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Self-Compassion

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

Self-acceptance; Self-care; Self-kindness; Self-love; Self-worth

Definition

Self-compassion involves relating to oneself with care and support when we suffer. Neff (2003b) defines self-compassion as consisting of three central components: self-kindness versus self-judgment, common humanity versus isolation, and mindfulness versus overidentification. These elements combine and mutually interact to create a self-compassionate frame of mind when encountering personal mistakes, perceived inadequacies, or various experiences of life difficulty. Self-kindness entails being loving, gentle, and understanding toward oneself and involves actively soothing and comforting oneself in times of struggle. This response stands in contrast to a self-critical approach in which one judges or blames oneself for not being good enough or for not coping well enough with life challenges. Self-compassion involves framing one’s experiences of imperfection in light of the shared human experience,...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Kristin D. Neff & Marissa C. Knox

Authors
  1. Kristin D. Neff
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  2. Marissa C. Knox
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristin D. Neff .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Christian Jordan

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Neff, K.D., Knox, M.C. (2017). Self-Compassion. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1159-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1159-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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