The Werther effect is the tendency for widely publicized coverage of a suicide to trigger a spike in further, imitative suicides, a pattern also called suicide contagion or copycat suicide. In such cases a publicized suicide can act as a trigger, in the absence of protective factors, for the next suicide by a person who is susceptible or suggestible. The name comes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, which was blamed for a wave of similar deaths among young men who had read it.
Facts
Core ClaimA widely publicized suicide is followed by a spike in emulation suicides. 1 First Described Year Classification
Type of PhenomenonSocial or Interpersonal Phenomenon 1 Sources
1. Copycat suicide, Wikipedia
Lead section
A spike in emulation suicides after a widely publicized suicide is known as the Werther effect, after rumours of such a spike following the publication of Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther.
History, term coinage
The term was coined by researcher David Phillips in 1974.
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