绝望之死与美国宗教的衰落

Journal of the European Economic Association · 2025 · [{"name": "Tyler Giles", "affiliation": ["Wellesley College"]}, {"name": "Daniel Hungerman", "affiliation": ["University of Notre Dame"]}, {"name": "Tamar Oostrom", "affiliation": ["The Ohio State University"]}]

中文摘要

近几十年来, 美国自杀、药物中毒和酒精性肝病导致的死亡率急剧上升。我们发现, 这些"绝望之死"相对于原有趋势的上升始于20世纪90年代初, 而在此之前宗教参与已出现下降, 且这两种趋势均由美国中年白人群体所驱动。利用蓝法(blue laws)的废除, 我们发现宗教参与所受的冲击对这些死亡率具有显著影响。我们的研究结果表明, 有组织宗教等社会因素对于理解绝望之死能够发挥重要作用。

Abstract

In recent decades, death rates from suicides, drug poisonings, and alcoholic liver disease have dramatically increased in the United States. We show that these "deaths of despair" began to increase relative to the trend in the early 1990s, that this increase was preceded by a decline in religious participation, and that both trends were driven by middle-aged white Americans. Using repeals of blue laws, we find that a shock to religious participation has significant effects on these mortality rates. Our findings show that social factors such as organized religion can play an important role in understanding deaths of despair.