Pathways to Self-Compassion: The Effects of Self-Kind Behaviors and Self-Kind Thoughts on Self-Compassion and Well-Being

This study explored different ways people can be kind to themselves, comparing if acting kindly towards oneself or simply thinking kind thoughts made a bigger difference in self-compassion and well-being. It found that students who performed kind acts for themselves reported higher self-compassion than those who only thought kind thoughts. This suggests that actively practicing self-kindness might be a more direct route to boosting self-compassion in the short term, though kind thoughts may still be beneficial, especially for certain groups like Latinx and first-generation college students.