How Self-Compassion Promotes Authentic Self-Expression: The Role of Self-Concept Clarity

Yuki Miyagawa ()
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Yuki Miyagawa: Otemon Gakuin University, Faculty of Psychology

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2026, vol. 27, issue 1, No 1, 22 pages

Abstract: Abstract Three studies (n = 1,581) investigated whether self-compassion enables individuals to achieve high levels of state self-concept clarity, thereby facilitating authentic self-expression toward others. These studies also explored the relation of self-compassion to inauthentic self-expression. Study 1 utilized scenarios in which individuals were unsure about what others were thinking. Study 2 focused on participants’ actual experiences of such situations. Study 3 implemented an experimental manipulation of self-compassion in the situations. Across three studies, individuals with high self-compassion reported higher state self-concept clarity and authentic self-expression. State self-concept clarity consistently mediated the positive association between self-compassion and authentic self-expression, independent of state self-esteem as a parallel mediator. The relation of self-compassion to inauthentic self-expression was not consistently found. This study indicates that self-compassion promotes state self-concept clarity and authentic self-expression toward others. State self-concept clarity elucidates the mechanism through which self-compassion facilitates authentic self-expression.

Keywords: Authentic self-expression; Inauthentic self-expression; Self-compassion; State self-concept clarity; State self-esteem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1007/s10902-025-00985-2

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