Degree Name

Department

Management

College

Marriott School of Management

Defense Date

2018-03-08

Publication Date

2018-04-19

First Faculty Advisor

Peter Madsen

First Faculty Reader

John Bingham

Honors Coordinator

Mark Hansen

Keywords

suicide ideation, suicide, stock market, finance, mental health

Abstract

On October 24, 1929, the United States stock market crashed. Will Rogers, a local newspaper writer, said of that experience, “When Wall Street took that tail spin, you had to stand in line to get a window to jump out of, and spectators were selling space for bodies in the East River” (Lowenthal 1987). Tales of ruined stockbrokers jumping from the windows of tall buildings ran across the country. These stories have prompted interest in the interaction between workplace environment and mental health. In this study, we looked at the relationship between stock market performance and suicide ideation for working professionals. By analyzing data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, we compared financial professionals and public administrators to see how the stock market affected both groups suicide ideation and whether the effect was larger for one working population than the other. We hypothesize the relationship between stock market performance and suicide ideation to be positive for those in the financial market. We further hypothesize that the effect of stock market performance on suicide ideation will be greater for those in the financial market than for academic professionals. The results of our study will provide further key steps in understanding workplace environment and suicide ideation.

Copyright Statement

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Copyright Date

2018-04-19