WELL-BEING AND
SELF-COMPASSION
A study on the relationship between
Well-being And Self-Compassion in a
Cuban sample
Bachelor Degree Project in Cognitive Neuroscience Basic level 22.5 ECTS
Spring term 2020
Petra Westberg
Acknowledgments
First of all, I would like to thank the Board of International Development Cooperation, SIDA, and the University of Skövde, for granting me the Minor Field Study Scholarship. The present study would not have been possible to execute without their support. I would especially like to thank, Frida Lindgren, Pilleriin Sikka, Stefan Berglund, and
Abstract
Well-being is a human goal globally and has been considered so since the early days of philosophical thought. As the science of being has grown the last decades, well-being has widely been agreed to consist of two core components: Hedonic well-well-being and Eudaimonic well-being. These components have been studied to a large extent and further explored, conceptualized, and divided. How components of well-being interrelate is still being explored, as well of what drivers there are of experiencing well-being.
Self-compassion is a relatively new field within psychology and cognitive neuroscience research which has been linked to components of well-being. Thus, the first aim of this study was to provide a theoretical overview of previous studies of the relationship between well-being and self-compassion. As research of self-compassion is still in its infancy, there are yet very few studies on self-compassion and its relationship to well-being in
different cultures. The concept stems from East-Asian culture, and if self-compassion is important for well-being globally, or if it is depending on difference in culture, has been discussed. Hence, the second aim was to explore if there would be a potential relationship between self-compassion and well-being in a Cuban sample, as there is a lack of research in that region. 200 university students in Havana participated and filled in a questionnaire regarding subjective well-being, psychological well-being, and self-compassion. Results revealed that there was a significant relationship between well-being and self-compassion, and especially between psychological being and self-compassion. Components of well-being correlated with each other as well. These results go in line with previous research. Hence the present study suggests that the patterns of correlations between self-compassion and well-being is similar in Cuban university students as in other cultures studied so far.
Table of Contents
Introduction ... 5
Conceptualization of Well-Being and Self-Compassion ... 7
Hedonic Well-being...7
Eudaimonic Well-being ...8
Dividing Concepts of Well-being ...8
Compassion ...9
Self-Compassion ... 10
Evolutionary Perspective of Care ... 11
Biological Foundation of Individual Differences in Affiliative Emotions ... 12
Biological Foundation of Well-being and Self-compassion ... 13
Subjective Well-being ... 13
Psychological Well-being ... 14
Self-Compassion ... 16
The Present Study ... 18
Method ... 18
Design and Participants ... 18
Materials and Procedure ... 20
Satisfaction with Life Scale ... 20
Positive and Negative Affect Scale ... 20
Psychological Well-being Scale ... 21
Self-Compassion Scale ... 21
Statistical Analysis ... 23
Results ... 23
Discussion ... 25
Introduction
For centuries well-being (WB) has been a major theme of philosophical thought. It has been considered the highest good for human species and the ultimate motivation and goal (Diener, 1984; Zessin, Dickhäuser, & Garbade, 2015). It is important to note that the word ‘well-being’ is often interchangeably used with happiness. However, the word
‘happiness’ refers mostly to positive states of the mind and is usually used by lay men. The word ‘well-being’ is usually used in science and covers a wide range of positive aspects of ones’ mind and life including domains such as life satisfaction, healthy relationships, and physical well-being (Peterson, 2006).
However, even in the academic world, definitions of WB have varied by philosophers and psychologists (Berridge & Kringelbach, 2011). Nevertheless, it has generally been proposed to be consisting of two core components. These were first
conceptualized by the Greek philosophers, and WB got divided into two different (yet related) aspects – Hedonic well-being (HWB) and Eudaimonic well-being (EWB) (Baselmans & Bartels, 2018; Berridge & Kringelbach, 2011; Diener, 1984; Kashdan, Biswas-Diener, & King, 2008; Ryan & Deci, 2001). The current thesis will provide a brief theoretical
background of WB with these two aspects as basis as well as describing and exploring newer and developed conceptualizations of WB. EWB will be explored from Ryff’s (1989)
conceptualization of psychological well-being (PWB) and HWB will be explored from Diener’s (1984) conceptualization of subjective well-being (SWB).
Furthermore, ‘Good health and wellbeing’ is the third of the seventeen global goals by the UN. By 2030 aims are to reduce one third of premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by promoting mental health and well-being (UN, 2015). Thus, the importance of raising WB levels of individuals is growing in many nations. Mental WB is currently measured globally, and the data is used to improve policies that covers the topic (Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs, 2018). As the history of psychology mainly has been focusing on alleviating suffering and mental illness, the science of positive experience, building the best qualities in life, and what makes a life worth living has grown tremendously the last decades (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2014).
Self-compassion (SC) is a relatively new field within psychology and
having a kind and understanding approach to ones’ own suffering, as well as seeing
experiences in ones’ life as part of being human, hence that we all share similar experiences in life, both pleasurable and sufferable. In a meta-analysis Zessin et al. (2015) on the
relationship between WB and SC, found that PWB and cognitive WB had a stronger relationship than affective WB and SC. Both cognitive WB and affective WB are subcomponents in SWB.
The first aim of this thesis is to provide a theoretical overview on the relationship of SC and WB. Both concepts will mostly be explored from a cognitive
neuroscientific point of view. In neuroscience it is suggested that SC is linked with a positive affect regulation system that has been evolved through the mammalian caregiving system (Gilbert et al., 2008). However, whether SC is evolutionarily conserved has been discussed. Some suggest that caring behaviours varies depending on the degree to which the culture is individualistic or collectivistic (Trommsdorff, Friedlmeier, & Mayer, 2007) whereas others suggest that it is consistent across both types of cultures (Aknin et al., 2013; Anderson et al., 2010). Neff, Pisitsungkagarn and Hsieh (2008) suggests that even if SC is seen as an Eastern construct, levels of SC includes far more contrariety than East-West divisions exclusively. Further, it has been suggested that individuals in collectivist countries reflects less over the self-to-self relationship than in individualist countries (Mesquita, 2001).
To date, there has been little empirical research on SC and its relationship to WB in different cultures. Cross cultural studies of SC are limited to Asian and American samples (Birkett, 2014; Neff et al., 2008), and one bigger study including participants from 11 countries over the world (Montero-Marin et al., 2018). Thus, it is still unclear to what extent the dimensions of SC co-occur across cultures and the general population and there is of interest to further understand the mechanisms of SC linked to WB in different cultures (Montero-Marin et al., 2018; Neff et al., 2008; Zessin et al., 2015). According to World Happiness report in 2018, Latin America has the happiest people on earth in terms of daily positive experience and affect. Scores on both daily positive experience and evaluation of life are high in comparison to other countries as well as to what income levels in the region would predict. There is of interest to learn from the Latin American’s about the drivers of happiness (Helliwell et al., 2018).
Cuba is an island situated in the Caribbean Sea and is included in Latin
and goods. This way of living creates a more collectivistic orientation and thus makes Cuban lifestyle less focused on personal success than that of a more individualistic country. It has been suggested that social success and competition with others affect every day emotional experience (Mesquita, 2001).
Hence, the second aim of the current thesis is to provide an empirical
investigation of WB and SC in Cuban participants. Measures of SWB, PWB, and SC will be analyzed in the present sample. Additionally, the relationship between WB and SC will be analyzed and discussed.
Based on the findings by Zessin et al. (2015) the hypothesis of the thesis is that SC will be linked to WB in the present sample. That is, that there will be a significant positive correlational relationship between all aspects of WB and SC.
First WB and SC will be defined, followed by a neuroscientific presentation of the concepts. After the theoretical background has been provided, the method of the current study will be presented, followed by the results and discussion.
Conceptualization of Well-Being and Self-Compassion Hedonic Well-Being
Hedonic well-being refers to the pursuit of pleasure and positive emotions. Aristippus was a Greek philosopher that supported the idea that hedonic pleasure is the goal in life (Tatarkiewicz, 1976). This view of WB is the one that has been studied the most in modern science. A common view has been that WB consists of subjective happiness and experience of pleasure (Kahneman, Diener, & Schwarz, 1999; Ryan & Deci, 2001). SWB is another term that is often used referring to hedonic well-being. Diener (1984) defines SWB as consisting of three components: life satisfaction, higher levels of positive affect (PA) and lower levels of negative affect (NA). Thereof, SWB is a construct that includes both cognitive and affective components of WB. Further, this means that SWB is subjective, as it resides within the experience of the individual.
more reliable measure of WB in the sense that, a constant pleasure seeking might lead to consequences in one’s life which one would not consider satisfying or even self-destructive.
Eudaimonic Well-being
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, considered hedonic happiness to be discourteous, meaning that it made people slaves to their desires. Instead, he claimed that true happiness is found in the expression of virtue, that is, the eudaimonic way of happiness (Ryan & Deci, 2001). EWB refers to a way of life rather than a state, where one lives life through developing ones’ talents and virtues which in turn generates meaning in life.
EWB can produce short-term NA as it, by definition, requires effort. However, in the long run, it can contribute to higher levels of PA, life satisfaction, greater meaning in life, and personal development (Lambert, Passmore, & Holder, 2015). Moreover, EWB is considered being loosely conceptualized, and thus lacks consistent empirical measurement.
Deci and Ryan, (1985) presented the Self-determination Theory (SDT) which suggests that humans have three basic psychological needs; Competence, autonomy, and relatedness. These needs are said to be universal and when fulfilled, they will produce an altered state which contributes to EWB. Ryan, Huta and Deci (2008) presented an expanded version of the SDT as to what factors would facilitate to satisfy these basic needs. Behaviors that was mentioned amongst others, were mindfulness and awareness. Ryff (1989) challenges the hedonistic view of WB with a model and measure of psychological well-being which falls within the eudaimonic view. PWB is described as the fulfillment and realization of an
individuals’ highest potential, optimal functioning, and meaning in life. More in detail, Ryff (1989) conceptualize PWB as containing of six characteristics which are; self-acceptance, personal growth, relatedness, autonomy, relationships, environmental mastery, and purpose in life. These characteristics are used as subscales in the psychological well-being scale
(PWBS). Hence, what differs PWB from cognitive WB for instance is that PWB is expanded with concerns of the functioning of the individual.
Dividing concepts of well-being
Additionally, Wong and Csikszentmihalyi (1991) found that people are more prone to experience flow states while experiencing positive emotions.
HWB and EWB has been discussed concerning what is the ‘good life’, where the counterparts then are pleasure and virtue. Hence, EWB includes some sort of moral into happiness. As noted, years of research have demonstrated that human beings are often happiest when they are engaged in meaningful goals and virtuous activities (Kashdan et al., 2008). This leads back to the notion that the moral component to happiness might be very central, and this can further be associated with the SDT and the basic needs of competence and relatedness. Hence, to feel fulfilled in life, the inclusion of others seems to be somewhat necessary. Additionally, research has found that the positive emotions that are created within social contexts is associated with the emotional qualities of compassion such as affiliation, kindness, and warmth (Gilbert, 2005).
Compassion
To understand the concept of SC, it can be useful to first understand compassion in general as these terms are closely related.
From an evolutionary perspective, compassion has been conceptualized as a fundamental motivational system which is linked with the forming of attachment bonds. It relates to motivations of caring that is suggested to be favorable even beyond the parent-infant relationship and kin-groups (Gilbert, 2010; Mayseless, 2015; Trivers, 1971).
Darwin, (1871) stated that communities in which individuals are more
it. In Buddhism, compassion is something beyond an emotional response. It is a response to suffering with a selfless intention, including reason and wisdom. Furthermore, compassion has been encouraged in other spiritual teachings, as it has been seen as something that is practiced by highly evolved human or divine creatures (Mayseless, 2015). Kanov et al. (2004) conceptualize compassion as consisting of three components. The first one is ‘Noticing’ the suffering of an individual. The second is ‘Feeling’ as having an emotional response to that suffering. The third one is ‘Responding’ to the suffering, which is a desire to relieve the suffering.
Hence, together these definitions of compassion can be interpreted as consisting of awareness, an emotional response, and a behavioral or motivational response. Furthermore, compassion seems to include a cognitive component. Compassion requires the capacity to imagine and consider the experience of another person. The capacity to understanding the self-other distinction is called Theory of Mind and is suggested to only occur in humans and apes (Mayseless, 2015). The emotional response of compassion however, does not mean mirroring the emotion of the other person, but rather being able to tolerate and cope with the uncomfortable emotions that may arise when facing suffering in others (Strauss et al., 2016).
Self-Compassion
SC shares the exact components of Compassion, however self-compassion is directed inward, as a self-to-self process. (Neff & Seppälä, 2016). Neff, (2003a) defines Self-compassion as containing of three interacting components. The first component is self-kindness versus self-judgment. Self-self-kindness means being caring with and understanding of oneself when experiencing failure or negative events, rather than being critical and
judgmental. In this sense, SC is distinct to Self-esteem (Neff, 2004; Zessin et al., 2015). Self-esteem represents how much we value ourselves positively and is most often based on comparisons with others. In western culture having high self-esteem is often in relation to being above average (Deci & Ryan, 1985). However, SC is not based on evaluations as it is non-judgmental, further it is not in comparison to others as it is a process of relating to oneself. SC means being able to feel worthy without having to compare to one another or being above average.
remembering that suffering is part of the human life, we tend to feel less isolated and scared of the pain we experience (Neff, 2003a). When ignoring the common humanity and instead isolating oneself in the suffering it can lead to self-pity. In the west SC is often confused with self-pity. However, the terms are very distinct. Self-pity is immersion of one’ own problems, an exaggeration of personal distress and ignoring the common humanity. Self-pity is in that sense egocentric and exaggerate ones’ own suffering (Neff, 2012).
The third component is Mindfulness versus Over-Identification. Mindfulness involves being aware of the suffering one experiences in the present moment. The suffering is then looked upon in a clear and balanced way without being overly identified with the current state of flows of emotions. When being mindful to one’s state of mind one does not ruminate or ignore negative experiences or aspects of oneself. Feelings are observed as they are from a distance and is not suppressed. When we feel too identified with our current state, we tend to get swept away by the emotions which in turn affects our self-worth. This type of rumination usually narrows the mind which leads to exaggerated focus on the negative. A mindful approach on the other hand has shown to allow greater perspective and clarity of the mind (Neff, 2012).
Evolutionary Perspective of Care
Caring, has been important for the survival of our species in that we are born helpless. Without someone caring for us during infancy, we most probably would not have survived (Bowlby, 1969/1982). Evolutionary psychology suggests that there is a caregiving behavioral system in humans. The goal is to provide protection to one’s infant for increasing the fitness of the human species. Hence, natural selection favored parents who were motivated to care and provide for their infants. The claim that compassion or caring is a fundamental motivational system makes sense here, in that we most probably are children of such caring parents and that we ourselves may carry that ‘caring gene’ (Mayseless, 2015). Bowlby (1969/1982) believed that the early emotional bond that the infant makes with the caregiver have a tremendous impact throughout life. Ainsworth and Bell (1970) confirmed this assumption in a study called “Strange Situation” where children’s’ response to being left alone was observed. Based on the responses, three major styles of attachment were described: secure attachment, ambivalent-insecure attachment, and avoidant-insecure attachment.
Caring for strangers and non-kin whom we do not share genes or even know has been explained by reciprocal altruism. Trivers (1971) suggested that humans care for
future, it is expected that the other person will ‘give back’ the favor. It was even suggested that this system is what forms friendships.
Biological Foundation of Individual Differences in Affiliative Emotions
It is hard to imagine a life, even after childhood, without someone who cares for us or caring for another. In that sense, the motivation to care gives meaning to life through caring relationships (Mayseless, 2015). However, as with other human motivations, there are individual differences in the motivation to care. Affiliative emotions which are included in compassion such as contentment and safeness, are considered positive emotions. However, they are not necessarily experienced as pleasurable to all individuals (Gilbert, McEwan, Matos, & Rivis, 2011).
In a study, Lenzi et al. (2013) found that individuals with insecure attachment styles had increased activation in limbic and mirror areas in the brain when watching pictures of infant face expressions. Same individuals showed a deactivation in medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and perigenual anterior cingulated cortex (pACC). Conclusions drawn by these results was that the great increase in limbic areas reflected dysregulation of early experiences of rejection and lack of care. Deactivation of fronto-medial areas was suggested to reflect inhibition of attachment behaviors.
Furthermore, increased activity in prefrontal cortex (PFC), basal ganglia, and hypothalamus/ pituitary region has been found in secure compared to dismissive women. The hypothalamus/ pituitary region is associated with oxytocin and involved in maternal behavior. Its suggested that greater activity in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and lateral PFC represents activation of attachment behaviors. The increase activation in basal ganglia is suggested to be linked with involvement of the reward system. Hence, activation of reward and areas
Biological foundation of Well-being and Self-compassion
PWB and SWB are distinct concepts, however, empirically, they have found to be involved subsequently in individuals. Individuals that score high in SWB also score high in PWB in self-report questionnaires (Diener, Kesebir, & Lucas, 2008) This tendency results in a potential opportunity for neuroscience to study both aspects of WB (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2009). Furthermore, neuroscience research has found links between WB, and both
compassion (Klimecki, Leiberg, Lamm, & Singer, 2013; Kok et al., 2013) and
self-compassion (Petrocchi, Ottaviani, & Couyoumdjian, 2016). Previous work also suggests that different types of positive affective states and affiliation are interconnected systems in the human body and brain (Depue & Morrone-Strupinsky, 2005)
Subjective Well-being
Affective neuroscience has found systems in the brain that generate the experience of pleasure. These systems are operating from subcortical to cortical levels, and even simple pleasant experiences have a complex set of processes. Looking at pleasure from an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense in that we enjoy eating food and social
interaction, which has been crucial for our survival. There are at least three psychological components of pleasure which are; wanting – which is referring to motivation of reward, liking – which is the actual pleasure sensation, and learning – which includes cognitive predications about future rewards and associations from previous rewards (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2009).
The neural generators of pleasure in the brain are called ‘hedonic hotspots’. These hotspots are located in different parts of the brain. The nucleus accumbens is one major hotspot located in the subcortical part of the brain and considered a part of the basal ganglia, the striatum. The nucleus accumbens is an important component of the mesolimbic pathway, which is stimulated when experiencing reward. The dopamine levels rise in the nucleus accumbens in response to reward, but also to aversive stimuli (Volman et al., 2013). Furthermore, the nucleus accumbens, generates pleasure when stimulated with opioids or cannabinoid, but when stimulated with dopamine it only generates ‘wanting’ and not ‘liking’ (Berridge & Kringelbach, 2011). Dopamine was long thought to be a pleasure
drug-induced sensitization may happen. It causes an excess activation of desire, and it can last for years (Berridge & Kringelbach, 2011; Robinson & Berridge, 1993).
Additionally, it has been speculated that in western societies in which exiting stimulants are used excessively, the dopaminergic response in the body can be overactivated, as the feeling of wanting and the possibilities of getting more can be hard to control in such a society. Hence, the sympathetic nervous system is overactivated and the body and the mind experience stress, or difficulty to truly relax (Depue & Morrone-Strupinsky, 2005).
Other hotspots located in the brain are the ventral palladium, ACC, insular cortex, and the amygdala and prefrontal cortical regions such as the OFC (Berridge & Kringelbach, 2011).
The cognitive component in SWB can be related to emotion regulation. One powerful emotion regulation strategy is cognitive reappraisal. It is defined as an attempt to reinterpret a situation which on-set certain emotions (Gross & John, 2003). Cognitive reappraisal occurs before the emotional response activation is complete and can thus be a powerful regulator for emotional impact and meaning of situations (Cutuli, 2014). Another emotion regulation strategy is expressive suppression and happens later in the emotional response activation. It is defined as an attempt to suppress and reduce the already activated emotion (Gross & John, 2003). Cognitive reappraisal has however been linked with better social functioning and WB than expressive suppression (Cutuli, 2014). Brain regions that have shown to be involved in emotion regulation are; The amygdala - which is seen as having a crucial role in emotion regulation due to its involvement in sensory information, the insula- which is involved with sense of self, the OFC- which is involved with emotional state
interpretation and motivated behavior, and the ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) and the
dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) - which are involved with inhibition of action and self-control. Individual differences in emotion regulation has been linked with volume and activation of amygdala, insula, dACC, OFC, vmPFC and dmPFC (Hermann, Bieber, Keck, Vaitl, & Stark, 2014), and insula (Giuliani, Drabant, Bhatnagar, & Gross, 2011).
Psychological well-being
self-reports from the Psychological Well-being Scale (PWBS). The results showed that participants that had sustained activity in the PFC and the striatum when exposed to positive stimuli reported greater PWB. Van Reekum et al. (2007) found that better regulation of the ACC and amygdala was linked with higher scores in PWBS. Additionally, these participants showed a slower response rate when viewing negative stimuli. Hence, this finding reflected that individuals with higher PWB evaluated negative stimuli as less prominent.
Higher scores on PWBS were also positively correlated to higher activation in vmPFC and the ACC when responding to the negative stimuli. ACC is connected both to the limbic system, which is linked with processing of emotions, but also the PFC which is linked with executive function and higher order cognition. The vmPFC is known for being involved in decision making in overall perspective, through connections to the amygdala amongst other systems in the brain (Van Reekum et al., 2007)
The default mode network (DMN), is a network which is active in the brain when individuals are not focused on any external events. Instead, this system activates when individuals are focusing on internal events such as memories, visualizing the future, social cognition, moral decision making, and self-awareness. Regions that are associated with the default network are medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), ACC, lateral temporal cortex, and hippocampus (Buckner, Andrews-Hanna, & Schacter, 2008).
Some parts of the default mode network (DMN) overlap with the pleasure systems in the brain, such as the involvement of the prefrontal and cingulate cortices. It has been speculated that there might be potential interactions between the hedonic brain systems and default network. This interaction is then suggested to be linked with PWB. For example, the DMN is involved with social cognition, and the circuits of reward in the brain is involved in social reward from social interaction. It might be so that this interaction is involved in appraising meaningful relationships (Berridge & Kringelbach, 2011; Mars et al., 2012). The DMN is involved with self-awareness which also serves a fundamental role in PWB. Further, PWB has been positively correlated with right insular grey matter volume (Lewis, Kanai, Rees, & Bates, 2014). Additionally, Singelton et al. (2014) found a significant increase in PWB after Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention and magnetic
linked with limbic engagement. As noted earlier, the limbic system is involved with emotion processes (Tang, Hölzel, & Posner, 2015).
However, exactly how the DMN and other networks that have been suggested to be linked with WB represents components of PWB is still unclear in neuroscience research. Equally, how PWB and components of SWB is linked is also yet unclear (Berridge & Kringlebach, 2011)
Self-compassion
Self-care, just as care for others, has been a fundamental part of human
evolution in for example seeking food for, or protecting oneself. The motivation to care is one of the most significant adaptions in social behavior in humans through the mammalian care-giving system (Mayseless, 2015). Stimuli such as stroking, soothing voice tone, and facial expressions activates the system and has a calming and soothing effect of the recipient. This is reflected in the activation of the myelinated parasympathetic nervous system, and release of oxytocin which has been suggested to play an important role in caring behaviors and
reduction in HRV, whilst others had an increase in HRV in response to the stimuli. Results indicated that such individuals may perceive compassion as a threat, but also that compassion is linked with HRV (Rockliff, Gilbert, McEwan, Lightman, & Glover, 2008).
When individuals feel unsafe or experiencing prolonged stress, they tend to rely more on threat focused behavior. Furthermore, it is discovered that our threat system is our dominant system. This means that we process and remember negative events more easily than positive ones, this is also called the ‘negativity bias’ (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Finkenauer, & Vohs, 2001). This might then lead to unbalance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system and is associated with both mental and physical illness (Rockliff et al., 2011).
The parasympathetic regulation of the heart rate goes through the vagus nerve. The functioning of the vagus nerve is a major component of the parasympathetic nervous system. This is called the Cardiac vagal tone. Low vagal tone has previous been linked with higher risk for inflammation in the body. Kok et al. (2013) investigated whether
self-generated positive emotions would have an impact on physical health. This was done by conducting a compassion training called Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM) and by
measuring the vagal tone in the participants. As hypothesized, results indicated that increased positive emotions in the intervention group produced increases in vagal tone. Interestingly, perceived social connectedness was also a factor on vagal tone and positive emotion.
Mindfulness is a component of SC and according to Neff and Seppälä (2016), researchers have suggested that SC may be a key agent in how mindfulness-based
interventions improve WB. Furthermore, in compassion training, general mindfulness-based interventions such as LKM is included. Jazaieri et al. (2014) found that compassion training increased mindfulness and PA and decreased worry and emotional suppression.
Additionally, a case study by Engström and Söderfeldt (2010) found that compassion meditation was linked with activation in left medial prefrontal cortex and the ACC. This was done through fMRI scanning during compassion meditation intervention in an experienced meditator.
In another study, compassion training increased altruism in participants compared to participants receiving reappraisal training. This finding was shown through neural changes in response to suffering, such as activation in inferior parietal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and decreased activation in amygdala. Further, this finding goes in line with that of Klimecki et al. (2013) and that mental training of its own can affect social behavior outside of training context (Weng et al., 2013).
The present study
The present study examines the relationship of SC and WB in a sample of university students from Cuba. The data was collected through self-report measures. To the extent of the authors knowledge, no similar study has been conducted in Cuba before. The aim of the study was to investigate if there would be a relationship between SC and WB in Cuba similar to Western and Eastern countries studied so far. It was predicted that
relationship patterns would be similar in Cuba to previous studies on the relationship between SC and WB.
Method Design and participants
The present field study was conducted in Havana, Cuba, in the beginning of 2019. The aim was to measure overall WB and SC in a Cuban sample. Data was collected through self-reported measurements from four questionnaires. Invitations were made through personal contact at campus at University of Havana.
Table 1
Materials and Procedure
A written informed consent in Spanish was obtained before participation. The translation was controlled by an independent bilingual English-Spanish individual. It included information regarding anonymity of participants. It was written that the study was completely voluntary and that, at any point the participants could stop participating. Further it was written that all collected data would be processed in accordance with Swedish rules related to
research data. The participants were told to not spend too much time on any item in the questionnaires and no communication between participants was allowed. Participants had the opportunity to ask questions about the concepts, but more in-depth questions were answered after the procedure was done. Data was collected between February 5th-April 2nd. All scales were used in the Spanish versions.
Satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) SWLS measures global life satisfaction and does not cover to measure domain satisfaction such as relationships or affect such as positive emotions. SWLS has a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree, to 7=strongly agree and consists of 5 statements (e.g. ‘In most ways my life is close to my ideal’). It has shown to have high internal consistency with a Cronbach alpha of 0.87. SWLS can be used to any age groups (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985; Pavot & Diener, 1993). Further, the Spanish version of the SWLS has been tested in a Chilean sample and showed to be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring global life satisfaction for comparison across gender and status (Bagherzadeh et al., 2018).
The positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS). PANAS is a 20-items scale to measure momentary PA (e.g., inspired, active) and NA (e.g., nervous, afraid) with 10 items each. It is a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1=very slightly or not at all to
Cronbach alpha varying from 0.84 to 0.87 for NA and from 0.86 to 0.90 for PA (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988).
Psychological Well-being Scale The scale measures six dimensions of psychological well-being, which are; Self-acceptance, Environmental mastery, Positive relations with others, Autonomy, Personal growth, and Purpose in life. It is a 7-point scale (1 = strongly agree; 7 = strongly disagree). There are two different versions of the scale. One is an 18-item version and one is a 42-item version. In the Spanish version the scale was reduced items from the original 42-item scale to 39-item scale. It showed a good internal consistency. The scales of the new version maintain and raise its internal consistency with a Cronbach alpha between .71 and .83 (Diaz et al., 2006)
Self-compassion Scale SCS is a 26-item questionnaire with statements concerning overall SC and components of SC (common humanity, mindfulness,
Table 2
The List and Reliability of Scales Included in the Study
Scale Reference Number of items and
Range
Example Items Cronbach alpha Cronbach alpha present study
(SWLS) Vazquez et al., 2013 5 items; Ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree
The conditions of my life are excellent.
.88 .77
(PANAS) PA Ortuño-Sierra et al., 2015 10 items for PA; Ranging from not at all to very much
Inspired .80-.86 .79
(PANAS) NA Ortuño-Sierra et al., 2015 10 items for NA; Ranging from not at all to very much
Nervous .80-.86 .72
(PWBS) Diaz et al., 2006 39 items; Ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree
In general, I feel I am in charge of the situation in which I live.
.71-.83 .86
SCS Garcia-Campayo et al.,
2014
26 items; Ranging from almost never to almost always
I’m disapproving and judgmental about my own flaws and inadequacies.
Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis was done in IBM SPSS Statistics Version 25 software. All analyses were two-tailed. No analysis of individual scores or subscales was done. Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure the reliability of the scales (See Table 2 for detailed information of values). PWBS had a Cronbach’s alpha on .860, SWLS had .770, PA had .797, NA had .721, and SCS had .813. Hence this indicates good reliability on all scales. Levels of Well-being and Self-Compassion across the whole sample (N=200) are reported in Table 3. A Shapiro Wilk test was run to test if test scores were normally distributed. Results showed that that only SCS was normally distributed (p>.094). For this reason, Spearman’s Rank-Order correlation was used to analyze relationships between variables.
Results
Means, standard deviations, median and Cronbach’s alpha are reported for all measures across the whole sample (N=200) included in the present study (see Table 3). To examine the relationship between WB and SC Spearman’s Rank-Order correlation was used. Results of the present study regarding the hypothesis of the study is presented in Table 4.
Each aspect of WB had a significant relationship with SC in the current sample. The strongest positive correlation was found between PWB and SC (rs=.488, p< .01). This indicated a moderate positive linear relationship. The weakest significant positive correlation was between SCS and PA (rs=.296, p< .01). Correlation coefficient between SCS and SWLS (rs=.332, p< .01) indicated a significant moderate linear relationship. Relationship between SCS and NA (rs=-.328, p< .01) indicated a significant moderate negative linear relationship.
Table 3
Reported Levels of Well-being and Self-Compassion
Scales M SD Mdn Min-Max Observed values Min-Max Theoretical values SWLS 25.2 5.8 26 8-35 5-35 PANAS PA 36.8 6.0 38 13-49 10-50 PANAS NA 18.4 5.2 18 10-39 10-50 PWBS 180.2 21.7 184 100-224 39-234 SCS 84.3 14.1 85 38-120 26-130 Table 4.
Spearman’s rho correlations between total Scale Scores
SWLS PANAS PA PANAS NA PWBS SCS SWLS .306** -.183** .424** .332** PANAS PA .306** -.027 .310** .296** PANAS NA -.183** -.027 -.318** -.328** PWBS .424** .310** -.318** .488** SCS .332** .296** -.328** .488**
Discussion
The first aim of the present study was to provide a theoretical overview on the relationship between SC and WB. In psychology, it has been suggested that meaningful relationships may be a crucial factor for WB (Diener & Ryan, 2009). It is widely recognized that affiliative or caring behaviors are significant evolutionary adaptions, mainly through the mammalian caregiving system (Bowlby 1996/1982; Depue & Morrone-Strupinsky, 2005; Gilbert, 2010; Mayseless, 2015). Further, individuals that have insecure attachment styles have been linked with having increased activation in limbic areas and deactivation of fronto-medial areas (Lenzi et al., 2013), and secure attachment has been linked with oxytocin-associated areas, reward-oxytocin-associated areas, and frontal areas in the brain (Lenzi et al., 2015). It has been shown that the inability to receive compassion or having a fear-based attitude towards affiliation has been linked with depression and self-criticism (Longe et al., 2010; Rockliff et al., 2011). When the individual feels unsafe or are under threat the sympathetic nervous system gets activated (Kirby et al., 2017). When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, the ability for higher order cognitive capacities such as perspective taking and social cognition decreases. Overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system can be linked with both mental and physical illness (Rockliff et al., 2008). Moreover, mindfulness-based exercises in compassion training have shown to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and affecting the HRV (Kok et al., 2013; Petrocchi et al., 2016). However, Rockliff et al. (2011) found that individuals with high levels of self-criticism and potential fear of
compassion had a reduction in HRV in a compassion intervention. Based on these results, it may be, that the insecure attachment styles lay as basis for fear of compassion. It may also be an important factor for understanding the difference in both levels and experience of
compassion and self-compassion in individuals. Some individuals may have difficulties in both affiliation and emotion regulation due to early experiences of rejection and lack of care.
also known that mindfulness, which is a component in SC and compassion training, is linked with ACC activity and the limbic system (Tang et al., 2015). Singelton et al. (2014) found a significant link between PWB and mindfulness. Compassion training have shown to increase activation in PFC areas and decrease activation in amygdala as well as increasing activity in areas associated with reward and PA (Klimecki et al., 2013). These studies together show the potential links between cognitive WB, PWB and Compassion through altered activity in overlapping brain areas.
Activation in the mesolimbic dopamine system such as the VTA, nucleus accumbens, and medial OFC has been associated with activation of attachment behaviors in caregivers viewing pictures of their children. (Rilling & Young, 2014). Thus, links between affiliation and PA can be understood from an evolutionary perspective, through affiliative reward.
Being able to soothe one-self may be extremely important for human individuals as life is complicated and includes daily complex tasks and stressful events in a society that is new to our human brain. In individualist countries, there might be an assumption that seeking for compassion is shameful, and some individuals might not even have time for meaningful supportive conversations with close ones. In collectivist countries, individuals might have less focus on the self-to-self relationship, and instead seeing having that as shameful. Either way, it would be impossible to assume that one always will be understood or cared for by other individuals as everyone has their own agenda and priorities in life. However, the person that is always with us throughout life, is the self. Thus, even independent of culture, practicing SC could be a crucial part in maintaining WB even through tough times. Further, based on
findings presented in the present thesis it seems that SC is something that may be universal and depending on attachment styles and emotion regulation rather than of what culture the individual comes from.
As there has not yet been carried out a sufficient amount of studies in different cultures on the relationship with WB and SC, the second aim was to investigate if there is a significant relationship between WB and SC in a Cuban sample. Cuba is a collectivist country with exceptionally distinctive features in culture and society. Thus, there was of interest to measure WB and SC in such a special country.
cognitive WB (measured with SWLS) had a stronger relationship with SC (rs=.332, p< .01) than affective WB (measured with PANAS). SC and PA (rs=.296, p< .01) and SC and NA (rs=-.328, p< .01).
It is speculated that the relationship between SC and PWB is stronger due to both being involved in the appraising of meaningful relationships. Further, both these concepts, including compassion for others, consist of some kind of meaning or virtue that is beyond personal pleasure or evaluation of self. Thus, it seems that both PWB and SC consists of components with characteristics of meaning to life. Furthermore, the relationship between cognitive WB and SC might lay in the ability to reappraise situations and emotions, and affective WB and SC in the evolutionary foundation of affiliation as rewarding and beneficial for the self.
Nevertheless, the findings of the present study suggest that patterns of
relationships between SC and WB might be similar in Cuba as in other Western and Eastern countries.
Another interesting finding in the present study that aspects of well-being correlated with each other as well. The relationship between cognitive WB and PWB was the strongest (rs=.424, p <.01). The relationship between cognitive WB and affective WB, and PWB and affective WB was also significant. This goes in line with previous research which has suggested individuals that score high in SWB also score high in PWB in self-report questionnaires (Diener et al., 2008). Empirical evidence for co-occurrence or
interrelationships between SWB and PWB in humans is scarce. However, there are some speculations that the DMN might be a link in this relationship. Some brain regions involved in DMN and hedonic networks overlap such as the PFC and ACC, and it is suggested that these networks are linked with PWB (Berridge & Kringelbach, 2011). However, if this is the case is still unclear. It is further speculated, that the DMN might be involved in the relationship between SC and WB in the appraising of meaningful relationships, and not merely in the relationship between SWB and PWB, that was suggested by Berridge and Kringelbach (2011).
general population in Cuba. This study should be considered a pilot study for future studies on the relationship between SC and WB in Cuba. As SC is an Eastern construct, there might have been confusion regarding the interpretation of the concept of SC in a Latin culture. Regarding the questionnaire it was long and time consuming. For some participants it took over 30 minutes to complete the questionnaire. This might have affected the scores. The PWBS Spanish version did not include 42-items as the original, this might have affected the overall scores. Analysis of data was limited to linear correlations between SC and WB and thus no causality can be assumed from the present study. Furthermore, there were no subscale analysis done in the present study. Hence one cannot draw conclusions or interpreting interactions of components of the concepts in the present study.
Future studies should further investigate whether the relationship between WB and SC is consistent over the globe. Brain imaging studies such as fMRI should be conducted to further understand what brain regions are related to SC and neural correlates of SC and its relationship to WB. Further, it is still not clear how the concept of SC is interpreted in
different cultures. A replication of the present study in other Latin American countries would give a deeper understanding of how SC is related to WB in such cultures. Subscale analysis would help in understanding links between PWB and SC.
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