Abstract :
Suicidal ideation is a growing mental health concern for university students, especially in collectivistic societies in which social relationships are central to psychological well-being. The current research explored the relationship between perceived social support and suicidal ideation among university students, with a further exploration of gender and living arrangements differences. A cross-sectional design of research was used, and a total of 204 students (50% male and 50% female) were selected from the University of Sindh, Jamshoro. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation were used. Data were analyzed with the help of the measures of correlation and the t-test of independent samples. Results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between perceived social support and suicidal ideation, ? = -.15, p = .036, which means that the higher the perceived social support, the lower the suicidal ideation. Significant gender differences existed in perceived social support (t(202) = -3.66, p < .001) such that females (M = 54.75, SD = 16.85) reported higher levels of social support than males (M = 45.62, SD = 18.71). Males had significantly greater suicidal ideation (M=12.95, SD=5.86) than females (M=9.64, SD=4.78), t(202) = 4.43, p