673 psychology students from Midwest universities were involved in the sample. They were between 17 and 24 and mostly freshman and sophomores. The participants were given a packet and allotted one hour to complete the questions. They also received credit for participating. Three subsamples were chosen for testing. White, Black, and Hispanic, these subsamples didn't differ in gender or marital status. .
Using the Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale (MAST) 30-item scale, the attitude of the sample was measured in four different components: attraction to life, attraction to death, repulsion by life, and repulsion by death. The results of this study were as follows: repulsion of life=.88, repulsion by death=.93, attraction to death=.56, and attraction to life=.96 (Cronbach's alpha). The next test given was the Self-Harmful Behavior Scale (SHB). This was a free-response questionnaire that was written by Gutierrez himself to assess the participant's engagement in dangerous and self-harmful activities (Gutierrez et al 1999). Five questions were asked to find the history of suicidal behavior. If any of the questions were answered yes, then information was then gathered such as; Number of times the behavior was demonstrated, age when the behavior was occurred, who was told about it and the responses by others to the behavior (Gutierrez et al 1999). These results were used to rate the lifetime history of suicidal behavior on the Spectrum of Suicidal Behavior Scale (SSB). The SSB is a 5-point scale that scales the lifetime history of suicidal behavior. In this study, (1) indicates no history of suicidal behavior, (2) a history of suicidal ideas, (3) a history of suicidal behavior, (4) a history of mild suicidal acts, and (5) a history of at least on serious attempt (Pfeffer et al., 1979). .
The sample group was large enough that three subgroups could be made. The study's results are based on these three groups, Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites.