18 Aug How Do We Create a More Compassionate World?
via Psychology Today by Stephen Joseph PhD
Today’s world seems short of compassion. When there are racially motivated murders, violence on the streets between people of different political views, and a culture of social media that promotes divisive messages, it seems clear that compassion for each other is sadly lacking in many instances.
How do we create a more compassionate world?
This is an important question for social psychologists. It might be expected that compassion for others starts with compassion for ourselves.
This was examined in a recent study by Aydan Bayır-Toper at the University of Nottingham who tested the association between self-compassion and compassion for others in 530 participants. While it was found that there was an association between self-compassion and compassion for others, the effect was not strong. There is no guarantee that people who are self-compassionate are more compassionate for others.
This goes against what might be expected, particularly given how popular the topic of compassion has become in recent years, and how much it has been promoted as a tool for therapy.
However, while many researchers have found personal benefits for self-compassion, it has also been criticized as self-indulgence, self-absorption, or self-orientation. This new study would seem to lend some support to these criticisms.
The interesting twist to this study, however, was…
… to find out this interesting twist, and to read the full & original article, just click HERE
#compassion #empathy #happiness #happy