Remembering that “Everybody Hurts”: The Role of Self-Compassion in Responses to Rejection

Self-compassion involves treating oneself kindly, acknowledging that all humans experience suffering, and maintaining a balanced awareness of negative thoughts and feelings. Three studies (N = 614) examined the potential role of self-compassion in response to interpersonal rejection. Study 1 recruited a large, diverse internet sample and explored relationships between general perceived acceptance and several outcome variables (affect, depression, self-esteem), testing whether self-compassion moderates these relationships. Similarly, Study 2 tested whether self-compassion moderates the relationships between daily acceptance/rejection and outcome variables. Finally, Study 3 tested whether a self-compassion manipulation effectively promotes coping with rejection. Taken together, results reveal that self-compassion both predicts (Studies 1 and 2) and promotes (Study 3) relatively adaptive responses to rejection. These results suggest that a self-compassionate mindset may lessen the sting of rejection.