Positive, not negative, self-compassion mediates the relationship between self-esteem and well-being.

OBJECTIVES: The study examined the predictive strengths of self-esteem, and positive and negative self-compassion for hedonic and eudaimonic well-being as well as assessed the relative mediating roles of positive and negative self-compassion for the relationships among self-esteem, and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. DESIGN: A correlational design was employed through which self-esteem, self-compassion, and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being were measured. METHODS: One hundred thirty-four male (M = 25.11, SD = 1.66) and 138 female (M = 21.89, SD = 1.87) participants were chosen by a convenient sampling. RESULTS: The findings evinced that there were significant positive correlations among self-esteem, positive self-compassion, and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being while negative self-compassion exhibited small positive correlations with both the well-being measures (criterion). The regression analyses showed that self-esteem and positive self-compassion reflected significant predictive strengths for hedonic as well as eudaimonic well-being while negative self-compassion did not. This was also true for the social and psychological aspects of well-being. The ß values reflected that positive self-compassion did show a higher contribution for both the well-being measures as compared to self-esteem. CONCLUSIONS: The findings evinced that positive, not negative, self-compassion mediated the relationship between self-esteem and hedonic well-being as well as self-esteem and eudaimonic well-being. Moreover, self-esteem and self-compassion have predictive strengths for both kinds of well-being. The findings showed the relevance of self-esteem and self-compassion to underscore well-being. The implications and directions for future researchers have been discussed. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Contrary to the earlier findings suggesting self-esteem and self-compassion carrying relevance to explicate performance and well-being of people with individualistic and collectivistic cultures, respectively, the findings of this study suggest both the constructs to be useful to understand the well-being of people with both the values belonging especially to the fast-changing societies like India. The study also suggests reconceptualization and empirical verification of self-compassion that will make it more effective for enhancing and promoting interventions for positive life outcomes.

Restoring and preserving capacity of self-affirmation for well-being in Indian adults with non-clinical depressive tendencies.

BACKGROUND: Although self-affirmation has been reported to enhance well-being and other positive life outcomes in normal adults, little is known about its capacity to restore and preserve well-being in adults with depressive tendencies. The current study attempts to expound the restoring and preserving capacity of self-affirmation for well-being in Indian adults with non-clinical depressive tendencies. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: The study used a sequential research design. Eighty participants (22-27 years) with depressive tendencies were chosen through purposive sampling and were randomly assigned equally to the experimental and control conditions. Their depressive tendencies and well-being were measured through standard scales at three intervals: pre-intervention, post-intervention and follow-up. RESULTS: The results revealed significant restoring and preserving capacity of self-affirmation for the well-being of the experimental group participants as compared to the control group. The main effects of conditions (experimental, control) and treatment intervals (pre, post, follow-up) were significant along with the interaction effects of conditions × treatment intervals. The significant differences in the mean well-being scores for pre-intervention, post-intervention and follow-up points of time showed the restoring and preserving capacity of self-affirmation intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed that self-affirmation helps to restore well-being as well as preserve it after a significant gap, which is evident in higher well-being mean scores of the experimental group taken at post-intervention and follow-up intervals. The positive effects of self-affirmation on well-being may have remained active even after the cessation of the intervention due to the underlying mechanisms of enhanced self-worth, positive values, inner strengths, positive attributions and interpersonal relationships.