Self-compassion is an adaptive means of relating to the self during times of distress. Character strengths include a set of traits and values that ultimately uplift the self and others. Although self-compassion is known to be associated with multiple character strengths, there remain opportunities to address whether particular strengths uniquely inform individual differences in self-compassion. Using three studies, strengths of curiosity, grit, gratitude, hope, and forgiveness were considered to determine which strengths provided unique information for reports of self-compassion. Results showed that hope and forgiveness were robustly associated with self-compassion when these strengths were studied simultaneously (Studies 1 and 2) and alongside Big Five covariates (Study 2). Study 3 showed that the effects of hope and forgiveness on self-compassion were comparable between college- and community-recruited young adults. Overall, findings suggest that hope and forgiveness may be promising targets to further understand and ultimately promote self-compassion.
A study of the relationship between Big-five personality traits and communication styles with marital satisfaction of married students majoring in public universities of Tehran