Abstract
Objectives
The primary aim of this study was to explore different methods of inducing self-compassion in individuals with elevated social anxiety.
Methods
Three methods of inducing self-compassion were compared as follows: a writing tool, an audio meditation, and an interview. Participants (N = 167; students with high social anxiety) were asked to write about a social situation in which they felt judged and were then randomly assigned to one of the three induction conditions or a control condition. Subsequently, state self-compassion was assessed.
Results
Participants reported significantly higher state self-compassion in the written condition than both the interview and control conditions (η2 = 0.10, medium effect).
Conclusion
The present study informs future work examining the impact of self-compassion inductions on social anxiety outcomes, suggesting the continued use of written self-compassion inductions.
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The authors gratefully acknowledge that this work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant 435-2018-0349) awarded to the second author.
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AS collaborated with the study design, data analyses, and writing of the paper and collected data. NK collaborated with the study design, data analyses, and writing of the paper.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of Wilfrid Laurier University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Siegel, A.N., Kocovski, N.L. Effectiveness of Self-Compassion Inductions Among Individuals with Elevated Social Anxiety. Mindfulness 11, 2552–2560 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01470-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01470-y