Self-Compassion and Motivation for Self-Improvement: A Meta-Analysis

Self-Compassion and Motivation for Self-Improvement: A Meta-Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Self-Compassion and Motivation for Self-Improvement: A Meta-Analysis Stephen Baillargeon This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9408192/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Self-compassion, defined as a mindful, unconditional acceptance and kindness one directs to oneself, has been shown to have positive effects on well-being and mental health, but it could be speculated to have an undesirable impact on motivation. If self-acceptance is conditional, then the threat of self-loathing no longer drives the desire for someone to improve themselves. In contrast, the reduction in pressure and increase in mood could play a positive role. Using data from 45 different articles and a total sample size of 13,558, the meta-analysis demonstrated conclusively that self-compassion is positively, not negatively, (r = 0.25) correlated to motivation. This only affected intrinsic, not extrinsic, motivation, and was true across cultures, in experimental studies, and in unpublished research, in spite of moderate concerns surrounding heterogeneity. Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Introduction While examining potential optimal self-concepts, it is important to note any side effects of proposed self-concepts. While self-compassion (SC) is neither speculatively nor empirically related to narcissism as self-esteem is, the most important concern may be motivation. Since there have been several tests on the hypothesis that self-compassion improves motivation for self-improvement, it is possible that the research is inconsistent, and a meta-analytic approach will be taken to test the confidence of the hypothesis. It is very important not to promote a self-concept without evidence of the absence of harmful side effects that one could reasonably conclude to be present, and while there has already been a meta-analysis conducted on self-compassion and mental health outcomes, the remaining concern is over motivation, which is the only variable where there has been academic speculation as to its side-effects. Since motivation for self-improvement contains a variety of elements, it is worth systematically analyzing the literature to investigate any inconsistencies that there may be. There is logical justification for belief in the hypothesis that SC reduces motivation to improve oneself, as well as logical justification for the opposite belief, that it promotes motivation. If a person accepts themself unconditionally, they will have positive feelings about themselves at their worst and best, while someone who accepts themselves conditionally might only have positive feelings when they’re at their best. Thus, SC could put someone in a situation where there is no affective improvement to gain from taking action to better oneself. Conversely, it is possible that a positive state is beneficial in the search for motivation. Perhaps even having high compassion for oneself will cause someone to want them to achieve their best. Hence a thorough assessment of the literature is important to distinguish which of the reasonable positions can be verified empirically in order to definitively answer whether or not, to what extent, and in what direction SC affects motivation. According to Robinson et al. ( 2016 ), the fear of losing motivation is one thing that holds people back from working on their SC, implying many people at least believe their motivation is tied to the contingency of their self-worth. Baumeister and Tice ( 1985 ) found mixed results when assessing the impact self-esteem had on motivation, with those high in self-esteem having high internal motivation following success and those low in self-esteem having higher motivation following failure. Waschull and Kernis ( 1996 ) found that the stability of self-esteem was associated with an increase in motivation. With conflicts in the nuance of self-esteem’s association with motivation, no conclusions regarding SC’s correlation could be inferred without an assessment of the literature directly addressing the exact psychological construct. Fortunately, there is a plethora of such research available. Methods Transparency and Openness The study used a meta-analytic technique, therefore the data used is primarily available online already. Additionally, without human subjects, sample sizes were not calculated beforehand and no ethics clearance was required. The data was compiled into and analyzed using the 'Comprehensive Meta-Analysis' software. R-values were used as the effect size, since the vast majority of the research was correlational. Studies that reported Cohen's d, F-values, ß, or Student's t were converted into r-values using calculators on lbecker.uccs.edu/ and www.escal.site/ . The research was not pre-registered. Selection and Inclusion of Studies Since the present study examines motivation for self-improvement, a variety of outcomes related to self-improvement were examined, including motivation to reduce cigarette or alcohol use, increase exercise frequency, lose weight, eat healthier, and self-reported motivation to improve oneself in general by standard metrics. Measures of SC were limited to the Neff ( 2003 ) Self Compassion Scale and its shortened version validated by Raes et al. ( 2011 ), as well as occasional translations, including Miyagawa, Niiya, Taniguchi, and Morishita's (2015) Japanese translation and Kim Kyung-eui et al. (2008)'s Korean translation. While other scales and conceptions of SC and related concepts exist, there was more than sufficient material using Neff’s scale alone. While the exclusivity of this scale helps form a more unified approach to addressing the hypothesis, future research could contrast the research to assess if similar results could be found using other scales of SC, such as Gilbert et al’s ( 2017 ) Compassionate Engagement for Action Scale, or other similar constructs such as unconditional self-acceptance using the Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale (Crocker, Luhtanen, Cooper, & Bouvrette, 2003 ). The hypothesis could also be addressed using scales that measure self-criticism or self-hatred. However, using only Neff’s scale was sufficient to provide a robust body of data while maintaining conceptual consistency in the construct in question, operating within a single, coherent framework for self-compassion. Motivation for self-improvement encompassed a wide variety of measurements of self-improvement that were included in the analysis. This included three categories, the first being direct measurements of motivation and initiative. The inclusion of studies using questionnaires addressing the factor directly are meant to maximize internal validity. The questionnaires in this category were the Personal Growth Initiative Scale (readiness for change and intentional behavior subscales; Robitschek, 1998), Situational Motivation Scale (Guérin & Fortier, 2012 ), the Tuckman Procrastination Scale (1991), Breines and Chen ( 2012 ), Duckworth (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007 )'s Grit measurement, Ryan and Connell ( 1989 )'s Korean translation by Yoo Ji-won ( 2010 ), Goal Regulation (Wrosch, Scheier, Miller, & Schultz, 2003), the BREQ-2 and BREQ-3 (Markland & Tobin, 2004 ), Motivation Achievement Scale (McClelland, Koestner, & Weinberger, 1987), the Proactive Personality Scale (Seibert, Crant, & Kraimer, 1999 ), Aspiration Index (Guertin et al., 2018 ), Motivation Skills Scale (Onur, 1998 ) WEIMS (Tremblay, Blanchard, Taylor, Pelletier, & Villeneuve, 2009 ). In order not to neglect external validity, outcome measurements of habits directly associated with challenges related to motivation and self-control were also included. This encompassed smoking reduction, alcohol use, exercise, time spent studying, the Binge Eating Scale (Gormally, Black, Datson, & Rardin, 1982), the Wellness Behavior Inventory (Sirois, 2001 ), Health Promoting Behaviors (Walker, Sechrist, Pender, 1987 ), Learning Self-Regulation Questionnaire (autonomous regulation subscale; Williams & Deci, 1996 ), as well as task-specific motivation scales like the Academic Motivation (Vallerand et al., 1993 ), Student Motivation Model (Rubin, Palmgreen, and Sypher, 1994 ), motivation to correct interpersonal mistakes (novel to Baker & McNulty, 2011 ), self-reported intention to continue diet, Correlational studies were included if they measured both self-compassion and any measurement of motivation for anything related to self-improvement. Studies focusing on resulting behavior were excluded to avoid introducing too many confounding variables (emotional states, time management, etc.). Experiments were included if they successfully manipulated self-compassion with statistical significance and measured motivation pre- and post-intervention or if they used manipulations validated in previous research. Several experiments were included as correlational studies using pre-intervention measurements of the relevant variables if the researchers were not able to make a significant impact on the subjects' self-compassion or if the experiment was manipulating a different variable. This analysis covered all relevant articles in PsycInfo, EBSCO host, OpenAIRE, each of which provided between 20 and 40 articles using combinations of “self-compassion” and “motivation,” “self-improvement,” and “grit.” With each search engine, previously unincluded articles were downloaded (or added to a list when not directly available), allowing for doubles to be quickly identified in subsequent search engines. Additionally, the first 40 pages of results (10 results per page) in Google Scholar containing the same keywords, with a separate search for “grit” resulting in 17 pages were screened. The number of pages in these cases were determined by continuing until more than three pages had gone by without relevant results, as the studies became progressively less related to the keywords. While reading the resultant articles, studies cited in the resulting articles were sought out and subsequently included as well, if not previously included, regardless of the authors’ hypotheses or conclusions. No automation tools were used in the screening process, thus all studies that were found were screened manually, first through the reading of the titles and abstracts. If a study was deemed relevant, it was retrieved. The retrieval process was very successful, with no relevant article being irretrievable. This involved emailing several authors. On two occasions, authors were contacted who had published multiple relevant studies. In these cases, they were asked if they had or were aware of any additional unpublished studies that could meet the inclusion criteria. In each case, the response was negative, but the originally sought articles were successfully provided. Although most studies included have been published, any available unpublished studies were included as well. The majority of unpublished studies were found in the “Open Access Theses and Dissertations” search engine, with some contributions from OpenAIRE. Results There was a total of 55 studies included in the analysis from 45 different articles with a total of 13,558 participants (for a table of studies and their results, see Table 1). Seven of these were experimental, the remaining being correlational. There were 10 entirely non-Western samples and six unpublished studies (for detailed results by study, see Figure 2). The cumulative r-value was 0.25 (p < 1 x 10 -9 ), implying a definite, moderately sized, positive correlation between self-compassion and self-improvement motivation. While non-Western samples varied slightly more in the correlations between studies, no moderating effect of country was found. Analyzing only the seven experimental studies, the r-value was still 0.25 (p < 0.001). The only significant moderating variable found was internal vs. external motivation. For studies that specified internal motivation values, the r-value was 0.18 (p < 0.001), while the correlation for external motivation was non-significant (r = -0.04, p = 0.45, ns). There was substantial heterogeneity found (as shown in Figure 3), with an I 2 value of 61.24. Therefore, the values presented here use the random effects model rather than the fixed effects, with the exception of the measurement for internal motivation, which had an I 2 value of only 15.11. This could be explained by publication bias but assessing only unpublished studies retained high heterogeneity (I 2 = 81.84) and had an only slightly reduced correlation (r = 0.21). It could also have been explained by the presence of outliers caused by the measurements of external motivation, the use of non-Western samples, or small sample sizes, all of which had far less consistent results, but the exclusion of which retained high heterogeneity with minimal impact on the correlation, leaving the heterogeneity not successfully quantitatively explained. The heterogeneity may be present simply because the outcome variable was very broad. In assessing extrinsic motivation specifically, for example, the situational motivation scale yielded strong negative results, academic motivation scale was often neutral or negative, while the WEIMS is consistently positive. With measurements involving weight loss, exercise, study, smoking, grit, and work productivity, a high level of variance is expected, even though every study used either the Self-Compassion Scale, its short form, or a translation. Discussion The results confidently indicate that increasing self-compassion causes motivation to increase. While heterogeneity was present, exploratory data-analysis and assessment of unpublished research confirmed that it is somewhat unlikely to be caused by publication bias to an extent that would damage the confidence or reduce the effect size of the findings out of the medium range. From a practical perspective, this would not only be potentially reassuring to anyone hesitant to support the promotion or adoption of self-compassion on admittedly a logically sound speculative concern for how it could impact people's behavior but could help educate anyone interested in increasing motivation. Motivation is a generally complicated concept but has been difficult to increase, with SC often being left out of even well-cited guides to increasing motivation (Williams-Pierce, 2011 ). Since motivation, especially internal motivation, is an element of so many facets of human behavior, finding a construct that promotes it can be a very powerful tool in supporting a wide array of desirable variables. This could be useful in clinical contexts, where a patient may suffer from a lack of initiative on actions that would improve their life. The information is also valuable to those who lead group addiction programs, where self-improvement is the general point of attendance, but is difficult in practice. Life coaches, physical therapists, personal trainers, authors of self-help books, and educators may all find the information helpful in their careers. It also provides one argument in favor of a more compassion-centered parenting style, although the balance between warmth and supportiveness vs firmness is always multifaceted, but the present study does secure one piece of information that justifies a slight push toward the supportive end of the spectrum. The consistency of the literature means that the analysis brings very little new information to the body of research it impacts, aside from a boost of confidence into the hypothesis and a more robust estimate of effect sizes. The only moderating variable identified to make a difference in the analysis was extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation. Since SC is a strictly internal process of judgment and kindness toward oneself, it is unsurprising that the effect took place on intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation. One remarkable element of this research is that intrinsic motivation has infamously been either difficult to increase or fragile and susceptible to decrease given the overjustification effect (Cameron, Banko, & Pierce, 2001 ). One example is in the field of gamification research, Mekler, Brühlmann, Tuch, and Opwis have twice found that typical elements of gamification have no significant impact on intrinsic motivation (2013; 2017). Conversely, Buchner and Zumbach ( 2018 ) found a large effect (converts to an r-value of 0.42) of gamified history education using an augmented reality mobile game, compared to a control group using a more traditional approach to history education. The current research is not totally unique in the identification of a factor that affects intrinsic motivation. While the effect size in the current research was found to be r = 0.18 for intrinsic motivation and 0.25 for general motivation, other researchers have devised interventions with similar or greater effects or identified constructs with equal or greater correlations. Several of these studies are based on Self Determination Theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000 ) literature, which suggests that a sense of relatedness to others, a sense of competence, and a sense of autonomy are key elements of motivation. Wilkesmann and Vorberg ( 2021 ) found that teachers intrinsic motivations increased with a sense of relatedness (r = 0.37), perception of organizational resources (r = 0.17), and age (r = 0.12). Also based on SDT, Wijsman et al. ( 2019 ) designed a rigorous academic-oriented intervention called GUTS that has an effect size converted to an r-value of 0.24. Trenshaw, Revelo, Earl, and Herman ( 2016 ) approached SDT qualitatively, finding that a sense of relatedness and competence played powerful roles in feelings of intrinsic motivation, while a sense of autonomy was mentioned in substantially fewer interviews. SC conceptually relates most to competence out of the three, although it doesn’t pertain directly to any element of SDT. The effect of SC on motivation is not surprising when comparing the construct to qualities of education demonstrated to be effective. Vallerand and Reid ( 1984 ) for example found that confidence-boosting feedback on a sports-related task, regardless of performance, had an effect size of r = 0.56. Carraça et al. ( 2011 ) found that a body image intervention significantly reduced the frequency of many unhealthy eating habits. The current data helps fill in gaps or boost confidence in the connections between a complex array of interrelated variables concerning self-concepts. Self-esteem and SC are both known to have interactions with a variety of factors, and securing the confidence in the connection between SC and motivation, especially intrinsic motivation, meta-analytically contributes to the overall understanding of optimal self-concepts, as well as the similarities and differences between SC and Self-Esteem, as shown in Fig. 4 . The present research’s contribution to this understanding is a solidification of one interaction between variables, namely SC and motivation. It contrasts with self-esteem’s relationship only in that the direction of causality is well-established through experiments. The positive relationship between self-esteem and intrinsic, but not extrinsic, motivation is also confidently asserted in a meta-analysis (Howard et al., 2021 ). Another thing they have in common is their relationship with depression and anxiety. SC has been shown to have a helpful effect on depression and anxiety (Wilson, Mackintosh, Power, & Chan, 2019 ) as well as general well-being (Zessin, Dickhäuser, & Garbade, 2015 ), and the same can be said for self-esteem (Sowislo, & Orth, 2013 ; Zell, & Johansson, 2024 ). They differ in terms of their relationship with prosocial behavior, with a small amount of individual studies, mostly carried out by a small group of researchers in China, albeit with large sample sizes (Yang, Guo, Kou, & Liu, 2019 ; Yang, Kong, Guo, & Kou, 2021 ; Liu et al., 2023 ) suggesting a positive association between SC and prosocial behavior, while a small amount of individual studies indicates that self-esteem’s relationship, although having some positive associations, is more complex (Yu, Hao, & Shi, 2018 ; Fu, Padilla-Walker, & Brown, 2017 ). Self-esteem also has a unique association with narcissism (Hyatt, et al., 2018 ), while in spite of difficulties in researching the relationship between narcissism and prosocial behavior due to discrepancies between self-report and objective measures, Konrath and Tian’s data (2018) suggests the relationship is negative. Overall, there is much left to learn about motivation, optimization of self-concepts, the effects of SC, and the desire and ambition to improve oneself. The current research has conclusively established the relationship between SC and motivation, which has proven to successfully replicate across cultures and through many different measurements without substantial evidence of publication bias. It is a small part of a broader understanding of both present constructs and fits in well with other observations made within the subdisciplines. Declarations Author Contribution The sole author did all components of the research associated with the current manuscript. 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Five key ingredients for improving motivation. Research in Higher Education Journal , 11. http://aabri.com/manuscripts/11834.pdf Wilson, A.C., Mackintosh, K., Power, K., and Chan, S. W. Y. (2019). Effectiveness of Self-Compassion Related Therapies: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 10, 979–995. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-1037-6 Wrosch, C., Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Schulz, R. (2003). The importance of goal disengagement in adaptive self-regulation: When giving up is beneficial. Self and Identity , 2, 1–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15298860309021. Yang, Y., Guo, Z., Kou, Y., and Liu, B. (2019). Linking Self-Compassion and Prosocial Behavior in Adolescents: The Mediating Roles of Relatedness and Trust. Child Ind Res , 12, 2035–2049. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-019-9623-2 Yang, Y., Kong, X., Guo, Z., and Kou, Y. (2021). Can Self-compassion Promote Gratitude and Prosocial Behavior in Adolescents? A 3-Year Longitudinal Study from China. Mindfulness , 12, 1377–1386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01605-9 Yoon, S. (2017). The relationship between narcissism and perfectionism; focusing on the mediating effect of self-compassion. Domestic master's thesis, Hanshin University Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. Gyeonggi-do. Yoo Ji-won (2010). Structure between motivational factors, psychological mediation factors, and social factors that affect learner immersion. Identification of masonry relationships. Doctoral thesis, Ewha Womans’ University . Yu, Z., Hao, J., and Shi, B. (2018). Dispositional envy inhibits prosocial behavior in adolescents with high self-esteem. Personality and Individual Differences . 122(1), 127-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.10.022 Zell, E., and Johansson, J. S. (2024). The Association of Self-Esteem With Health and Well-Being: A Quantitative Synthesis of 40 Meta-Analyses. Social Psychological and Personality Science . https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506241229308 Zessin, U., Dickhäuser, O., and Garbade, S. (2015). The relationship between self-compassion and well-being: a meta-analysis. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being . https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12051 Table Table 1 is available in the Supplementary Files section. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Table1.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 12 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 May, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 01 May, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 24 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 24 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 13 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9408192","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":636506905,"identity":"0a510961-5320-4d68-859b-1fbb659b2131","order_by":0,"name":"Stephen Baillargeon","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA20lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCR72H4n/bHj4QZyEAuK0MEg8YEuTkWwAaTEgUovkA7bDNgYHQDxitMjP7j1gkMBzmMf4/OrEDw8MGOT5xQ7g12Jw51xCQoJEOo/ZjbebJYAOM5w5O4GAFokcgwMJBtZALWc3gLQkGNwmoEV+Ro5hQ0ICM4/xjLObfxClheFGjjFDwgFnHgP+3m3E2QL0SxpDYkMaj8QN3m0WCQYShP0CDLFjjD8bbOz5+89uvvmjwkaeX5qQw+BAAqxSgljlIMB/gBTVo2AUjIJRMJIAAKrpRApDl84NAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stephen","middleName":"","lastName":"Baillargeon","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-13 20:38:13","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9408192/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9408192/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109002942,"identity":"3cfebdc1-418f-4351-b0f4-b3f4f49dcbbc","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-11 15:15:38","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":39392,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003ePRISMA flowchart of screening process. The articles were screened manually based off of the readings of titles and articles without automated software, thus large amounts of studies without noted duplicates were screened.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9408192/v1/3f2cd89f0b1a59374e9a93fe.png"},{"id":109002926,"identity":"f0b4a83f-3157-4bd4-82c7-663696494960","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-11 15:15:34","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":152527,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eForest Plot containing r-values and 95% confidence intervals for each study.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9408192/v1/e1aaf3d0c5455d66f540b853.png"},{"id":109002923,"identity":"7a5ccd7a-fe83-4e6f-93b4-8ccfb1ffa8f4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-11 15:15:30","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":58999,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFunnel Plot demonstrating the strength of heterogeneity.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9408192/v1/3d5df8808d33d548af461d03.png"},{"id":109002897,"identity":"eda03324-971c-48e7-8f64-40ea5f2387cc","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-11 15:15:18","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":91931,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eRelationships between variables comparing and contrasting the known effects of SC and self-esteem\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9408192/v1/f87f2fb1a9b79bd1205fe711.png"},{"id":109003005,"identity":"41dcef88-b8ef-4e26-8272-c514dc17be1b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-11 15:15:56","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":494117,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9408192/v1/4c40fa98-1d11-4203-9625-30fc897c5699.pdf"},{"id":109002931,"identity":"f8440a40-74ea-4574-a4c2-e98c70a1a09c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-11 15:15:37","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":2494901,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Table1.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9408192/v1/f207c2730db33e725f34d700.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Self-Compassion and Motivation for Self-Improvement: A Meta-Analysis","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eWhile examining potential optimal self-concepts, it is important to note any side effects of proposed self-concepts. While self-compassion (SC) is neither speculatively nor empirically related to narcissism as self-esteem is, the most important concern may be motivation. Since there have been several tests on the hypothesis that self-compassion improves motivation for self-improvement, it is possible that the research is inconsistent, and a meta-analytic approach will be taken to test the confidence of the hypothesis. It is very important not to promote a self-concept without evidence of the absence of harmful side effects that one could reasonably conclude to be present, and while there has already been a meta-analysis conducted on self-compassion and mental health outcomes, the remaining concern is over motivation, which is the only variable where there has been academic speculation as to its side-effects. Since motivation for self-improvement contains a variety of elements, it is worth systematically analyzing the literature to investigate any inconsistencies that there may be.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThere is logical justification for belief in the hypothesis that SC reduces motivation to improve oneself, as well as logical justification for the opposite belief, that it promotes motivation. If a person accepts themself unconditionally, they will have positive feelings about themselves at their worst and best, while someone who accepts themselves conditionally might only have positive feelings when they\u0026rsquo;re at their best. Thus, SC could put someone in a situation where there is no affective improvement to gain from taking action to better oneself. Conversely, it is possible that a positive state is beneficial in the search for motivation. Perhaps even having high compassion for oneself will cause someone to want them to achieve their best. Hence a thorough assessment of the literature is important to distinguish which of the reasonable positions can be verified empirically in order to definitively answer whether or not, to what extent, and in what direction SC affects motivation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to Robinson et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), the fear of losing motivation is one thing that holds people back from working on their SC, implying many people at least believe their motivation is tied to the contingency of their self-worth. Baumeister and Tice (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1985\u003c/span\u003e) found mixed results when assessing the impact self-esteem had on motivation, with those high in self-esteem having high internal motivation following success and those low in self-esteem having higher motivation following failure. Waschull and Kernis (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e) found that the stability of self-esteem was associated with an increase in motivation. With conflicts in the nuance of self-esteem\u0026rsquo;s association with motivation, no conclusions regarding SC\u0026rsquo;s correlation could be inferred without an assessment of the literature directly addressing the exact psychological construct. Fortunately, there is a plethora of such research available.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eTransparency and Openness\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study used a meta-analytic technique, therefore the data used is primarily available online already. Additionally, without human subjects, sample sizes were not calculated beforehand and no ethics clearance was required. The data was compiled into and analyzed using the 'Comprehensive Meta-Analysis' software. R-values were used as the effect size, since the vast majority of the research was correlational. Studies that reported Cohen's d, F-values, \u0026szlig;, or Student's t were converted into r-values using calculators on lbecker.uccs.edu/ and \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.escal.site/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ewww.escal.site/\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"http://www.escal.site/\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e. The research was not pre-registered.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSelection and Inclusion of Studies\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince the present study examines motivation for self-improvement, a variety of outcomes related to self-improvement were examined, including motivation to reduce cigarette or alcohol use, increase exercise frequency, lose weight, eat healthier, and self-reported motivation to improve oneself in general by standard metrics.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMeasures of SC were limited to the Neff (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e) Self Compassion Scale and its shortened version validated by Raes et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e), as well as occasional translations, including Miyagawa, Niiya, Taniguchi, and Morishita's (2015) Japanese translation and Kim Kyung-eui et al. (2008)'s Korean translation. While other scales and conceptions of SC and related concepts exist, there was more than sufficient material using Neff\u0026rsquo;s scale alone. While the exclusivity of this scale helps form a more unified approach to addressing the hypothesis, future research could contrast the research to assess if similar results could be found using other scales of SC, such as Gilbert et al\u0026rsquo;s (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) Compassionate Engagement for Action Scale, or other similar constructs such as unconditional self-acceptance using the Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale (Crocker, Luhtanen, Cooper, \u0026amp; Bouvrette, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e). The hypothesis could also be addressed using scales that measure self-criticism or self-hatred. However, using only Neff\u0026rsquo;s scale was sufficient to provide a robust body of data while maintaining conceptual consistency in the construct in question, operating within a single, coherent framework for self-compassion.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMotivation for self-improvement encompassed a wide variety of measurements of self-improvement that were included in the analysis. This included three categories, the first being direct measurements of motivation and initiative. The inclusion of studies using questionnaires addressing the factor directly are meant to maximize internal validity. The questionnaires in this category were the Personal Growth Initiative Scale (readiness for change and intentional behavior subscales; Robitschek, 1998), Situational Motivation Scale (Gu\u0026eacute;rin \u0026amp; Fortier, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e), the Tuckman Procrastination Scale (1991), Breines and Chen (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e), Duckworth (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, \u0026amp; Kelly, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e)'s Grit measurement, Ryan and Connell (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1989\u003c/span\u003e)'s Korean translation by Yoo Ji-won (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e), Goal Regulation (Wrosch, Scheier, Miller, \u0026amp; Schultz, 2003), the BREQ-2 and BREQ-3 (Markland \u0026amp; Tobin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e), Motivation Achievement Scale (McClelland, Koestner, \u0026amp; Weinberger, 1987), the Proactive Personality Scale (Seibert, Crant, \u0026amp; Kraimer, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e), Aspiration Index (Guertin et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e), Motivation Skills Scale (Onur, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e) WEIMS (Tremblay, Blanchard, Taylor, Pelletier, \u0026amp; Villeneuve, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn order not to neglect external validity, outcome measurements of habits directly associated with challenges related to motivation and self-control were also included. This encompassed smoking reduction, alcohol use, exercise, time spent studying, the Binge Eating Scale (Gormally, Black, Datson, \u0026amp; Rardin, 1982), the Wellness Behavior Inventory (Sirois, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2001\u003c/span\u003e), Health Promoting Behaviors (Walker, Sechrist, Pender, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1987\u003c/span\u003e), Learning Self-Regulation Questionnaire (autonomous regulation subscale; Williams \u0026amp; Deci, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e), as well as task-specific motivation scales like the Academic Motivation (Vallerand et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1993\u003c/span\u003e), Student Motivation Model (Rubin, Palmgreen, and Sypher, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1994\u003c/span\u003e), motivation to correct interpersonal mistakes (novel to Baker \u0026amp; McNulty, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e), self-reported intention to continue diet,\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCorrelational studies were included if they measured both self-compassion and any measurement of motivation for anything related to self-improvement. Studies focusing on resulting behavior were excluded to avoid introducing too many confounding variables (emotional states, time management, etc.). Experiments were included if they successfully manipulated self-compassion with statistical significance and measured motivation pre- and post-intervention or if they used manipulations validated in previous research. Several experiments were included as correlational studies using pre-intervention measurements of the relevant variables if the researchers were not able to make a significant impact on the subjects' self-compassion or if the experiment was manipulating a different variable.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis analysis covered all relevant articles in PsycInfo, EBSCO host, OpenAIRE, each of which provided between 20 and 40 articles using combinations of \u0026ldquo;self-compassion\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;motivation,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;self-improvement,\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;grit.\u0026rdquo; With each search engine, previously unincluded articles were downloaded (or added to a list when not directly available), allowing for doubles to be quickly identified in subsequent search engines. Additionally, the first 40 pages of results (10 results per page) in Google Scholar containing the same keywords, with a separate search for \u0026ldquo;grit\u0026rdquo; resulting in 17 pages were screened. The number of pages in these cases were determined by continuing until more than three pages had gone by without relevant results, as the studies became progressively less related to the keywords. While reading the resultant articles, studies cited in the resulting articles were sought out and subsequently included as well, if not previously included, regardless of the authors\u0026rsquo; hypotheses or conclusions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo automation tools were used in the screening process, thus all studies that were found were screened manually, first through the reading of the titles and abstracts. If a study was deemed relevant, it was retrieved. The retrieval process was very successful, with no relevant article being irretrievable. This involved emailing several authors.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOn two occasions, authors were contacted who had published multiple relevant studies. In these cases, they were asked if they had or were aware of any additional unpublished studies that could meet the inclusion criteria. In each case, the response was negative, but the originally sought articles were successfully provided. Although most studies included have been published, any available unpublished studies were included as well. The majority of unpublished studies were found in the \u0026ldquo;Open Access Theses and Dissertations\u0026rdquo; search engine, with some contributions from OpenAIRE.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eThere was a total of 55 studies included in the analysis from 45 different articles with a total of 13,558 participants (for a table of studies and their results, see Table 1). Seven of these were experimental, the remaining being correlational. There were 10 entirely non-Western samples and six unpublished studies (for detailed results by study, see Figure 2).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cumulative r-value was 0.25 (p \u0026lt; 1 x 10\u003csup\u003e-9\u003c/sup\u003e), implying a definite, moderately sized, positive correlation between self-compassion and self-improvement motivation. While non-Western samples varied slightly more in the correlations between studies, no moderating effect of country was found. Analyzing only the seven experimental studies, the r-value was still 0.25 (p \u0026lt; 0.001). The only significant moderating variable found was internal vs. external motivation. For studies that specified internal motivation values, the r-value was 0.18 (p \u0026lt; 0.001), while the correlation for external motivation was non-significant (r = -0.04, p = 0.45, ns).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere was substantial heterogeneity found (as shown in Figure 3), with an I\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e value of 61.24. Therefore, the values presented here use the random effects model rather than the fixed effects, with the exception of the measurement for internal motivation, which had an I\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e value of only 15.11. This could be explained by publication bias but assessing only unpublished studies retained high heterogeneity (I\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e = 81.84) and had an only slightly reduced correlation (r = 0.21). It could also have been explained by the presence of outliers caused by the measurements of external motivation, the use of non-Western samples, or small sample sizes, all of which had far less consistent results, but the exclusion of which retained high heterogeneity with minimal impact on the correlation, leaving the heterogeneity not successfully quantitatively explained.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe heterogeneity may be present simply because the outcome variable was very broad. In assessing extrinsic motivation specifically, for example, the situational motivation scale yielded strong negative results, academic motivation scale was often neutral or negative, while the WEIMS is consistently positive. With measurements involving weight loss, exercise, study, smoking, grit, and work productivity, a high level of variance is expected, even though every study used either the Self-Compassion Scale, its short form, or a translation.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe results confidently indicate that increasing self-compassion causes motivation to increase. While heterogeneity was present, exploratory data-analysis and assessment of unpublished research confirmed that it is somewhat unlikely to be caused by publication bias to an extent that would damage the confidence or reduce the effect size of the findings out of the medium range. From a practical perspective, this would not only be potentially reassuring to anyone hesitant to support the promotion or adoption of self-compassion on admittedly a logically sound speculative concern for how it could impact people's behavior but could help educate anyone interested in increasing motivation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMotivation is a generally complicated concept but has been difficult to increase, with SC often being left out of even well-cited guides to increasing motivation (Williams-Pierce, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). Since motivation, especially internal motivation, is an element of so many facets of human behavior, finding a construct that promotes it can be a very powerful tool in supporting a wide array of desirable variables.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis could be useful in clinical contexts, where a patient may suffer from a lack of initiative on actions that would improve their life. The information is also valuable to those who lead group addiction programs, where self-improvement is the general point of attendance, but is difficult in practice. Life coaches, physical therapists, personal trainers, authors of self-help books, and educators may all find the information helpful in their careers. It also provides one argument in favor of a more compassion-centered parenting style, although the balance between warmth and supportiveness vs firmness is always multifaceted, but the present study does secure one piece of information that justifies a slight push toward the supportive end of the spectrum.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe consistency of the literature means that the analysis brings very little new information to the body of research it impacts, aside from a boost of confidence into the hypothesis and a more robust estimate of effect sizes. The only moderating variable identified to make a difference in the analysis was extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation. Since SC is a strictly internal process of judgment and kindness toward oneself, it is unsurprising that the effect took place on intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOne remarkable element of this research is that intrinsic motivation has infamously been either difficult to increase or fragile and susceptible to decrease given the overjustification effect (Cameron, Banko, \u0026amp; Pierce, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2001\u003c/span\u003e). One example is in the field of gamification research, Mekler, Brühlmann, Tuch, and Opwis have twice found that typical elements of gamification have no significant impact on intrinsic motivation (2013; 2017). Conversely, Buchner and Zumbach (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) found a large effect (converts to an r-value of 0.42) of gamified history education using an augmented reality mobile game, compared to a control group using a more traditional approach to history education.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe current research is not totally unique in the identification of a factor that affects intrinsic motivation. While the effect size in the current research was found to be r = 0.18 for intrinsic motivation and 0.25 for general motivation, other researchers have devised interventions with similar or greater effects or identified constructs with equal or greater correlations. Several of these studies are based on Self Determination Theory (SDT; Ryan \u0026amp; Deci, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2000\u003c/span\u003e) literature, which suggests that a sense of relatedness to others, a sense of competence, and a sense of autonomy are key elements of motivation. Wilkesmann and Vorberg (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) found that teachers intrinsic motivations increased with a sense of relatedness (r = 0.37), perception of organizational resources (r = 0.17), and age (r = 0.12). Also based on SDT, Wijsman et al. (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) designed a rigorous academic-oriented intervention called GUTS that has an effect size converted to an r-value of 0.24. Trenshaw, Revelo, Earl, and Herman (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e) approached SDT qualitatively, finding that a sense of relatedness and competence played powerful roles in feelings of intrinsic motivation, while a sense of autonomy was mentioned in substantially fewer interviews. SC conceptually relates most to competence out of the three, although it doesn’t pertain directly to any element of SDT.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe effect of SC on motivation is not surprising when comparing the construct to qualities of education demonstrated to be effective. Vallerand and Reid (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1984\u003c/span\u003e) for example found that confidence-boosting feedback on a sports-related task, regardless of performance, had an effect size of r = 0.56. Carraça et al. (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) found that a body image intervention significantly reduced the frequency of many unhealthy eating habits.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe current data helps fill in gaps or boost confidence in the connections between a complex array of interrelated variables concerning self-concepts. Self-esteem and SC are both known to have interactions with a variety of factors, and securing the confidence in the connection between SC and motivation, especially intrinsic motivation, meta-analytically contributes to the overall understanding of optimal self-concepts, as well as the similarities and differences between SC and Self-Esteem, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe present research’s contribution to this understanding is a solidification of one interaction between variables, namely SC and motivation. It contrasts with self-esteem’s relationship only in that the direction of causality is well-established through experiments. The positive relationship between self-esteem and intrinsic, but not extrinsic, motivation is also confidently asserted in a meta-analysis (Howard et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnother thing they have in common is their relationship with depression and anxiety. SC has been shown to have a helpful effect on depression and anxiety (Wilson, Mackintosh, Power, \u0026amp; Chan, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) as well as general well-being (Zessin, Dickhäuser, \u0026amp; Garbade, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e), and the same can be said for self-esteem (Sowislo, \u0026amp; Orth, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e; Zell, \u0026amp; Johansson, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). They differ in terms of their relationship with prosocial behavior, with a small amount of individual studies, mostly carried out by a small group of researchers in China, albeit with large sample sizes (Yang, Guo, Kou, \u0026amp; Liu, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Yang, Kong, Guo, \u0026amp; Kou, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Liu et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) suggesting a positive association between SC and prosocial behavior, while a small amount of individual studies indicates that self-esteem’s relationship, although having some positive associations, is more complex (Yu, Hao, \u0026amp; Shi, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Fu, Padilla-Walker, \u0026amp; Brown, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Self-esteem also has a unique association with narcissism (Hyatt, et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e), while in spite of difficulties in researching the relationship between narcissism and prosocial behavior due to discrepancies between self-report and objective measures, Konrath and Tian’s data (2018) suggests the relationship is negative.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOverall, there is much left to learn about motivation, optimization of self-concepts, the effects of SC, and the desire and ambition to improve oneself. The current research has conclusively established the relationship between SC and motivation, which has proven to successfully replicate across cultures and through many different measurements without substantial evidence of publication bias. It is a small part of a broader understanding of both present constructs and fits in well with other observations made within the subdisciplines.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe sole author did all components of the research associated with the current manuscript. It was originally collected in partial fulfillment of a doctoral program.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding Acknowledgement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study was conducted without funding from any individual or organization.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBaker, L. R., and McNulty, J. K. (2011). Self-compassion and relationship maintenance: the moderating roles of conscientiousness and gender. \u003cem\u003eJournal of personality and social psychology\u003c/em\u003e, 100(5), 853.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBankfield, J. and Wilkerson, B. 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Identification of masonry relationships. \u003cem\u003eDoctoral thesis, Ewha Womans\u0026rsquo; University\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYu, Z., Hao, J., and Shi, B. (2018). Dispositional envy inhibits prosocial behavior in adolescents with high self-esteem. \u003cem\u003ePersonality and Individual Differences\u003c/em\u003e. 122(1), 127-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.10.022\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZell, E., and Johansson, J. S. (2024). The Association of Self-Esteem With Health and Well-Being: A Quantitative Synthesis of 40 Meta-Analyses. \u003cem\u003eSocial Psychological and Personality Science\u003c/em\u003e. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506241229308\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZessin, U., Dickh\u0026auml;user, O., and Garbade, S. (2015). The relationship between self-compassion and well-being: a meta-analysis. \u003cem\u003eApplied Psychology: Health and Well-Being\u003c/em\u003e. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12051\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"},{"header":"Table","content":"\u003cp\u003eTable 1 is available in the Supplementary Files section.\u003c/p\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"motivation-and-emotion","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Motivation and Emotion](https://link.springer.com/journal/11031)","snPcode":"11031","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/11031/3","title":"Motivation and Emotion","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9408192/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9408192/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSelf-compassion, defined as a mindful, unconditional acceptance and kindness one directs to oneself, has been shown to have positive effects on well-being and mental health, but it could be speculated to have an undesirable impact on motivation. If self-acceptance is conditional, then the threat of self-loathing no longer drives the desire for someone to improve themselves. In contrast, the reduction in pressure and increase in mood could play a positive role. Using data from 45 different articles and a total sample size of 13,558, the meta-analysis demonstrated conclusively that self-compassion is positively, not negatively, (r\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.25) correlated to motivation. This only affected intrinsic, not extrinsic, motivation, and was true across cultures, in experimental studies, and in unpublished research, in spite of moderate concerns surrounding heterogeneity.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Self-Compassion and Motivation for Self-Improvement: A Meta-Analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-05-11 15:13:45","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9408192/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-05-12T04:08:58+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"14564795081199105099529151512270205300","date":"2026-05-08T01:29:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"100671705818766189713043847647881355375","date":"2026-05-04T15:53:08+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-05-01T16:55:04+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-04-24T12:22:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-04-24T12:21:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Motivation and Emotion","date":"2026-04-13T20:20:32+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"motivation-and-emotion","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Motivation and Emotion](https://link.springer.com/journal/11031)","snPcode":"11031","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/11031/3","title":"Motivation and Emotion","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"6e70d80e-e222-478a-ae15-5b183da394ba","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 11th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-05-12T04:08:58+00:00","index":28,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"14564795081199105099529151512270205300","date":"2026-05-08T01:29:43+00:00","index":27,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"100671705818766189713043847647881355375","date":"2026-05-04T15:53:08+00:00","index":19,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"14","date":"2026-05-01T16:55:04+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-11T15:13:45+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-05-11 15:13:45","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9408192","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9408192","identity":"rs-9408192","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}