Do neoliberal values provide a fertile soil for suicidal ideation?

Values associated with neoliberal ideologies are blamed for damaging the social fabric. They may also have deleterious effects on suicidal ideation.

We investigated whether neoliberal values were associated with the risk for suicidal ideation through a set of mediating factors (suicide stigma, help-seeking attitudes, perceived stress, and suicide acceptability).

A total of 508 (249 female) adults from the U.S. responded to a self-administered questionnaire that contained measures of suicidal ideation, neoliberal values, suicide stigma, help-seeking attitudes, perceived stress, and suicide acceptability. We tested a path model that linked neoliberal values to suicidal ideation through multiple mediators. We tested total versus partial mediation models.

We found empirical evidence for a full mediation of the association of neoliberal values with perceived stress. Neoliberal values were associated with suicide stigma; suicide stigma was associated with negative attitudes towards help-seeking, which, in turn, were associated with high levels of perceived stress. The association of neoliberal values with suicide acceptability was partially mediated. Perceived stress was positively associated with suicide risk directly and indirectly through suicide acceptability.

Our findings suggest that values related to neoliberal ideologies prepare a context that fosters the risk for suicide. For a contextualized understanding of suicidal behavior, more research is needed that explores the role of social, cultural, political, and economic ideologies in the suicidal process.