Promoting self-compassion through the activation of care-seeking and caregiving mentalities: cross-sectional, daily diary, and experimental evidence

Self-compassion is a kind, reassuring way of relating to the self when faced with setbacks and personal difficulties. Self-compassion is associated with positive psychological functioning and is protective against psychopathology. Presently, the underlying mechanisms of self-compassion are not well understood. According to Gilbert (1989, 2000), self-compassion is rooted in care-seeking and caregiving social mentalities which originally evolved to guide interpersonal behaviour, but have now been co-opted for intrapersonal relating. The objective of the present thesis is to systematically test social mentality theory. Using a cross-sectional design, Article 1 examined the interactive effect of care-seeking and caregiving in predicting self-compassion. Participants completed self-report measures and exploratory factor analyses were conducted to derive care-seeking and caregiving factors. The highest level of self-compassion was predicted by the combination of high care-seeking and high caregiving. The lowest level of self-compassion was predicted by the combination of low care-seeking and high caregiving. Using a daily diary methodology, Article 2 examined how care-seeking and caregiving predicted self-compassion across individuals and within individuals. For seven days, participants completed daily measure of received social support, given social support, and self-compassion. At the between-persons level, the most self-compassionate individuals were those who received and gave high levels of support, while the least self-compassionate individuals were those who gave high levels of support but received low levels of support in return. At the within-person level, individuals were more self-compassionate on days they received more support than usual and on days they gave more support than usual. Using an experimental design, Article 3 examined whether self-compassion can be promoted through the activation of care-seeking and caregiving mentalities and for whom. Participants were randomly assigned to recall memories of care-seeking, caregiving, a combination of care-seeking and caregiving, having fun (active control group), or a no-treatment control group. Participants completed a memory recall task twice per day for four days and were assessed on pre- and post-test levels of self-compassion. Findings showed moderating effects of trait care-seeking and stress. In response to the caregiving conditions, high care-seekers increased in self-compassion whereas low care-seekers decreased in self-compassion. In response to the care-seeking conditions, highly stressed individuals increased in self-compassion. Overall, the three articles provide converging evidence that self-compassion relies on the dual activation of care-seeking and caregiving mentalities. Consistent with social mentality theory, high self-compassion was predicted by the combination of high care-seeking and high caregiving. An unexpected finding showed deficits in self-compassion to be predicted by the combination of low care-seeking and high…