Relationship between Hopelessness, Materialism and Suicidal Ideation among University Undergraduates

Abstract

This study investigated relationship between hopelessness, materialism and suicidal ideation among university undergraduates. 201 undergraduate of Caritas University, Enugu were used as the sample. The participants who comprise of 97 males and 104 females were within the age barge of 17-25 years with a mean of 21 years and a standard deviation of 2 years. Three instruments were used for data collection namely: Beck hopelessness Scale, Material Value Scale and Beck scale for suicidal ideation. Two hypotheses were stated and tested: there will be no significant positive relationship between hopelessness and suicidal ideation and there will be no significant positive relationship between materialism and suicidal ideation. A survey research design was adopted while Regression statistics was used for data analysis, findings revealed a positive significant relationship between hopelessness and suicidal ideation among university undergraduates (β = .297, P < .001). The results of this study support other empirical works that have shown that hopelessness is a significant predictor of suicidal ideation. Therefore, the signs of hopelessness should be closely watched and noticed among individuals in other to avoid suicidal behaviours. Also materialism was found not to be a significant predictor of suicidal ideation, however, materialism measured in its dimensions suggested that individual drive to seek happiness, success and materialism in its centrality will hinder suicidal ideation.