Suicidal ideation among university students is a growing concern, particularly in Bangladesh. The current study sought to investigate the relationship between suicidal ideation and transcendence character strengths, specifically hope, gratitude, appreciation for beauty, and spirituality, among University of Chittagong students.
The study included 400 students who were chosen using stratified random sampling based on gender and residential status. Data were gathered using the Bangla Brief Suicide Cognitions Scale (B-BSCS) and Transcendence Virtue Scale. Hope had the strongest negative correlation with suicidal ideation (r = -.524, p<.05), followed by gratitude, spirituality, and appreciation for beauty. According to hierarchical multiple regression, hope alone explained 27.4% of the variance in suicidal ideation. Including gratitude and spirituality increased the explained variance by 31.9%.
These findings highlight the protective role of transcendence strengths, particularly hope strength, in lowering suicidal ideation among students. This study emphasizes the importance of using a strengths-based approach in mental health interventions for university students and provides culturally relevant insights for suicide prevention strategies in the Bangladeshi context.