A State of De-Stress: Examining the Relationship Between Subjective Well-Being, Self-Compassion, and Empathy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.75.8298Keywords:
stress, subjective well-being, self-compassion, empathy, post-secondaryAbstract
University can be a period of stress caused by academic, social, or personal demands. Yet most are able to rise above the adversity and grow from their experiences. Research on stress has found that a negative association exists with subjective well-being broadly conceptualized as life happiness (Denovan & Macaskill, 2017; Zhang, 2009). There are also positive relationships demonstrated between self-compassion and empathy with subjective well-being (Bluth et al., 2016; Thomas et al., 2007). This study examined the relationship between perceived stress and subjective well-being in a non-clinical university population. The study also examined the relationship between stress and subjective well-being, and how that relationship was moderated by the self-compassion and mediated by empathy.
References
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Bluth, K., Roberson, P. N. E., Gaylord, S. A., Faurot, K. R., Grewen, K. M., Arzon, S., & Girdler, S. S. (2016). Does self-compassion protect adolescents from stress? Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 1098-1109. doi:10.1007/s10826-015-0307-3
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Brazeau, C. M. L. R., Schroeder, R., Rovi, S., & Boyd, L. (2010). Relationship between medical student burnout, empathy, and professionalism climate. Academic Medicine, 85(1), 33-36. doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e33181ed4c47
Breines, J. G., McInnis, C. M., Kuras, Y. I., Thoma, M.V., Gianferante, D., Hanlin, L., … Rohleder, N. (2015). Self-compassion young adults show lower salivary alpha-amylase responses to repeated psychosocial stress. Self and Identity, 14(4), 390-402. doi:10.1080/15298868.2015.1005659
Carnicer, J. G., & Calderón, C. (2013). Empathy and coping strategies as predictors of well-being in Spanish university students. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 12(1), 129-146. doi: 10.14204/ejrep.32.13117
Chan, D. (2009). So why ask me? Are self-report data really that bad. Statistical and methodological myths and urban legends: Doctrine, verity and fable in the organizational and social sciences, 309-336.
Cohen, S., Kamarack, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 24, 386-396.
Cooke, R., Bewick, B. M., Barkham, M., Bradley, M., & Audin, K. (2006). Measuring, monitoring and managing the psychological well-being of first year university students. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 34(4), 505-517. doi:10.1080/03069880600942624
Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113-126. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2006). A social-neuroscience perspective on empathy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(2), 54-58.
Denovan, A., & Macaskill, A. (2017). Stress and subjective well-being among first year UK undergraduate students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18(2), 505-525. doi: 10.1007/s10902-016-9736-y
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276-302.
Duarte, J., Pino-Gouveia, J., & Cruz, B. (2016). Relationships between nurses’ empathy, self-compassion and dimensions of professional quality of life: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 60, 1-11.
Dwyer, A. L., & Cummings, A. L. (2001). Stress, self-efficacy, social support, and coping strategies in university students. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 35(3), 208-220.
Finlay-Jones, A. M., Rees, C. S., & Kane, R. T. (2015). Self-compassion, emotion regulation and stress among Australian psychologists: Testing an emotion regulation model of self-compassion using structural equation modeling. PLOS ONE, 10(7), 1-19. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133481
Friedlander, L. J., Reid, G. J., Shupak, N., & Cribbie, R. (2007). Social support, self-esteem, and stress as predictors of adjustment to university among first-year undergraduates. Journal of College Student Development, 48(3), 259-274. doi: 10.1353/csd.2007.0024.
Huebner, E. S. (1991). Initial development of the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale. School Psychology International, 12, 231-243.
Karlsen, E., Dybdahl, R., & Vittersø, J. (2006). The possible benefits of difficulty: How stress can increase and decrease subjective well-being. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 47, 411-417. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2006.00549.x
Kim, H., & Yi, M. (2015). Factors influencing empathy in nursing students in Korea. The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education, 21(2), 237-245.
Leary, M. R., Tate, E. B., Adams, C. E., Allen, A. B., & Hancock, J. (2007). Self-compassion and reactions to unpleasant self-relevant events: The implications of treating oneself kindly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(5), 887-904. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.5.887
Lee, E. (2012). Review of the psychometric evidence of the Perceived Stress Scale. Asian Nursing Research, 6, 121-127.
Myers, D. G., & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6(1), 10-19. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.1995.tb00298.x
Neely, M. E., Schallert, D. L., Mohammed, S. S., Roberts, R. M., & Chen, Y. (2009). Self-kindness when facing stress: The role of self-compassion, goal regulation, and support in college students’ well-being. Motivation and Emotion, 33(1), 88-97. doi: 10.1007/s11031-008-9119-8
Neff, K. D. (2003a). The development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2, 223-250. doi:10.1080/15298860390209035
Neff, K. D. (2003b). Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity, 2, 85-101. doi: 10.1080/15298860390129863
Neff, K. D., Kirkpatrick, K. L., & Rude, S. S. (2007). Self-compassion and adaptive psychological functioning. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 139-154.
Park, K.H., Kim, D., Kim, S. K., Yi, Y. H., Jeong, J. H., Chae, J., … Roh, H. (2015). The relationship between empathy, stress and social support among medical students. International Journal of Medical Education, 6, 103-108. doi:10.5116/ijme.55e6.0d44
Reniers, R. L. E. P., Corcoran, R., Drake, R., Shryane, N. M., & Völlm, B. A. (2011). The QCAE: A questionnaire of cognitive and affective empathy. Journal of Personality Assessment, 93(1), 84-95. doi:10.1080/00223891.2010.528484
Shanafelt, T. D., West, C., Zhao, X., Novotny, P., Kolars, J., Habermann, T., & Sloan, J. (2005). Relationship between increased personal well-being and enhanced empathy among internal medicine residents. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 20, 559-564. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.0108.x
Stallman, H. M. (2008). University Stress Scale. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.
Stallman, H. M., & Hurst, C. P. (2016). The University Stress Scale: Measuring domains and extent of stress in university students. Australian Psychologist, 51(2), 128-134.
Tavakol, M., & Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha. International Journal of Medical Education, 2, 53-55.
Thoma, P., Zalewski, I., von Reventlow, H. G., Norra, C., Juckel, G., & Daum, I. (2011). Cognitive and affect empathy in depression linked to executive control. Psychiatry Research, 189, 373-378. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2011.07.030
Thomas, M. R., Dyrbye, L. N., Huntington, J. L., Lawson, K. L., Novotny, P. L., Sloan, J. A., & Shanafelt, T. D. (2007). How do distress and well-being relate to medical student empathy? A multicenter study. Society of General Internal Medicine, 22, 177-183.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063-1070.
Wei, M., Liao, K. Y., Ku, T., & Shaffer, P. A. (2011). Attachment, self-compassion, empathy, and subjective well-being among college students and community adults. Journal of Personality, 79(1), 191-221. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00677.x
Welp, L. R., & Brown, C. M. (2014). Self-compassion, empathy, and helping intentions. Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(1), 54-65. doi:10.1080/17439760.2013.831465
Wolf, O. T., Schulte, J. M., Drimalla, H., Hamacher-Dang, T. C., Knoch, D., & Dziobek, I. (2015). Enhanced emotional empathy after psychosocial stress in young healthy men. Stress, 18(6), 631-637.
Zessin, U., Dickhäuser, O., & Garbade, S. (2015). The relationship between self-compassion and well-being: A meta-analysis. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 7(3), 340-364.
Zhong, L. F. (2009). Academic stress and subjective well-being: The moderating effects of perceived social support. Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, 1321-1324. doi:10.1109/ICIEEM.2009.5344424
Bayram, N., & Bilgel, N. (2008). The prevalence and socio-demographic correlations of depression, anxiety and stress among a group of university students. Social Psychiatry, 43(8), 667-672.
Bluth, K., Roberson, P. N. E., Gaylord, S. A., Faurot, K. R., Grewen, K. M., Arzon, S., & Girdler, S. S. (2016). Does self-compassion protect adolescents from stress? Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 1098-1109. doi:10.1007/s10826-015-0307-3
Bourgault, P., Lavoie, S., Paul-Savoie, E., Gregoire, M., Michaud, C., Gosselin, E., & Johnston, C. C. (2015). Relationship between empathy and well-being among emergency nurses. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 41(4), 323-328. doi:10.1016/j.jen.2014.10.001
Brazeau, C. M. L. R., Schroeder, R., Rovi, S., & Boyd, L. (2010). Relationship between medical student burnout, empathy, and professionalism climate. Academic Medicine, 85(1), 33-36. doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e33181ed4c47
Breines, J. G., McInnis, C. M., Kuras, Y. I., Thoma, M.V., Gianferante, D., Hanlin, L., … Rohleder, N. (2015). Self-compassion young adults show lower salivary alpha-amylase responses to repeated psychosocial stress. Self and Identity, 14(4), 390-402. doi:10.1080/15298868.2015.1005659
Carnicer, J. G., & Calderón, C. (2013). Empathy and coping strategies as predictors of well-being in Spanish university students. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 12(1), 129-146. doi: 10.14204/ejrep.32.13117
Chan, D. (2009). So why ask me? Are self-report data really that bad. Statistical and methodological myths and urban legends: Doctrine, verity and fable in the organizational and social sciences, 309-336.
Cohen, S., Kamarack, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 24, 386-396.
Cooke, R., Bewick, B. M., Barkham, M., Bradley, M., & Audin, K. (2006). Measuring, monitoring and managing the psychological well-being of first year university students. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 34(4), 505-517. doi:10.1080/03069880600942624
Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113-126. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2006). A social-neuroscience perspective on empathy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(2), 54-58.
Denovan, A., & Macaskill, A. (2017). Stress and subjective well-being among first year UK undergraduate students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18(2), 505-525. doi: 10.1007/s10902-016-9736-y
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276-302.
Duarte, J., Pino-Gouveia, J., & Cruz, B. (2016). Relationships between nurses’ empathy, self-compassion and dimensions of professional quality of life: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 60, 1-11.
Dwyer, A. L., & Cummings, A. L. (2001). Stress, self-efficacy, social support, and coping strategies in university students. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 35(3), 208-220.
Finlay-Jones, A. M., Rees, C. S., & Kane, R. T. (2015). Self-compassion, emotion regulation and stress among Australian psychologists: Testing an emotion regulation model of self-compassion using structural equation modeling. PLOS ONE, 10(7), 1-19. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133481
Friedlander, L. J., Reid, G. J., Shupak, N., & Cribbie, R. (2007). Social support, self-esteem, and stress as predictors of adjustment to university among first-year undergraduates. Journal of College Student Development, 48(3), 259-274. doi: 10.1353/csd.2007.0024.
Huebner, E. S. (1991). Initial development of the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale. School Psychology International, 12, 231-243.
Karlsen, E., Dybdahl, R., & Vittersø, J. (2006). The possible benefits of difficulty: How stress can increase and decrease subjective well-being. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 47, 411-417. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2006.00549.x
Kim, H., & Yi, M. (2015). Factors influencing empathy in nursing students in Korea. The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education, 21(2), 237-245.
Leary, M. R., Tate, E. B., Adams, C. E., Allen, A. B., & Hancock, J. (2007). Self-compassion and reactions to unpleasant self-relevant events: The implications of treating oneself kindly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(5), 887-904. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.5.887
Lee, E. (2012). Review of the psychometric evidence of the Perceived Stress Scale. Asian Nursing Research, 6, 121-127.
Myers, D. G., & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6(1), 10-19. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.1995.tb00298.x
Neely, M. E., Schallert, D. L., Mohammed, S. S., Roberts, R. M., & Chen, Y. (2009). Self-kindness when facing stress: The role of self-compassion, goal regulation, and support in college students’ well-being. Motivation and Emotion, 33(1), 88-97. doi: 10.1007/s11031-008-9119-8
Neff, K. D. (2003a). The development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2, 223-250. doi:10.1080/15298860390209035
Neff, K. D. (2003b). Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity, 2, 85-101. doi: 10.1080/15298860390129863
Neff, K. D., Kirkpatrick, K. L., & Rude, S. S. (2007). Self-compassion and adaptive psychological functioning. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 139-154.
Park, K.H., Kim, D., Kim, S. K., Yi, Y. H., Jeong, J. H., Chae, J., … Roh, H. (2015). The relationship between empathy, stress and social support among medical students. International Journal of Medical Education, 6, 103-108. doi:10.5116/ijme.55e6.0d44
Reniers, R. L. E. P., Corcoran, R., Drake, R., Shryane, N. M., & Völlm, B. A. (2011). The QCAE: A questionnaire of cognitive and affective empathy. Journal of Personality Assessment, 93(1), 84-95. doi:10.1080/00223891.2010.528484
Shanafelt, T. D., West, C., Zhao, X., Novotny, P., Kolars, J., Habermann, T., & Sloan, J. (2005). Relationship between increased personal well-being and enhanced empathy among internal medicine residents. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 20, 559-564. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.0108.x
Stallman, H. M. (2008). University Stress Scale. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.
Stallman, H. M., & Hurst, C. P. (2016). The University Stress Scale: Measuring domains and extent of stress in university students. Australian Psychologist, 51(2), 128-134.
Tavakol, M., & Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha. International Journal of Medical Education, 2, 53-55.
Thoma, P., Zalewski, I., von Reventlow, H. G., Norra, C., Juckel, G., & Daum, I. (2011). Cognitive and affect empathy in depression linked to executive control. Psychiatry Research, 189, 373-378. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2011.07.030
Thomas, M. R., Dyrbye, L. N., Huntington, J. L., Lawson, K. L., Novotny, P. L., Sloan, J. A., & Shanafelt, T. D. (2007). How do distress and well-being relate to medical student empathy? A multicenter study. Society of General Internal Medicine, 22, 177-183.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063-1070.
Wei, M., Liao, K. Y., Ku, T., & Shaffer, P. A. (2011). Attachment, self-compassion, empathy, and subjective well-being among college students and community adults. Journal of Personality, 79(1), 191-221. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00677.x
Welp, L. R., & Brown, C. M. (2014). Self-compassion, empathy, and helping intentions. Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(1), 54-65. doi:10.1080/17439760.2013.831465
Wolf, O. T., Schulte, J. M., Drimalla, H., Hamacher-Dang, T. C., Knoch, D., & Dziobek, I. (2015). Enhanced emotional empathy after psychosocial stress in young healthy men. Stress, 18(6), 631-637.
Zessin, U., Dickhäuser, O., & Garbade, S. (2015). The relationship between self-compassion and well-being: A meta-analysis. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 7(3), 340-364.
Zhong, L. F. (2009). Academic stress and subjective well-being: The moderating effects of perceived social support. Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, 1321-1324. doi:10.1109/ICIEEM.2009.5344424
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2020-05-31
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Hablado, K., & Clark, M. (2020). A State of De-Stress: Examining the Relationship Between Subjective Well-Being, Self-Compassion, and Empathy. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(5), 412–426. https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.75.8298
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