Self-Compassion or Self-Criticism? Predicting Women Athletes’ Psychological Flourishing in Sport in Canada

Abstract

Some women athletes have expressed the perceived need to be self-critical to flourish in sport; however, women athletes with higher self-compassion levels tend to have greater psychological flourishing. Athletes’ baseline levels of self-compassion (i.e., having a kind, connected, and balanced self-attitude when experiencing hardships) may be key to psychologically flourish in sport during the competitive season, yet this has not been examined over time. The purpose of this study was to examine whether women athletes’ self-compassion at the start of their competitive season predicted variance beyond self-criticism in psychological flourishing at the end of their season. Competitive women athletes (N = 78; M_age = 22.97 years) in Canada completed an online survey at the start and end of their competitive season. Self-report measures included athlete versions of self-compassion and self-criticism scales, and sport-specific proxy measures of six components of psychological flourishing (autonomy, mastery, growth, positive relatedness, purpose, and self-acceptance). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that early season self-compassion explained 6% and 9% variance beyond self-criticism on end-of-season purpose and self-acceptance, respectively. The full models accounted for 12% and 29% of the variance. The results suggest that self-compassion may have an enduring and adaptive contribution to some dimensions of psychological flourishing in sport. Intentionally implementing self-compassion interventions at the start of women athletes’ competitive seasons may have merit on the trajectory of their well-being.