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Suicide in Happy Places: Is There Really a Paradox?

Author

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  • Philip M. Pendergast

    (University of Colorado, Boulder)

  • Tim Wadsworth

    (University of Colorado, Boulder)

  • Charis E. Kubrin

    (University of California, Irvine)

Abstract

In 2011 researchers published a paper that exposed a puzzling paradox: the happiest states in the U.S. also tend to have the highest suicide rates. In the current study, we re-examine this relationship by combining data from the Multiple Mortality Cause-of-Death Records, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and the American Communities Survey to determine how subjective well-being and suicide are related across 1563 U.S. counties. We extend the original study in important ways: by incorporating both absolute and relative measures of subjective well-being; by examining the happiness-suicide association at a more suitable level of analysis; and by including a more robust set of control variables in the model. Contrary to the previous study, we do not observe any significant relationship, negative or positive, between the absolute and relative well-being of places and suicide rates at the county-level. Implications for the study of suicide rates and relative deprivation are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip M. Pendergast & Tim Wadsworth & Charis E. Kubrin, 2019. "Suicide in Happy Places: Is There Really a Paradox?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 81-99, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:20:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10902-017-9938-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-017-9938-y
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