The influence of poverty attribution on attitudes toward suicide and suicidal thought: A cross-national comparison between South Korean, Japanese, and American populations

Previous studies report that income inequality is an important risk factor for depression and suicide, and an increasing income gap appears inevitable. However, little study to date has investigated associations between the attribution of poverty and suicide. Though we previously reported associations between socio-cultural factors, including income, and suicide, we tried to explore more focused associations between income, attribution of poverty (individualistic, societal), permissive attitude toward suicide, and suicidal thought using a structural equation model. A total of 2213 participants from each of three nations (South Korea, Japan, and the United States) completed an online survey. Participants without a history of psychological disorders or suicide attempts completed scales measuring attributions of poverty, attitudes toward suicide, and severity of suicidal thoughts. We established a structural equation model, which exhibited a good fit for all nations, and compared significant path coefficients by country. South Korea had the highest severity of suicidal thought and societal attribution of poverty, followed by Japan and America. In all nations, a permissive attitude was positively related to the severity of suicidal thought and individualistic attribution of poverty was positively related to a permissive attitude toward suicide. Societal attribution of poverty was positively associated with a permissive attitude in Japan and the United States. Income was negatively associated with the severity of suicide in South Korea and the United States. Through an established structural equation model, we found the influence of poverty on suicide and identify the common and distinctive factors associated with suicide in each country. •Korea has a high societal attribution of poverty and suicidal ideation intensity.•Individualistic poverty attribution is related to permissive attitudes to suicide in all three countries.•Societal poverty attribution is related to permissive attitudes to suicide except in Korea.•Income is negatively associated with suicide intensity in South Korea and the United States.•Permissive attitudes toward suicide are associated with suicidal ideation intensity in all three countries.