Abstract
Objectives
Self-compassion is related to psychological outcomes. By examining wholistic concept of self-compassion, previous research has overlooked the possibility that people may differ in combination of positive self-compassion and self-coldness. This study, using a person-centered approach, aimed to identify subgroups of college students based on different profiles of positive self-compassion and self-coldness. We also examined how these profiles related to socio-demographic variables as well as psychological outcomes.
Methods
This cross-sectional study included 1029 Chinese college students. Self-reported questionnaires were used to collect levels of positive self-compassion and self-coldness (including six facets) and psychological outcomes (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, negative affect, and positive affect). A latent profile analysis was performed to identify different profiles based on the six facets. The Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars approach was used to examine how profiles related to socio-demographic variables and psychological outcomes.
Results
Five distinct profiles were identified: high self-coldness, low self-compassion (16.2%), high self-compassion, low self-coldness (17.2%), average self-compassion, average self-coldness (38.9%), low self-compassion, low self-coldness (17.5%), and high self-compassion, high self-coldness (10.2%). Older people tended to report high self-compassion, high self-coldness profile, and females tended to have high self-coldness, low self-compassion profile. People with high self-compassion, low self-coldness profile reported the best psychological outcomes, whereas those in high self-coldness, low self-compassion and high self-compassion, high self-coldness profiles experienced the worst outcomes.
Conclusions
We identified five subgroups with different combinations of the six facets of self-compassion and self-coldness. People with distinct profiles differed on psychological outcomes. Future research is needed to adopt longitudinal design and replicate our findings in different groups.
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Data availability
The data of the current study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The present study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Award Number: 32000773) and Project of Humanities and Social Sciences funding (Award Number: 20YJA190013). The authors would like to thank all the college students for their participation.
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Liyang Wu: analyzed the data and wrote the paper. Maya J. Schroevers: collaborated in the study design and editing of the final manuscript. Lei Zhu: executed the study and wrote the paper. All authors approved the final version of this manuscript.
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All procedures were approved by the ethics committee at the Shaanxi Normal University. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.
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Wu, L., Schroevers, M.J. & Zhu, L. Positive Self-Compassion, Self-Coldness, and Psychological Outcomes in College Students: a Person-Centered Approach. Mindfulness 12, 2510–2518 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01721-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01721-6