. To investigate these possible correlations, we conducted an online survey consisting of four inventories—a demographic inventory, a Life-Time Suicide Exposure inventory, a Post-Traumatic Growth inventory (PTGI), and the Big Five Self-Scoring personality inventory—and three scenarios in which the participant encountered a suicidal person. It was found that lower scores on emotional stability correlated with more negative outcome responses on the PTGI, where higher scores of extraversion and agreeableness correlated with less negative outcome responses. Higher scores of agreeableness also correlated with more positive outcome responses. The results found were not as expected, but useful nonetheless.

Semester/Year of Award

Summer 2017

Mentor

Melinda M. Moore & Jerry K. Palmer

Mentor Professional Affiliation

Psychology

Access Options

Restricted Access Thesis

Document Type

Bachelor Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Scholars

Degree Level

Bachelor's

Department

Psychology

IRB Approval Number (if applicable)

000746

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