Fears of compassion : relationships with self-compassion, social connectedness, self-criticism and emotional distress

Abstract

Studies on compassion development suggested that people who were fearful of generating compassion to the self and receiving compassion from others would experience increased emotional distress. Mechanisms of how these fears were related to emotional distress would be a focus of the present study. Furthermore, the study explored the process and experience of learning self-compassion in individuals who suffered from high fear of self-compassion. The findings hoped to pave way for developing compassion related interventions that target this specific high-fear group in the local mental health setting. The first study consisted of 268 clinical psychological service users. 80% of participants received a diagnosis of mood disorders. Results suggested that participants with trauma exposures experienced higher level of fears of compassion (both from others and to the self) compared to the no trauma group. Social connectedness were found to mediate between the relationship of fear of compassion from others and emotional distress. Findings also suggested that self-criticism also served as a mediator in the relationship between fear of compassion to the self and emotional distress. However, the overall moderating role of self-compassion in the association between fears of compassion and emotional distress did not reach significance in the current study. The second part of study further qualitatively explored the process of learning self-compassion in a group of high fear of self-compassion participants using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Six participants completed the study and reported obstacles as well as progress in overcoming barriers associated with the learning of self-compassion. Participants’ experience of learning self-compassion had given them new insights into the possibility of developing more empathetic understanding and self-kindness towards their personal short-comings. The concept of common humanity within the self-compassion teachings encouraged them to consider alleviating their inner voices of destructive self-criticism. Participants also came to experience the practice of self-compassion as a potential emotion regulation strategy for their chronic emotional distress. Findings of the present studies suggested that addressing fears of compassion (both to the self and from others) in the beginning of therapy constituted an important target of intervention when therapists attempt to cultivate self-compassion, especially for patients who had previous trauma exposures. Cultural and family values should be taken into considerations when developing self-compassion intervention protocols in the local community.