The Finno-Ugrian suicide hypothesis proposes to link genetic ties originating among Finno-Ugric peoples to high rate of suicide, claiming an allele common among them is responsible.
Mari and Udmurts have been found to have a three times higher suicide rate than Finns and Hungarians.
[citation needed] However, contrary to the hypothesis, available contemporary (1990–1994) suicide rates in the United States were uniformly negatively associated with the proportion of the population comprising people of self-reported Hungarian, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Slovakian, or Ukrainian descent.
The findings of this first test outside Europe are therefore conflicting.
A proposal based on the geographical study approach is offered to further the progress of investigations into the genetics of suicide.