self-esteem

People who learn to treat themselves with kindness are on the
right track for raising their own sense of self, according to a study
released last August.

Researcher and psychology professor Mark Leary, PhD, and
colleagues presented three self-compassion studies in Washington
D.C. at the American Psychological Association's yearly convention.
Tests were administered to college students.

In the first study, students were asked to imagine themselves in
certain situations like causing their team to lose a game or forgetting
their role in a play. Self-compassionate students responded with
statements such as, "Everybody goofs up now and then," and, "In
the long run, this really doesn't matter." Those who were tougher
on themselves made statements such as, "This is awful," or "I'm
such a loser."

In another study, self-compassionate students coped better with
unflattering feedback.

Students in the third test boosted self-compassion by recalling a
failure from their lives and writing about it as if they were writing
to a friend who had gone through the same thing.

The study results showed that self-compassion students looked
failure right in the eye and didn't flinch. They took responsibility
for their role in the flop and then moved on, giving themselves a
break. The students reported being happier, less angry, less
likely to dwell on negative events, and to view neutral feedback
in a more positive way.

Students lacking great self-esteem were helped by self-
compassion. They handled failure or mistakes better if they
were kind to themselves about it. webmd