When Self-Compassion Lacks Ferocity: Anger and Responding to False Accusations

Self-compassion can help people when they make mistakes, but does it affect how people respond when falsely accused of making a mistake? In this research, we tested the hypothesis that self-compassion is associated with lower levels of anger after a false accusation which, in turn, lowers the likelihood that people will attempt to challenge the accusation.

In Studies 1A (N = 422) and 1B (N = 492), participants imagined that they were playing in an important tennis match and were falsely accused by an official of making an error. In Study 2 (N = 346), participants completed an online survey that, at one point, displayed a message accusing them of plagiarizing one of their responses.

In all studies, self-compassion assessed prior to the accusation was negatively associated with levels of anger following the accusation. Anger, in turn, was positively associated with intentions to challenge the accusation (Studies 1A and 1B) and with the likelihood that participants brought the false accusation to our attention when given an opportunity to do so (Study 2).

This research shows that highly self-compassionate people are not always ferocious and may be susceptible to being taken advantage of when facing false accusations.