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Related Concept Videos

Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification03:00

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Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
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Multimodal Protocol for Assessing Metacognition and Self-Regulation in Adults with Learning Difficulties
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Published on: September 27, 2020

Self-compassion increases self-improvement motivation.

Juliana G Breines1, Serena Chen

  • 1University of California, Berkeley, USA. jbreines@berkeley.edu

Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
|May 31, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Self-compassion after mistakes boosts self-improvement motivation. Treating yourself with kindness, rather than harsh self-criticism, encourages personal growth and better performance.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Motivation Science

Background:

  • Self-criticism is often assumed to motivate self-improvement.
  • However, this approach may hinder personal growth and well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if self-compassion, an accepting approach to failure, enhances motivation for self-improvement.
  • To examine the effects of self-compassion on beliefs about personal weaknesses, moral behavior, and academic performance.

Main Methods:

  • Four experiments were conducted comparing self-compassion interventions with control conditions (self-esteem, positive distraction, or no intervention).
  • Participants completed tasks assessing personal weaknesses, moral transgressions, and test performance.

Main Results:

  • Self-compassion led to greater incremental beliefs about personal weaknesses.
  • Participants showed increased motivation to rectify moral transgressions and avoid repetition.
  • Following failure, individuals in the self-compassion group studied more for a subsequent test.
  • Self-compassion promoted upward social comparison and increased motivation to change personal weaknesses.

Conclusions:

  • Self-compassion appears to be a more effective motivator for self-improvement than self-criticism.
  • An accepting attitude towards personal failures can paradoxically foster a stronger drive for self-betterment.