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Attachment, Self‐Compassion, Empathy, and Subjective Well‐Being Among College Students and Community Adults
Author(s) -
Wei Meifen,
Liao Kelly YuHsin,
Ku TsunYao,
Shaffer Phillip A.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00677.x
Subject(s) - empathy , psychology , self compassion , compassion , social psychology , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , mindfulness , political science , law
Research on subjective well‐being suggests that it is only partly a function of environmental circumstances. There may be a personality characteristic or a resilient disposition toward experiencing high levels of well‐being even in unfavorable circumstances. Adult attachment may contribute to this resilient disposition. This study examined whether the association between attachment anxiety and subjective well‐being was mediated by Neff's (2003a, 2003b) concept of self‐compassion. It also examined empathy toward others as a mediator in the association between attachment avoidance and subjective well‐being. In Study 1, 195 college students completed self‐report surveys. In Study 2, 136 community adults provided a cross‐validation of the results. As expected, across these 2 samples, findings suggested that self‐compassion mediated the association between attachment anxiety and subjective well‐being, and emotional empathy toward others mediated the association between attachment avoidance and subjective well‐being.