Year
2013
Season
Summer
Paper Type
Master's Thesis
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree Name
Master of Arts in General Psychology (MAGP)
Department
Psychology
NACO controlled Corporate Body
University of North Florida. Department of Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Ashley Batts Allen
Second Advisor
Dr. Christopher Leone
Department Chair
Dr. Michael Toglia
College Dean
Dr. Barbara A. Hetrick
Abstract
Self-compassion is a characteristic composed of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness that promotes adaptive cognitive, behavioral, and emotional processing. A self-compassionate mindset in the face of difficulties can lead to less anxiety and more self-forgiveness, and because of these benefits, some evidence suggests self-compassionate individuals tend to persist longer on a task after an initial failure. This study focuses on the extent to which self-compassion can improve task performance and persistence under pressure. Participants first completed the Self-Compassion Scale (Neff, 2003a) to measure trait levels of self-compassion. Self-compassion was then induced by leading participants to think about a mistake in terms of the components of self-compassion. Pressure was manipulated by stating that task performance on a series of logic problems was indicative of intelligence. Multiple regressions were conducted to explore the potential effects of both trait and induced self-compassion, as well as task pressure, as predictors of objective and subjective measures of performance and persistence. Analyses revealed that for controls, performance and persistence were highly contingent on pressure, while self-compassionately primed individuals tended to perform and persist more consistently across pressure scenarios. Additionally, self-compassionate individuals were more accurate with regard to subjective ratings of their objective performances. The realistic self-appraisals that self-compassionate individuals harbor offer a potential explanation for these unusual findings. Furthermore, it is recommended that future research focus on the connections between self-compassion and self-esteem during task performance, as well as strengthening the pressure and self-compassion manipulations.
Suggested Citation
Landgraf, Allison, "Under Pressure : Self-Compassion as a Predictor of Task Performance and Persistence" (2013). UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 453.
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/453