Examining the importance of academic-specific self-compassion in the academic self-control model.

The aim of this investigation was to determine whether an academic-specific self-compassion scale would share stronger bivariate relationships with academic-focused variables, act as a stronger unique predictor of university adaptation than a general measure of self-compassion, and moderate the relationship between general and academic resourcefulness. A convenience sample of 422 undergraduates completed measures assessing general learned resourcefulness, academic self-efficacy, failure attributions, academic goal focus, academic resourcefulness, academic self-compassion, and university adaptation. As hypothesized, academic self-compassion shared a stronger relationship with academic resourcefulness than a general measure of self-compassion; academic self-compassion independently predicted university adaptation along with academic resourcefulness and expected GPA; and, unlike general self-compassion, academic self-compassion did not moderate the relationship between general and academic resourcefulness, providing support for academic self-compassion being a type of academic self-control that is "emotion-oriented." The value of using academic-specific versus global constructs when assessing academic outcomes is discussed.

To be kind or not to be kind: The moderating role of self-compassion in the relationship between general resourcefulness and academic self-regulation.

We investigated whether the relationship between students' general resourcefulness and academic self-regulation changes as a function of self-compassion. A predominantly female sample of 196 undergraduates completed inventories assessing these and other measures. The significant moderating effect of self-compassion revealed that the positive relationship between general resourcefulness and academic self-regulation was stronger for participants scoring low in self-compassion than high in self-compassion. For those low in self-compassion, scoring low in general resourcefulness was associated with the lowest academic self-regulation, whereas scoring high in general resourcefulness was associated with the greatest academic self-regulation. The positive relationship between general and academic self-regulation was attenuated for participants high in self-compassion, with predicted scores for academic self-regulation falling in between the two values described for the low self-compassion function. Implications of the findings are discussed, including the potential value of incorporating self-compassion training alongside programs aimed at increasing general resourcefulness and academic self-regulation.