European Journal of Personality

Eur. J. Pers. 24: 602622 (2010)

Published online 31 March 2010 in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/per.762

Worldviews and Individual Vulnerability to Suicide: The

Role of Social Axioms
BEN C. P. LAM*, MICHAEL HARRIS BOND,
SYLVIA XIAOHUA CHEN and WESLEY C. H. WU
Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong
Kong, SAR, PR China

Abstract
Research investigating the role of generalized beliefs about the world or worldviews is
relatively scarce in the suicide literature. Two studies, using Hong Kong Chinese samples,
examined how worldviews, as assessed by the Social Axioms Survey (SAS), were linked
with individual vulnerability to suicide. In Study 1, we investigated the relationships of
social axioms with various suicide indicators in cognitive, emotional and interpersonal
domains, viz., suicidal ideation, negative self-esteem, psychache, burdensomeness and
thwarted belongingness. Results from canonical correlation analysis showed that beliefs
along the axiom dimensions of social cynicism, reward for application, and social
complexity were linked to these suicide indicators. In Study 2, we tested the interplay
of worldviews and personality traits in the prediction of suicidal thoughts. Hierarchical
regression results demonstrated the predictive power of social axioms over and above that
provided by the Big Five personality dimensions. Moreover, a significant interaction was
observed between belief in reward for application and negative life events in predicting
suicidal ideation, showing that reward for application buffered the effect of negative life
events on suicidal ideation. Based on these results, we discussed the significance of
worldviews as a consideration in suicide research and their implications for clinical
assessment and intervention. Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Key words: social axioms; worldviews; beliefs; personality; suicidal ideation

INTRODUCTION
Researchers have long been interested in investigating the role of personality factors in
explaining and predicting behaviour. An extreme form of behaviour, suicide can be a
result of reciprocal interactions between maladaptive personality styles and
*Correspondence to: Ben C. P. Lam, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, PR China. E-mail: lamchunpan2108@gmail.com

Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 5 March 2009

Revised 24 January 2010
Accepted 28 January 2010

Social axioms and suicide vulnerability

603

environmental stressors. According to Brezo, Paris, and Turecki (2006), personality

factors have several characteristics that make them important variables for suicide
research and intervention, e.g. assessing personality factors is more suitable for longterm interventions compared to more transient risk factors, since the therapeutic
outcomes can be more durable.
The Big Five model of personality is one of the most widely investigated sets of
personality characteristics in suicide research. Studies have consistently shown that
neuroticism positively predicts suicidal ideation among college students (Chioqueta &
Stiles, 2005; Velting, 1999); extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness have also
been shown as contributing negatively to suicide vulnerability (Chioqueta & Stiles, 2005;
Kerby, 2003; Velting, 1999).
While attitudes, values, beliefs and self-concepts each represent an aspect of personality,
beliefs have received particular attention in research because of their central role in the
intervention practiced with patients by counsellors and therapists. For instance, Cognitivebehavioural therapy emphasizes identifying and treating patients maladaptive cognitions
and beliefs (Kingdom & Price, 2009). As a result, there is a need to identify important
belief constructs to aid clinicians in understanding suicidal clients problems and planning
their treatment.
Previous research has discovered various types of belief constructs related to suicide, for
example, hopelessness (Beck, Weissman, Lester, & Trexler, 1974). Among them, beliefs
about the world, or worldviews, have received relatively less attention in the literature
(Koltko-Rivera, 2004). This study aims at addressing the question of how worldviews
contribute substantially to the study of suicide, using a recently developed instrument to
assess worldviews, the Social Axioms Survey (SAS; Leung & Bond, 2004; Leung et al.,
2002), as well as demonstrating the predictive power of beliefs about the world over and
above the well-studied Big Five factors of personality.

BELIEFS ABOUT THE WORLD IN SUICIDE RESEARCH

Culture can be conceptualized as the system of perceptions, beliefs, values and meanings
shared within large groups of people, for instance, gender, religion, minority groups and
nationality (Smith & Bond, 1993). Although national culture is receiving more attention in
the mental health literature (see e.g. Chen, Chan, Bond, & Stewart, 2006), few studies on
suicide have considered the impact of cultural variables, for example, values and beliefs
which are linked to cultural contexts, on suicidal intentions and behaviours. Previous
studies have suggested a linkage between cultural values and suicide by examining
individualistic-collectivistic values (Scott, Ciarrochi, & Deane, 2004; Zhang, Norvilitis, &
Inersoll, 2007) and values as assessed by the Schwartz Value Survey (Lam et al., 2004).
However, research on cultural beliefs is relatively scarce in the suicide literature (see Wu &
Bond, 2006, for an exception).
We suggest that worldviews, like many cognitive and belief constructs, are crucial in
guiding peoples thinking processes and behavioural patterns. Variations in individual
perceptions of worldviews may help explain how people develop different mental health
problems and how these might be addressed (Chen & Bond, in press). Among the limited
empirical evidence on worldviews and suicide in previous studies, researchers have
examined the functional utility of locus of control, i.e. beliefs about the cause of external
events. In general, attributing events to external forces (i.e. external locus of control)
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B. C. P. Lam et al.

heightens the risk of suicide (Beautrais, Joyce, & Mulder, 1999; Lester, 1989; Sidrow &
Lester, 1988). However, locus of control is only one aspect of worldviews.
Recently, Leung et al. (2002) developed an alternative model of worldviews, termed
social axioms. Social axioms, similar to axioms in mathematics, denote what people
believe is true and obvious about the human, social, material and spiritual world.
According to Leung et al. (2002), social axioms are beliefs derived from our personal
experiences interacting with the world and a cultural groups socialization processes. They
are defined as
Social axioms are generalized beliefs about people, social groups, social institutions, the physical
environment, or the spiritual world as well as about categories of events and phenomena in the
social world. These generalized beliefs are encoded in the form of an assertion about the
relationship between two entities or concepts. (Leung & Bond, 2008, p. 198)

These individually meaningful beliefs help us to understand the world as well as guide
our social behaviours in different situations.
Social axioms are derived from both Eastern and Western perspectives using a culturally
decentred approach, as the items of the SAS were generated from both Western literature and
interviews of Asians and South Americans, culturally different populations (Leung et al.,
2002). Furthermore, the large number and variety of items in the initial item pool generated
from an exploratory process also enabled these researchers to discover a wider range of
constructs that may be overlooked by research originating from any particular cultural
perspective. Therefore, social axioms provide a framework for researchers to conceptualize
and assess human belief systems, similar to the Five-factor model of personality.

SOCIAL AXIOMS AND SUICIDE

Social axioms have been applied as individual difference constructs to predict various wellbeing indicators, for instance, life satisfaction (Chen, Cheung, Bond, & Leung, 2006;
Dinca & Iliescu, 2009; Lai, Bond, & Hui, 2007), loneliness (Neto, 2006), perceived stress
(Kuo, Kwantes, Towson, & Nanson, 2006) and adjustment (Kurman & Ronen-Eilon, 2004;
Safdar, Lewis, & Daneshpour, 2006). In an ecological analysis, Bond et al. (2004b) also
demonstrated that culture-level dimensions of social axioms were linked to various
indicators of nation and citizen well-being.
Recently, Chen, Wu, and Bond (2009) have demonstrated the usefulness of these beliefs
in the study of suicide by showing the mediating role of social axioms between family
dysfunction and suicidal ideation. Family dysfunction predicts the development of
different beliefs about the world, some of which then predispose their holders to suicidal
thoughts. In a similar vein, results from Lam (2008) also suggested the unique contribution
of social axioms in predicting suicidal ideationsocial axioms were shown to moderate
the relationship between depression and suicidal ideation, that is, depressed persons with
certain belief profiles were more prone to thinking of suicide. Despite limited research in
this area, the above results are encouraging, so we attempted to further this line of research
in the present study.
Five pan-cultural dimensions of social axioms, namely social cynicism, reward for
application, social complexity, fate control and religiosity, were identified across 40
cultural groups (Leung & Bond, 2004). Among the five factors of social axioms, two are
expected to associate with suicide, viz., social cynicism and reward for application.
Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Eur. J. Pers. 24: 602622 (2010)

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605

Social cynicism is defined as a negative and biased view of human nature, and a mistrust
of social institutions (Leung & Bond, 2004). Socially cynical people tend to see the
darkness of the world and the negativity in human beings, interpersonal exchanges and
social environments. Studies have consistently shown that people with cynical beliefs
about the world have lower life satisfaction (Chen et al., 2006c; Dinca & Iliescu, 2009;
Lai et al., 2007). These researchers have suggested that cynical individuals negative
beliefs about human nature and the way society works lead them to disengage more from
the social world, reducing their chances of receiving positive feedback from their
exchanges with the world. This dynamic can be indicated by their low levels of trust
(Singelis, Hubbard, Her, & An, 2003), higher levels of loneliness (Neto, 2006) and negative
attitudes towards seeking professional help (Kuo et al., 2006). Empirical findings have also
shown that these individuals are high in external locus of control (Singelis et al., 2003) and
employ wishful thinking in their coping style (Bond, Leung, Au, Tong, & ChemongesNielson, 2004). Individuals high in social cynicism are likely to believe that outcomes are
manipulated by uncontrollable, powerful others, e.g. the rich and people high in status
(Bond et al., 2004a). Additionally, they tend to fantasize when facing difficulties, possibly
as a way to counteract unfair outcomes caused by dominant groups of people (Bond et al.,
2004a). Thus, social cynics may think of suicide as an escape from such unpromising life
circumstances.
Reward for application is defined as a belief that effort, knowledge and careful planning
will lead to positive outcomes (Leung & Bond, 2004). People who are high in reward for
application strongly believe in human agency and the effort-reward link. Research findings
to date have revealed that belief in reward for application is positively connected to mastery
beliefs (Neto, 2006) and active coping (Bond et al., 2004a; Safdar et al., 2006). In addition,
Chen et al. (2006c) have shown that this belief is positively related to life satisfaction.
Individuals who believe in reward for application think that they can master their future and
change the outcomes of life events through continuous effort and hard work. Moreover,
they believe that adversity and failure can be overcome by human enterprise, and therefore
they are more likely to adopt a problem-solving approach to cope with challenges. As a
result, when facing life stressors, they are less likely to develop feelings of helplessness and
hopelessness, two important correlates of suicide (Lester, 1998). The sense of control and
problem-focused coping help these individuals to deal with stress effectively and reduce
the likelihood of suicide (Elliott, Colangelo, & Gelles, 2005; Elliott & Frude, 2001).
As social cynicism is related to well-being indicators and as reward for application is
relevant to outcome measures (see Hui & Hui, 2009, for review), we suggest that these two
dimensions will have the strongest relationships with suicide indicators. Therefore, our
hypotheses were focused on these two variables, whereas the inclusion of the three other
axioms was exploratory, so as to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the relationships
between social axioms and suicide vulnerability.

AIMS OF THE PRESENT STUDY

In the current study, we attempted to test the linkages between social axioms, personality
and vulnerability to suicide using two Chinese college samples. The objectives of this
research are three-fold: First, we intended to demonstrate that axiom dimensions predict
suicide indicators across separate studies; second, we investigated the predictive power of
social axioms on suicidal ideation after the Big Five personality dimensions were
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B. C. P. Lam et al.

controlled and third, we tested how worldviews and negative life events interacted in the
prediction of suicidal ideation.

STUDY 1
Associations between social axioms and suicide indicators
In Study 1, the associations between social axioms and different indicators of suicide were
examined. Five well-established suicide indicators, viz., suicidal ideation, negative selfesteem, psychache, burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness, were used to tap the
suicide vulnerability of individuals. These constructs may be categorized into three broad
domains: Cognitive, emotional and interpersonal.
Cognitive factors
Suicidal ideation is one of the major indicators of suicide. Suicidal ideation is defined as the
existence of thoughts about death, and wishes or plans to commit suicide (Beck, Kovacs, &
Weissman, 1979; Reynolds, 1991b). Understanding such thinking is important because it
usually precedes suicide attempts and completion. For instance, Beck, Brown, Steer,
Dahlsgaard, and Grisham (1999) found that suicidal ideation predicted suicide completion
in a sample of psychiatric patients.
A negative self-view or low self-esteem has been shown to be another important
correlate of suicide in previous studies (e.g. Bhar, Ghahramanlou-Holloway, Brown, &
Beck, 2008; Dori & Overholser, 1999; Overholser, Adams, Lehnert, & Brinkman, 1995). In
his theory of suicide as escape from the self, Baumeister (1990) described a series of causal
steps leading to suicide, starting from aversive self-awareness and ending with cognitive
deconstruction, a state with a low level of self-awareness and of capacity for self-restraint.
Strong psychic pain coupled with the inability to bind tension and restrain the impulse to
terminate that pain leads to suicide attempts. Thus, a negative self-view is apparently a
critical precedent that potentiates self-destructive thoughts and impulses.
Emotional factors
Shneidman (1993, 1998) suggested that intense psychological pain, i.e. psychache,
predisposes to suicidality. Psychache can be viewed as a mixture of negative emotions
such as shame, guilt and grief (Shneidman, 1999). Suicide occurs when one can no longer bear
this mental pain, and ending ones life is regarded as surcease from this darkness. This concept
has gained empirical support in previous studies using diverse instruments (Holden, Mehta,
Cunningham, & Mcleod, 2001; Orbach, Mikulincer, Sirota, & Gilboa-Schechtman, 2003;
Pompili, Lester, Leenaars, Tatarelli, & Girardi, 2008).
Interpersonal factors
Joiner (2005) proposed a new theory of suicide termed the interpersonal-psychological theory
of suicidal behaviour. He attempted to explain the interpersonal aspect of suicide using three
constructs: Thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness and acquired capability. He
argued that people begin to think of suicide when their needs to belong cannot be satisfied (i.e.
Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Eur. J. Pers. 24: 602622 (2010)

DOI: 10.1002/per

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607

high thwarted belongingness) and when their needs to contribute cannot be fulfilled (i.e. high
perceived burdensomeness). Van Orden, Witte, Gordon, Bender, and Joiner (2008) confirmed
Joiners (2005) model in a series of studies. Burdensomeness predicted suicidal ideation even
when depression and demographics were controlled statistically. Moreover, the two
interpersonal precursors, thwarted belongingness and burdensomeness, jointly predicted
suicidal ideation. When one has a high level of acquired capability to kill oneself, the desire
for death or non-being is then enacted as lethal self-harm.
We predict that the two, orthogonal social axioms will significantly associate with the five
suicide indicators. Specifically, we hypothesize that social cynicism will be positively related
to suicidal ideation, negative self-esteem, psychache, burdensomeness and thwarted
belongingness, whereas reward for application will negatively link to these suicide indicators.
Method
Participants
One hundred and seventeen undergraduates (46 males and 71 females) from the Chinese
University of Hong Kong were recruited through mass-mailing. All of the participants were
Chinese, with a mean age of 20.43 (SD 1.09), ranging from 18 to 23.
Procedure
This research was approved by the Universitys Survey and Behavioral Ethics Committee.
Participants first received a briefing about the study, and consent forms were obtained,
indicating their willingness to participate. Then, participants were instructed to complete a
self-report questionnaire packet. Upon completing the questionnaire, they were debriefed
and given HK$50 for their participation.
Measures
The scales used in Studies 1 and 2 that did not have an existing Chinese version were
translated and back-translated by separate bilinguals. All the questionnaires were
administrated in Chinese.
Social axioms. The SAS (Leung & Bond, 2004; Leung et al., 2002) was used to measure
respondents beliefs about the world. The pan-cultural version of the SAS consists of 39
items rated on a 5-point Likert scale anchored by strongly disbelieve (1) and strongly
believe (5), with higher scores indicating stronger beliefs. The Cronbach as for social
cynicism, reward for application, social complexity, fate control and religiosity were .75,
.76, .59, .63 and .81, respectively. All items for each axiom dimension showed positive
item-whole correlations.
Suicidal ideation. The Beck scale for suicide ideation (BSSI; Beck & Steer, 1991) was
used to measure the current suicidal intention experienced by participants during the past
week. The BSSI consists of 19 items and each item has three statements rated by intensity
from 0 to 2. Higher scores indicate higher levels of suicidal ideation. The a of the BSSI in
the current study was .87.
Self-esteem. The view of oneself was operationalized as ones global self-esteem measured
by Rosenbergs self-esteem scale (SES; 1965). The SES consists of ten statements related to
feelings of self-acceptance and self-liking. The items were answered on a 4-point Likert scale
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B. C. P. Lam et al.

ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4), with higher scores indicating higher
self-esteem. This scale was reliable in the present sample, with an a of .89.
Psychache. The concept of psychache was first proposed by Shneidman and
operationalized by Holden et al. (2001) as the Psychache scale. It is a 13-item scale
assessing the frequency of experiencing psychological pain, i.e. psychache. Respondents
rated their frequencies of psychache using a 5-point Likert scale anchored by never (1) and
always (5), and higher scores indicate higher frequencies of psychache experiences. The
scale was reliable in the present sample with an a of .94.
Burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. The Burdensomeness subscale in the
Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ; Van Orden et al., 2008) was intended to measure the
construct of perceived burdensomeness in Joiners (2005) theory. It consists of seven items
assessing individuals feeling of themselves as a burden to their loved ones recently. These
perceptions were assessed on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from not at all like me (1) to very
true for me (7). Respondents rating higher degrees of similarity to those items showed higher
levels of perceived burdensomeness. The Belongingness subscale was used to measure the
extent that an individual feels disconnected to significant others recently. This subscale aims at
measuring the construct of thwarted belongingness defined by Joiner (2005). Different
statements about peoples feelings of connectedness to others are rated on the same Likert
scale as the Burdensomeness subscale. It is a 5-item scale, and scores were reversed so that
higher scores reflect higher levels of thwarted belongingness. The reliability of both subscales
was acceptable in the present sample, with as of .89 and .87, respectively.
Results
Since suicide is a low base-rate phenomenon, a positive skew was observed in the BSSI
scores (skewness 2.37; kurtosis 5.43). Consequently, a square-root transformation1
was performed to lessen the skewness and kurtosis of this variable (skewness 1.43;
kurtosis 0.73). Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations of the measures used in Study
1 are summarized in Table 1.

Canonical correlations between social axioms and suicide indicators

Since there was a moderate overlap among the suicide variables (average r .37),
canonical correlation analysis was conducted to identify the linear combinations of the two
sets of variables, viz., social axioms and indicators of suicide vulnerability.
Five canonical correlations emerged. With five pairs of canonical variates included,
x2(25) 48.74, p < .01, and with the first pair removed, x2(16) 23.21, p .11.
Therefore, only the first pair of canonical variate accounted for the significant relationships
between social axioms and indicators of suicide vulnerability.
The first canonical correlation was .44, explaining 19% of the overlapping variance.
Total per cent of variance and redundancy analysis indicated that the first pair of canonical
variates was moderately related. The first variate of social axioms accounted for 19% of its
own variance, while the first suicide vulnerability variate accounted for 47% of its own
variance. Redundancy index showed that the first social axioms variate accounted for 9% of
the variance in the five suicide indicators.
1
Although untransformed data showed the same patterns of results, we used transformed scores to provide a more
accurate estimate of significance levels and statistical coefficients.

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Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

p < .05;



p < .01;

p < .001.



3.40
3.88
4.19
3.03
3.36
0.67
2.72
2.46
2.31
3.31

1. Social cynicism
2. Reward for application
3. Social complexity
4. Fate control
5. Religiosity
6. Suicidal ideation
7. Self-esteem
8. Psychache
9. Perceived burdensomeness
10. Thwarted belongingness

0.49
0.46
0.37
0.60
0.68
1.13
0.46
0.83
1.07
1.19

SD

Kurtosis
0.64
1.79

0.05
0.52
0.47
0.80

0.06

0.70
1.37
0.78

Skewness

0.50

0.54
0.01

0.06

0.11
1.44

0.42
0.42
1.21
0.81

.19
.33
.32

.15
.18

.21
.22
.29
.25

.30
.32
.09

.13
.27

.12

.15

.05

Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations among measures in Study 1

Measure

Table 1.

.01
.07
.17
.02
.26
.20
.06

.15
.16

.01

.01

.02
.16

.05
.21
.04

.01

.12

.47
.37
.48
.34

.33

.45

.40

.49
.09

.27

10

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B. C. P. Lam et al.

Using .3 as a selection criterion (medium-sized correlation), the first pair of canonical

variates has high loadings on social cynicism (.75), reward for application (
.37) and
social complexity (.46) in the social axioms set, and on suicidal ideation (.63), self-esteem
(
.68), psychache (.69), burdensomeness (.83) and thwarted belongingness (.56) in the set
tapping suicide vulnerability. Thus, people high in social cynicism and social complexity
and low in reward for application may be more vulnerable to suicidal thoughts and
behaviours as they are high in suicidal ideation, negative self-esteem, psychache,
burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness.
Discussion
Results from the first study confirmed our prediction that beliefs about the external world are
associated with individual vulnerability to suicide, as indicated by suicide indicators in
different domains. Social cynicism is related to these various indicators, supporting our view
that cynical individuals may be prone to suicidal thoughts and behaviours due to their negative
and biased worldviews. On the other hand, belief in reward for application may protect
individuals against suicide through a positive attitude towards solving problems in life and the
assumption of mastery beliefs. These findings were consistent with studies using measures of
cynical and mattering, i.e. the belief that one can make a difference, beliefs (Elliott et al., 2005;
Nierenberg, Ghaemi, Clancy-Colecchi, Rosenbaum, & Fava, 1996). In sum, people who have
a cynical view towards human nature and authorities coupled with a belief that individual effort
and hard work are not rewarded may have an increased vulnerability to suicidal proclivities.
Intriguingly, social complexity is also positively linked to suicide indicators. People who
believe that there is no single rule governing social events, that human behaviour is complex
and varying across situations are more prone to suicidal intentions and associated indicators.
Hui and Hui (2009) pinpointed that the findings on social complexity and well-being are still
diverse and inconclusive. Research has shown that social complexity was positively linked to
adjustment in an immigration setting (Safdar et al., 2006), but other studies have found that
social complexity was correlated with life satisfaction negatively (Chen et al., 2006c; Lai
et al., 2007). Based on these inconsistent findings, Hui and Hui (2009) proposed that in some
settings that require accommodation to a new environment, a flexible orientation to problemsolving may facilitate adjustment. However, in other situations that do not require adaptation,
a belief in the complexity and variability of the world and human behaviours may make one
feel overwhelmed by social information and action possibilities. We therefore suggest that
individuals high in social complexity belief would think of everyday problems in a complex
way and they also need to cope with the unpredictable variability in everyday social
interactions. These cognitive and emotional loadings may be psychologically taxing, making
them more vulnerable to suicidal intentions.
As many studies have examined the Big Five personality factors as significant predictors
of suicidal thoughts, we further explored the associations between social axioms,
personality traits and suicidal ideation in the next study.
STUDY 2
Social axioms, Big Five personality, and suicidal proclivity
Linking individual differences and suicidal ideation
Previous studies have revealed that some personality traits are specifically related to
suicidal ideation. Using two different models of personality, namely the Eysenck PEN
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611

Model and the Five-factor Model of Personality, the role of neuroticism has consistently
been shown in suicide research (Brezo et al., 2006). Unsurprisingly, neuroticism relates
positively to suicidal thoughts, since it reflects the chronic tendency of an individual to
experience various forms of negative affect (Chioqueta & Stiles, 2005; Velting, 1999).
Kerby (2003) also found that people low in extraversion, conscientiousness and
agreeableness are more likely to have higher levels of suicidal ideation. However, no such
study has been conducted in Asian countries, and hence the generalizability of these
findings in other cultural groups needs to be established.
Although beliefs were thought to be nested within personality, Chen and colleagues
(Chen, Bond, & Cheung, 2006; Chen, Fok, Bond, & Matsumoto, 2006) demonstrated that
the overlap between comprehensive measures of personality and social axioms was not
substantial, but that they were interconnected and distinct constructsfor instance,
neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness were only mildly correlated with social
cynicism; and extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness were only modestly
related to reward for application. We therefore examine the predictive power of social
axioms on suicidal ideation after the Big Five personality traits have been accounted for.
The first aim of Study 2 is to examine the linkages between social axioms and suicidal
ideation, controlling for the Big Five personality dimensions. We hypothesize that
neuroticism will be positively correlated with suicidal ideation, whereas extraversion,
conscientiousness and agreeableness will be negatively correlated with suicidal ideation.
Furthermore, social axioms will contribute additional variance over and above the Big Five
personality traits in the prediction of suicidal ideation.
Examining the moderating effects of social axioms
We propose that worldviews affect how people perceive the world and how they interpret
the various negative life events that they experience, which may then predict the level of
suicidal ideation when they are facing life challenges and stressors. This interaction can be
explained by Zubin and Springs (1977) diathesis-stress model. In their model, diathesis is
viewed as stable characteristics that create vulnerability, predisposing individuals to certain
psychological problems. The presence of certain environmental stressors precipitates this
vulnerability and triggers the development of psychological problems.
This model has been examined in previous studies of depression and suicide. For
instance, Metalsky, Joiner, Hardin, and Abramson (1993) showed an attributional diathesis,
low self-esteem and academic failure interaction in predicting depressive mood. In
addition, Hirsch, Wolford, LaLonde, Brunk, and Parker-Morris (2007) found that
dispositional optimism moderated the relation between negative life events and both
suicidal ideation and attempts. Research also showed that neuroticism acts as an important
vulnerability factor and interacts with significant life events in the development of
depression (Ormel, Oldehinkel, & Brilman, 2001). However, relatively little research has
focused on the potentially important diathesis factor identified above, i.e. worldviews, as
assessed by social axioms.
Hence, another purpose of Study 2 is to investigate how worldviews (social axioms) and
environmental stressors (negative life events) interact to predict suicidal ideation. We first
examine the association between negative life events and suicidal ideation, and then
explore whether social axioms are moderators of this relationship. We hypothesize that
there will be a positive association between negative life events and suicidal ideation, and
that the axiom dimensions of social cynicism and reward for application will separately
moderate this association.
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Specifically, we predict that individuals who attribute outcomes to external,

unchangeable forces and view the world negatively (i.e. endorse social cynicism) would
be more reactive to negative events. As a result, they will be more likely to experience
stress and negative emotions, which would render them prone to thoughts about ending this
aversive state and leaving the world. Alternatively, we predict that when people think that
effort and hard work affect life outcomes (i.e. believe in reward for application), their
elevated reactions to negative life events will be buffered, and hence they may have lower
levels of suicidal ideation during periods of heightened stress.

Method
Participants
Two hundred and twenty Hong Kong Chinese undergraduates (98 males and 122 females)
from the Chinese University of Hong Kong participated in the present study. Participants
were recruited via mass-mailing. Their mean age was 19.77 (SD 1.20), and their ages
ranged from 17 to 25. One participant failed to complete the SAS and was dropped from
subsequent analyses.
Procedure
The procedure for Study 2 was similar to that for Study 1, except that participants were
given HK$30 for their participation.
Measures
Social axioms. The pan-cultural version of the SAS (Leung & Bond, 2004; Leung et al.,
2002) was used to measure the respondents beliefs about the world. The Cronbach as for
social cynicism, reward for application, social complexity, fate control and religiosity were
.68, .71, .53, .61 and .77, respectively.
Big Five personality. The NEO Five-factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae,
1992) was administrated to assess respondents personality traits. It is a 60-item inventory
with 12 items for each subscale, namely neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience,
agreeableness and conscientiousness. Respondents rated their agreement with each
statement on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree.
The Cronbach as for neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and
conscientiousness were .88, .79, .60, .75 and .84, respectively.
Suicidal ideation. In Study 2, the adult suicidal ideation questionnaire (ASIQ; Reynolds,
1991a) was used to index the current suicidal ideation of respondents. The ASIQ consists of
25 items, rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from never had this thought (1) to almost
every day (7). Higher scores indicate higher levels of suicidal ideation in the previous
month. The Cronbach a of this scale was .95.
Negative life events. The Chinese adolescents life events checklist (CALEC; Cheung &
Cheung, 2005) was used to indicate the occurrence of life events during a one-month
period. The checklist taps 79 significant life events with an emphasis on interpersonal
events. As it was originally developed in an adolescent sample, six items not relevant to our
college sample were dropped. The number of negative life events was summed, so that
higher scores indicate higher occurrence of negative life events in the previous month.
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Social axioms and suicide vulnerability

613

Results
As expected, scores on the ASIQ were positively skewed (skewness 2.48; kurtosis 6.81),
so, as before, a square-root transformation (see footnote 1) was applied (skewness 1.99;
kurtosis 4.06). Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations of the measures used in Study 2
are summarized in Table 2.
Preliminary correlational analyses
Correlation analysis results showed that suicidal ideation was significantly correlated with
neuroticism, r(217) .52, p < .001, extraversion, r(217)
.36, p < .001, agreeableness,
r(217)
.29, p < .001 and conscientiousness, r(217)
.25, p < .001. These correlations were in the predicted direction. For social axioms, suicidal ideation was also
significantly correlated with social cynicism, r(217) .29, p < .001, reward for
application, r(217)
.24, p < .001 and social complexity, r(217) .16, p < .05.
Predicting suicidal ideation in multiple regression analyses
Hierarchical multiple regression was performed to test the predictive power of social
axioms over and above that captured by the Big Five personality factors. Age and gender
were controlled in the first step. Then, the five factors of personality were entered into the
second block of the regression equation. Lastly, the five dimensions of social axioms were
entered.
The Big Five personality factors as a group were significant predictors of suicidal
ideation, DR2 .28, F(5, 211) 17.56, p < .001, with neuroticism contributing
significantly in the final model, b 0.42, t(206) 5.60, p < .001. Furthermore, social
axioms significantly predicted suicidal ideation over and beyond the Big Five factors of
personality, DR2 .04, F(5, 206) 2.32, p < .05. Reward for application was found to be a
significant predictor, b
0.16, t(206)
2.58, p < .05; social cynicism was marginally
significant in the model, b 0.13, t(206) 1.96, p .05. However, social complexity did
not contribute significantly, b 0.04, t(206) 0.74, p .46. The regression results are
summarized in Table 3.
Testing the interactions with negative life events
A moderate but significant positive association was observed between negative life events
and suicidal ideation, r(217) .23, p < .01. Using hierarchical multiple regression, the
moderating effects of social axioms on the positive relationship between negative life
events and suicidal ideation were tested. In step 1, age and gender were statistically
controlled. Step 2 contained the three mean-centred variables of main effects, i.e. negative
life events and the two axiom dimensions. The interaction terms were computed and
entered in step 3.
The interaction effect of social cynicism did not reach significance, b
0.02,
t(211)
0.25, p .80, an outcome which was inconsistent with our hypothesis. However,
the interaction of negative life events with reward for application was found to be
significant, b
0.14, t(211)
2.33, p < .05 (see Table 4).
The form of the significant interaction involving reward for application was examined by
plotting graphs following Aiken and West (1991). As depicted in Figure 1, the effect of
negative life events on suicidal ideation differed as a function of ones level of reward for
application. For individuals low in reward for application, negative life events and suicidal
ideation were positively correlated, b 1.33, t(213) 2.81, p < .01, whereas for those high
Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

p < .05;

p < .01;



p < .001.



0.14
0.25
2.52
4.05

.01

.01
.10

.05

.57

.08

.15

.33 .14
.13
.07

.23
.37 .43 .07

.14
.20
.06
.16 .02

.36 .28 .06 .07

.08
.06
.01
.06
.05
.21
.13

.02
.04

.08

.31
.24 .16

.00
.02
.54
.37
.04
.29
.26 .23

12

0.50

0.36
1.52
1.99

11

0.48
0.55
1.68
0.22

10

3.34
3.38
1.51
1.20

.22 .07

.16
.14
.08

.17
.17
.10
.12
.19  .09
.34
.17

.29 .29
.09
.00

.06
.04
.07
.04

0.09

0.24

0.05
0.09

0.07
0.02

0.09

0.02
0.54

0.14

0.30

0.41

0.33
0.55
0.6
0.67
0.55
0.45

4.21
2.90
3.48
3.11
3.11
3.32

0.03

0.55

0.33
0.53

3.22 0.43
3.82 0.43

1. Social cynicism
2. Reward for
application
3. Social complexity
4. Fate control
5. Religiosity
6. Neuroticism
7. Extraversion
8. Openness to
experience
9. Agreeableness
10. Conscientiousness
11. Negative life events
12. Suicidal ideation

SD Skewness Kurtosis

Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations among measures in Study 2

Measure

Table 2.

614
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Social axioms and suicide vulnerability

615

Table 3. Hierarchical regression model of social axioms and Big Five personality on suicidal
ideation
Measure
Age
Gender
Neuroticism
Extraversion
Openness to experience
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Social cynicism
Reward for application
Social complexity
fate control
Religiosity
R2
Adjusted R2
F
DR2
DF
d.f.


p < .05;



p < .01;

Block 1
b

Block 2
b

Block 3
b

0.20

0.07

0.14

0.04
0.45

0.02

0.01

0.09

0.08

0.05
0.04
5.04
0.05
5.04
2/216

0.33
0.30
14.54
0.28
17.56
5/211

0.13

0.04
0.42
0.03
0.02

0.07

0.06
0.13

0.16
0.04

0.04
0.07
0.36
0.32
9.71
0.04
2.32
5/206



p < .001.

in reward for application, no significant relationship between negative life events and
suicidal ideation was found, b
0.85, t(213)
1.79, p .08. In other words, negative
life events exert their impact on suicidal thoughts for individuals who are less likely to
believe in reward for application.
Discussion
As in Study 1, the first part of our results in Study 2 further supported our predictions of the
significant associations between certain social axioms, viz., social cynicism, reward for
Table 4. Interactions between social axioms and negative life events on suicidal ideation
Measure
Age
Gender
Social cynicism
Reward for application
Negative life events
Social cynicism  negative life events
Reward for application  negative life events
R2
Adjusted R2
F
DR2
DF
d.f.


p < .05;



p < .01;

Block 1
b

Block 2
b

Block 3
b

0.20

0.07

0.13

0.05
0.26

0.25
0.22

0.05
0.04
5.04
0.05
5.04
2/216

0.22
0.20
12.03
0.18
16.00
3/213

0.13

0.06
0.26

0.23
0.22

0.02

0.14
0.24
0.22
9.56
0.02
2.87
2/211



p < .001.

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B. C. P. Lam et al.

Figure 1. The relation between negative life events and suicidal ideation as a function of reward for application.

application and social complexity, and suicide indicators, suicidal ideation in particular.
Moreover, personality factors were linked to suicidal ideation in the expected direction, as
indicated in previous studies using American samples (Chioqueta & Stiles, 2005; Kerby,
2003; Velting, 1999).
Social axioms made unique contributions to explaining individual differences in suicidal
ideation over and above those of Big Five personality factors. The position that beliefs and
personality traits are conceptually and functionally distinct individual differences was thus
supported by these results, as previously indicated by Chen and colleagues (Chen et al.,
2006a; Chen et al., 2006d).
The significant interaction of reward for application in the second part of our findings
suggested that beliefs or cognitions not only affect psychological outcomes directly, but
that they also play a moderating role in guiding people to understand and cope with
disturbances in their lives. People high in reward for application believe that every problem
has a solution if efforts are applied, and in consequence they are more likely to face
challenges in life proactively (Leung & Bond, 2004). Their application may hence
minimize the devastating impact of negative life events.
Given the non-significant interaction effect of social cynicism, we speculate that social
cynics may have bipolar reactions towards negative stimuli. On the one hand, believing that
human nature is bad and that generally people cannot be trusted will weaken ones social
responsiveness and make one easily think of leaving such an unbearable world. On the other
hand, anticipating unfavourable outcomes may act as a buffer against the impact of concurrent
negative life experiences. For example, Li, Zhou, and Leung (in press) found that belief in
social cynicism buffered the negative outcome of relational conflicts, perhaps because social
cynics have come to expect the worst in their lives. So, current untoward social events do not
represent a departure from life as usual. More research is needed to disentangle in which
situations social cynical beliefs act as a buffer; in which situations, a hindrance.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
In these two studies, we have tested the associations between worldviews and suicidal
proclivity, and extended past suicide research on worldviews from focusing on locus of
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Social axioms and suicide vulnerability

617

control and suicide (e.g. Lester, 1989) to incorporating a broader range of belief constructs.
The linkages between social cynicism, reward for application, social complexity and
suicidal tendency were replicated in two different samples, further strengthening the
generalizability of our findings.
Moreover, social axioms added predictive power over and above that provided by the
Big Five personality factors, a strong correlate of suicide as well as an important
personality variable employed in clinical settings. Such findings revealed that measures of
social axioms may supplement measures of personality traits in understanding individual
vulnerability to suicide, as they do with values in predicting social behaviours (Bond et al.,
2004a).
In addition to the direct predictive effects, the social axiom dimension of reward for
application interacted with negative life events in predicting suicidal ideation. Specifically,
reward for application moderated the positive relationship between negative life events and
suicidal ideation. This finding supports the diathesis-stress model in understanding how
stable characteristics and environmental factors interact to affect health outcomes, and
extends the study of these stable individual characteristics from personality traits to
worldviews. Moreover, it demonstrates the value of applying this framework in suicide
research, as noted by other researchers (e.g. Hirsch et al., 2007).
Since the present data are cross-sectional in nature, caution should be exercised when
drawing causal inferences. Future research can test these linkages longitudinally, examining
how worldviews interact with current life events in predicting suicidal ideation across
different time points and possibly types of stressors, e.g. interpersonal or task-related.

The role of culture in suicide research

One may be concerned whether respondents treated suicide the same way in Asian culture
due to different meanings and cultural assumptions attached to the phenomenon of suicide.
These differences may hamper the utility of those suicide predictors imported from the
West. Studies have indicated that people from different cultures have different attitudes
towards suicidal thoughts and suicide completion. Berger, Fukunishi, ODowd, Hosaka,
Kuboki, and Ishikawa (1997) found that psychiatrists from Japan and the U.S. hold
different attitudes towards suicide: Japanese psychiatrists were more accepting of suicide
when patients were not able to fulfil duties attached to their social roles. Domino and
Takahashi (1991) revealed that Japanese were more likely to think that suicide is not
always abnormal, whereas Americans were more likely to think that suicide should be
prevented. Nonetheless, other studies have shown that many suicide indicators imported
from the West have also predicted suicide attempts and completion in Chinese culture (e.g.
Stewart, Kennard, Lee, Mayes, Hughes, & Emslie, 2005; Stewart, Felice, Claassen,
Kennard, Lee, & Emslie, 2006). Therefore, we believe that our findings using mainly
imported suicide measures still carry implications for suicide prevention and intervention,
at least serving as a first approximation until direct cross-cultural comparisons are
available.
Although the SAS is a useful tool for understanding worldviews across cultures, we
should bear in mind that each dimension of social axioms may manifest itself differently
across different cultural contexts (Leung & Bond, 2004). Zhang et al. (2007) demonstrated
that individualistic values predicted suicidal ideation differently in American and Chinese
samples; social axioms may perform likewise. Comparative findings within a country and
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B. C. P. Lam et al.

between countries are critical in extending our understanding of worldviews and suicide
across diverse cultural groups (see e.g. Gari, Panagiotopoulou, & Mylonas, 2009).

Clinical relevance of social axioms

Our findings suggest that taking worldviews into account during assessments of suicide
risk and interventions of suicidal individuals may be a valuable supplement to normal
interventions. Clinicians can assess clients worldviews, especially their levels of social
cynicism, reward for application and social complexity, as a way to comprehend how
worldviews may guide their clients in coping with life stressors and explaining problematic
events. Interventions designed to help suicidal clients can also be sensitive to worldviews
that clients endorse. Furthermore, worldviews, like many personality variables, are
relatively modifiable in early life, suggesting that the effect of early intervention on these
variables may be durable. Large-scale community prevention and intervention studies may
also include worldviews into the variable checklist complementing other personality
constructs, e.g. the Big Five.
Additionally, future research can test how these worldviews, termed social axioms and
framed as general beliefs by Leung and Bond (2004), affect or interact with specific beliefs
(and/or attitudes), as they are situation- or context-specific, in clients belief systems. Chen
and Bond (in press) have initiated this line of research by linking social axioms and lay
beliefs about the causes and cures of psychological problems, which may indicate that
axioms influence clients treatment process and help-seeking behaviours.
Some may argue that social axioms do not have high clinical utility due to the small
effects of our findings. However, the small effects may be due to the fact that the measure of
social axioms is a product of finding a common structure across a large number of cultures,
an ambitious and difficult task (Leung & Bond, 2004), and that a better pan-cultural
measure needs to be further developed (Bond, 2009). Nevertheless, this study provides a
general framework for follow-up studies on worldviews and suicide with better measures
of worldviews and more relevant individual differences constructs to expand the model.

CONCLUSION
To conclude, our paper examined the linkages of worldviews, operationalized as social
axioms, and suicide risk factors using two separate samples of Hong Kong Chinese. Our
findings suggest that social cynicism, reward for application and social complexity may be
important cultural and personality factors for consideration in future suicide research and
clinical application.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to express our appreciation to Natalie H. H. Hui for her advice and to the
Goals Research Team members from The Chinese University of Hong Kong for their help
in data collection for Study 1. We would also like to thank the Editor of this journal and the
two anonymous reviewers for their useful and constructive comments on earlier versions of
the manuscript.
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