Self-Compassion or Self-Criticism? Predicting Women Athletes’ Psychological Flourishing in Sport in Canada

Leah J. Ferguson (), Margo E. K. Adam (), Katie E. Gunnell (), Kent C. Kowalski (), Diane E. Mack (), Amber D. Mosewich () and Noreen Murphy ()
Additional contact information
Leah J. Ferguson: University of Saskatchewan
Margo E. K. Adam: University of Saskatchewan
Katie E. Gunnell: Carleton University
Kent C. Kowalski: University of Saskatchewan
Diane E. Mack: Brock University
Amber D. Mosewich: University of Alberta
Noreen Murphy: Community Sport Advisor

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2022, vol. 23, issue 5, No 8, 1923-1939

Abstract: Abstract Some women athletes have expressed the perceived need to be self-critical to flourish in sport; however, women athletes with higher self-compassion levels tend to have greater psychological flourishing. Athletes’ baseline levels of self-compassion (i.e., having a kind, connected, and balanced self-attitude when experiencing hardships) may be key to psychologically flourish in sport during the competitive season, yet this has not been examined over time. The purpose of this study was to examine whether women athletes’ self-compassion at the start of their competitive season predicted variance beyond self-criticism in psychological flourishing at the end of their season. Competitive women athletes (N = 78; Mage = 22.97 years) in Canada completed an online survey at the start and end of their competitive season. Self-report measures included athlete versions of self-compassion and self-criticism scales, and sport-specific proxy measures of six components of psychological flourishing (autonomy, mastery, growth, positive relatedness, purpose, and self-acceptance). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that early season self-compassion explained 6% and 9% variance beyond self-criticism on end-of-season purpose and self-acceptance, respectively. The full models accounted for 12% and 29% of the variance. The results suggest that self-compassion may have an enduring and adaptive contribution to some dimensions of psychological flourishing in sport. Intentionally implementing self-compassion interventions at the start of women athletes’ competitive seasons may have merit on the trajectory of their well-being.

Keywords: Self-attitude; Female athletes; Sport; Eudaimonic well-being; Psychological skills (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-021-00483-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:23:y:2022:i:5:d:10.1007_s10902-021-00483-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... fe/journal/10902/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10902-021-00483-1

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Happiness Studies is currently edited by Antonella Delle Fave

More articles in Journal of Happiness Studies from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().