New Research Explains How To Savor Life’s Happiest Moments
A new study published in Personality and Individual Differences reveals that there is more to self-compassion than what meets the eye. While we already know it can help us deal with setbacks adaptively and with dignity, it can also help us appreciate the good times more fully.
The study, led by psychologist Benjamin Schellenberg, adopted fellow psychologist Kristin Neff’s definition of self-compassion. According to this definition, self-compassion is a way of treating yourself when you are facing any form of difficulty. It involves three components:
- Self-kindness (being nice to yourself)
- Mindfulness (keeping a balanced perspective)
- And, feeling a sense of common humanity (remembering that everybody faces tough times in their lives)
Schellenberg was impressed by the many benefits of self-compassion from previous research, showing that it was associated with greater well-being, a motivation to improve, and even enhanced physical health.
“Self-compassion helps people during difficult life experiences,” he said. “We wondered if self-compassion could also affect how people respond to positive life experiences.”
It was this question that led him to study the effect of self-compassion on savoring — that is, the attempt to maintain or augment positive feelings when something good happens.