Self-Compassion in Irish Social Work Students: Relationships between Resilience, Engagement and Motivation

Yasuhiro Kotera, Freya Tsuda-McCaie, Ann-Marie Edwards, Divya Bhandari and Geraldine Maughan
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Yasuhiro Kotera: College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby DE22 1GB, UK
Freya Tsuda-McCaie: College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby DE22 1GB, UK
Ann-Marie Edwards: College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby DE22 1GB, UK
Divya Bhandari: Medical Governance Research Institute, Tokyo 1080074, Japan
Geraldine Maughan: Department of Applied Social Sciences, Limerick Institute of Technology, V94 EC5T Limerick, Ireland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-13

Abstract: Self-compassion recognises a meaning of life’s suffering, aligning with existential positive psychology. Although this construct is known to protect our mental health, how to augment self-compassion remains to be evaluated. Social work students suffer from high rates of mental health problems; however, research into self-compassion in this population remains to be developed. This study aimed to evaluate (i) relationships between self-compassion and more traditional positive constructs—resilience, engagement and motivation, and (ii) differences of these constructs between the levels of studies to inform how self-compassion can be enhanced in social work students. A total of 129 Irish social work students completed self-report scales regarding self-compassion, resilience, engagement and motivation. Correlation, regression and one-way MANOVA were conducted. Self-compassion was associated with gender, age, resilience, engagement and intrinsic motivation. Resilience and intrinsic motivation were significant predictors of self-compassion. There was no significant difference in the levels of these constructs between the levels of studies. Findings suggest that social work educators across different levels can strengthen students’ resilience and intrinsic motivation to cultivate the students’ self-compassion. Moreover, the close relationships between self-compassion, resilience and intrinsic motivation indicate that orienting students to the meaning of the studies helps their mental health.

Keywords: self-compassion; resilience; intrinsic motivation; engagement; Irish students; social work students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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