The present study examined how compassionate and uncompassionate self-responding relate to well-being, with a focus on the mediating role of difficulties in regulating positive emotions. Participants were 287 individuals (214 women), aged 16-62 (M = 24.34, SD = 8.63), who completed self-report measures of SC, difficulties in positive emotion regulation, and well-being. Findings showed that compassionate self-responding correlated positively with well-being and negatively with uncompassionate self-responding. In contrast, uncompassionate self-responding was negatively associated with well-being but positively linked to greater difficulties in managing positive emotions. Path analysis further revealed that difficulties in regulating positive emotions mediated only the relationship between uncompassionate self-responding and well-being. No significant mediation emerged for compassionate self-responding.
In sum, adopting a critical stance toward the self appears to heighten difficulties in accepting and managing positive emotions, which in turn undermines well-being. Compassionate self-responding, while directly linked to well-being, does not show this indirect pathway.