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Cited by 1,118

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 70 of the 70 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Self‐Compassion, Self‐Esteem, and Well‐Being

Neff, Kristin D.·2011·Social and Personality Psychology Compass

Abstract

This article focuses on the construct of self‐compassion and how it differs from self‐esteem. First, it discusses the fact that while self‐esteem is related to psychological well‐being, the pursuit of high self‐esteem can be problematic. Next it presents another way to feel good about oneself: self‐compassion. Self‐compassion entails treating oneself with kindness, recognizing one’s shared humanity, and being mindful when considering negative aspects of oneself. Finally, this article suggests that self‐compassion may offer similar mental health benefits as self‐esteem, but with fewer downsides. Research is presented which shows that self‐compassion provides greater emotional resilience and stability than self‐esteem, but involves less self‐evaluation, ego‐defensiveness, and self‐enhancement than self‐esteem. Whereas self‐esteem entails evaluating oneself positively and often involves the need to be special and above average, self‐compassion does not entail self‐evaluation or comparisons with others. Rather, it is a kind, connected, and clear‐sighted way of relating to ourselves even in instances of failure, perceived inadequacy, and imperfection.

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Show all 70 references

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Baer R. A., 2010, Assessing Mindfulness & Acceptance Processes in Clients, 135
  2. Davidson R., 2007, Changing the Brain by Transforming the Mind. The Impact of Compassion Training on the Neural Systems of Emotion
  3. Germer C. K., 2009, The Mindful Path to Self‐Compassion
  4. James W., 1890, Principles of Psychology
  5. 10.1037/0012-1649.35.5.1268 · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.35.5.1268 · Paper page
  6. Neff K. D., 2008, Self‐Compassion and Other‐Focused Responding
  7. Paradise A. W., 1999, Development of the Contingent Self‐Esteem Scale
  8. Sax L. J., 2004, The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 2004

Cited by

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Metadata

Authors
Neff, K. D.
Venue
Social and Personality Psychology Compass
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2011-01
Volume
5
Issue
1
Pages
1-12
ISSN
1751-9004 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1707252146
Cited by
1,118
References
70
FWCI
21.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Self‐Compassion, Self‐Esteem, and Well‐Being. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00330.x
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Neff, K. D. (2011). Self‐Compassion, Self‐Esteem, and Well‐Being. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00330.x

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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.