This study employed the “Chinese College Student Positive Psychological Qualities Scale” through convenience sampling of 653 students from two vocational colleges in Jiangsu Province, aiming to investigate the developmental characteristics and influencing mechanisms of positive psychological qualities among rural left-behind vocational students. The findings revealed that: Rural left-behind vocational students demonstrated significantly higher scores in the transcendence dimension compared to the national college student norm, while showing significant lag in the interpersonal dimension. Their performance in cognitive, emotional, justice, and temperance dimensions remained comparable to the norm group;Regression analysis identified that individual characteristics (gender), family capital (economic status), and behavioral patterns (gaming frequency) collectively predicted vocational students’ positive psychological qualities The research unveils a distinctive “transcendence advantage-interpersonal deficit” developmental pattern in rural left-behind vocational students’ psychological profiles. These findings provide critical insights for optimizing vocational education practices, furthermore, they offer scientific evidence for formulating targeted assistance policies to enhance the psychological well-being of rural left-behind vocational students.