The Relationship between Self-esteem, Self-compassion and Subjective Well-being

University College London WC1E 6BT, UK

^* Corresponding author: zcjtyao@ucl.ac.uk

Abstract

With the aim of providing an integrated understanding of how self-esteem and self-compassion interact to influence subjective well-being, specifically how is it explained by the dual process model of information processing, this essay reviewed the insights obtained from studies examining the nature of self-esteem, the dual process model in explaining the explicit-implicit self-esteem discrepancies, and the role of self-compassion in modulating the relationship between different type of combinations of implicit and explicit self-esteem and subjective well-being. It is concluded that, firstly, high self-esteem can be both the product of the self-verification process where individuals deem that they have accomplished the role of their identities and the psychological buffer by which individuals attenuate the anxiety of death. Secondly, the distinction between associative and propositional processing paves the way for explicit-implicit self-esteem discrepancies. Thirdly, when individuals are both low explicit self-esteem and implicit self-esteem, self-compassion as a propositional process could override associative processes to reduce negative affect; for individuals with both low explicit self-esteem and low implicit self-esteem, self-compassion could reduce people’s defensive tendencies.