Suicide More Likely With Protestants Than Catholics

Religion can influence suicide rates, a new study shows. While data have long shown that Protestants are more likely to commit suicide than Catholics, the relationship remains little understood. The study by Professors Sascha Becker (University of Warwick, U.K.) and Ludger Woessmann (University of Munich, Germany) demonstrates a causal link between Protestantism and suicide.

Becker and Woessmann sought to find whether the higher suicide rate among Protestants was due to self-selection. There could be some factors that influence whether a person chooses Protestantism versus Catholicism which also influence the likelihood that they will commit suicide.

Protestants have higher suicide rates than Catholics, "but, whether that is because they act from a religious perspective is a different story," Becker explained in a Monday interview with The Christian Post. "People might say that they become Protestants, not to commit suicide, of course, but they might elect to become Protestants for all kinds of reasons that happen to correlate with suicide behavior."

In other words, Becker and Woessman wanted to understand whether the relationship between Protestantism and high rates of suicide was causal or coincidental, and found it was causal. Keep reading