Background: "Committed suicide" is often deemed less acceptable than alternative phrases, but such judgments vary widely across individuals. Aim: We tested whether the endorsement of statements containing "committed suicide" is greater when a suicide death is depicted as immoral. We also assessed the degree of immorality suggested by the free-standing phrases "committed suicide" and "died by suicide." Method: Undergraduate participants (N = 154) read scenarios of a suicide depicted as immoral and one depicted more neutrally and judged the applicability of statements employing either "committed suicide" or "died by suicide" to each scenario. Participants next chose between the free-standing phrases "committed suicide" or "died by suicide" in terms of which connoted immorality and provided written justifications for their choices. Results: Participants judged "committed suicide" statements to be most applicable to the immoral-suicide scenario. A large majority of participants chose "committed suicide" over "died by suicide" as connoting immorality and participants' justifications for this choice revealed several meaningful themes. Limitations: Our manipulation of immorality employed religious overtones and our participants were undergraduate students. Conclusions: Findings contribute to the empirical basis for concerns regarding the phrase "committed suicide," with implications for stigma reduction and help-seeking.

中文翻译：

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描述的不道德行为影响了短语“自杀”的感知适用性。

背景：“自杀”通常被认为不如替代短语可接受，但这种判断因人而异。目的：我们测试了当自杀死亡被描述为不道德时，对包含“自杀”的陈述的认可是否更大。我们还评估了独立短语“自杀”和“死于自杀”所暗示的不道德程度。方法：本科生参与者（N = 154）阅读被描述为不道德的自杀场景和一个更中立的描述场景，并判断使用“自杀”或“死于自杀”的陈述对每种场景的适用性。参与者接下来在独立短语“自杀”或“死于自杀”之间进行选择 这意味着不道德，并为他们的选择提供了书面理由。结果：参与者判断“自杀”陈述最适用于不道德的自杀场景。绝大多数参与者选择“自杀”而不是“死于自杀”作为不道德的含义，参与者对此选择的理由揭示了几个有意义的主题。局限性：我们对不道德的操纵使用了宗教色彩，我们的参与者是本科生。结论：研究结果有助于为对“自杀”一词的担忧提供经验基础，这对减少耻辱感和寻求帮助有影响。最适用于不道德自杀场景的陈述。绝大多数参与者选择“自杀”而不是“死于自杀”作为不道德的含义，参与者对此选择的理由揭示了几个有意义的主题。局限性：我们对不道德的操纵使用了宗教色彩，我们的参与者是本科生。结论：研究结果有助于为对“自杀”一词的担忧提供经验基础，这对减少耻辱感和寻求帮助有影响。最适用于不道德自杀场景的陈述。绝大多数参与者选择“自杀”而不是“死于自杀”作为不道德的含义，参与者对此选择的理由揭示了几个有意义的主题。局限性：我们对不道德的操纵使用了宗教色彩，我们的参与者是本科生。结论：研究结果有助于为对“自杀”一词的担忧提供经验基础，这对减少耻辱感和寻求帮助有影响。局限性：我们对不道德的操纵使用了宗教色彩，我们的参与者是本科生。结论：研究结果有助于为对“自杀”一词的担忧提供经验基础，这对减少耻辱感和寻求帮助有影响。局限性：我们对不道德的操纵使用了宗教色彩，我们的参与者是本科生。结论：研究结果有助于为对“自杀”一词的担忧提供经验基础，这对减少耻辱感和寻求帮助有影响。