Multiverse analyses reveal no prospective effects between self-compassion and psychological richness: A simulated reanalysis and comment on Liu et al. (2025)

Based on effects in a cross-lagged panel model, Liu et al. concluded positive reciprocal predictive effects between self-compassion and psychological richness. However, it is well known that adjusted cross-lagged effects may be spurious due to correlations with residuals in combination with regression to the mean. Here, we conducted multiverse analyses of data simulated to resemble the data used by Liu et al. with alternative models. We report divergent increasing, decreasing, and null effects of initial self-compassion on subsequent change in psychological richness, and vice versa, depending on the analyzed model. Meta-analytic aggregations of the effects did not differ significantly from zero. Hence, it would be premature to assume increasing prospective effects between self-compassion and psychological richness and conclusions by Liu et al. in this regard can be challenged.