Religion and Psychological Well-Being: Does Islam Offer Protection Against Suicide?

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between religion and suicide. Its first goal is to investigate whether religion is a protective factor against suicide ideation. It compares suicidality by religion in order to identify potential differences between suicide acceptability scores in the different religious groups. Its second goal is to find mediators between religion and suicide, specifically for Islam. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO), statistics from 2015, Muslim countries have significantly lower suicide rates. Thus, I hypothesize that Islam is a protective factor against suicide acceptability. The second goal of this research is to identify the mediators between religion, particularly Islam, and suicide risk. A literature review has shown that the core tenets of Islam are Gratitude, Optimism, Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Self-Reflection, Patience, and fear of God. Participants (n=452) were given questionnaires that measured a total score for each of these variables, in the hypothesis of finding a mediation relationship between those core tenets of Islam and suicidality. Results indicated that 1) individuals who practice Islam were less likely to view suicide as acceptable, 2) all religious groups scored significantly higher than non religious group (atheist) on gratitude, optimism, mindfulness, emotion-regulation and patience, but also, 3) none of those variables, besides Gratitude, were found to be mediators in the relationship between religion and suicide acceptability.