Using social cognition models to understand why people, such as perfectionists, struggle to respond with self‐compassion

Biskas, Marios; Sirois, Fuschia M.; Webb, Thomas L.

Abstract

Responding with self-compassion to lapses in goal pursuit helps people to achieve their goals, yet evidence suggests that some people struggle to respond with self-compassion. The current research proposes that social cognition models such the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Prototype Willingness Model could explain why some people, such as those high in perfectionistic concerns, struggle to respond with self-compassion. We therefore conducted a pre-registered prospective study that measured participants’ beliefs about self-compassion, difficulties enacting self-compassionate responding, perfectionistic concerns, and then tested their ability to be self-compassionate in response to a recalled and future lapse. The results showed that participants were less likely to respond with self-compassion to lapses if they held negative beliefs about self-compassion and experienced difficulties enacting self-compassion. Participants high in perfectionistic concerns were more likely to have negative beliefs about self-compassion and experience difficulties enacting self-compassion. Together, these findings provide evidence that social cognition models can be used to understand self-compassionate responding and identify why some people struggle to respond with self-compassion to goal lapses.

Citation

Biskas, M., Sirois, F. M., & Webb, T. L. (2022). Using social cognition models to understand why people, such as perfectionists, struggle to respond with self‐compassion. British Journal of Social Psychology, 61(4), 1160-1182. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12531

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 28, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Mar 9, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Jul 4, 2022
• Journal: British Journal of Social Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0144-6665
• Electronic ISSN: 2044-8309
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 1160-1182
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12531
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1199351
• Additional Information: This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).