Comparing self-esteem and self-compassion: an analysis within the big five personality traits framework

Fan Yang; Chiaki Hagiwara; Tomomi Kotani; Joji Hirao; Atsushi Oshio

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1302197

Comparing self-esteem and self-compassion: an analysis within the big five personality traits framework

Front Psychol. 2023 Dec 14:14:1302197. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1302197. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Fan Yang^#¹, Chiaki Hagiwara^#², Tomomi Kotani^#³, Joji Hirao^#³, Atsushi Oshio^#²

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
² Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Alphadrive Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Self-esteem and self-compassion are two ways to relate to oneself. However, little is known about the similarities and differences between these two constructs. The current study used cross-sectional data from a Japanese sample to explore their relationship from a Big Five perspective. Results showed that differences between self-esteem and self-compassion appeared mainly in openness, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Specifically, self-esteem was uniquely associated with openness, and self-compassion was uniquely associated with agreeableness. Moreover, the negative correlation between self-compassion and neuroticism was larger than that between self-esteem and neuroticism. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Keywords: big five; correlations; cross-sectional; partial correlations; self-compassion; self-esteem.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.