The forest and the trees: Examining the association of self-compassion and its positive and negative components with psychological functioning
This paper presents two studies focusing on the link between psychological functioning and self-compassion as measured by the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), especially in terms of SCS components that represent increased compassionate and reduced uncompassionate behavior. Study One examined
this association in seven domains – psychopathology, positive psychological health, emotional intelligence, self-concept, body image, motivation, and interpersonal functioning – and found that while reduced negative self-responding had a stronger link to negative emotionality and
self-evaluation than positive self-responding, they were roughly equivalent predictors in other domains. Study Two examined the association of compassionate and reduced uncompassionate behavior with sympathetic nervous system and inflammatory activity after stress, and found they equally predicted
salivary alpha amylase and interleukin-6 levels in individuals after a stressful situation. Overall, results suggest that both compassionate and reduced uncompassionate self-responding are central to self-compassion and that both help to explain its link to healthy psychological functioning.
Keywords: Self-Compassion Scale; negative self-compassion; positive self-compassion
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA 2: Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Boston, MA, USA 3: Doctoral School of Psychology and Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary 4: Department of Psychology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA
Publication date: 02 November 2018
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