Professor Dong Yan’s team from the Department of Psychology at Renmin University of China (RUC) published an article in The Journal of Psychology titled “Can Treating Oneself Kindly Inspire Trust? The Role of Interpersonal Responsibility”. The article reveals the impact of self-compassion on trust and the mediating role of interpersonal responsibility.

Background and Hypothesis

Trust, which refers to the state of mind and the willingness to accept vulnerability based on positive expectations of the intentions or actions of others, is fundamental for people to cooperate and interact (McAllister, 1995). Existing research indicates that trust inevitably declines following negative life events, such as negative social interactions or betrayal trauma (Gobin & Freyd, 2014; Schwerter & Zimmermann, 2020). Zhang (2021) distinguishes between two types of trust: other-focused trust, where individuals make trust judgments based on the credibility of others, and self-focused trust, where individuals make trust decisions based on personal willingness. Researchers often focus on the first type of trust and seek to restore individual trust by changing the behavior of the trusted person, such as promises and apologies (Schniter et al., 2013), financial compensation (Desmet et al., 2011), and improvement of communication methods (Six, 2007). Yet, few studies explored the potential intrapersonal factors in enhancing trust.

Recently, a large number of empirical research from various fields has demonstrated the positive role of self-compassion—an important internal resource—in coping with adverse events. The concept of self-compassion, originating from Buddhism, is defined as expressing compassion to oneself in the face of pain, failure, or other forms of suffering (Neff, 2003). Drawing on theoretical support from risk regulation theory (Murray et al., 2006) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), Professor Dong Yan’s team proposes that self-compassion can promote trust, and the sense of interpersonal responsibility mediates this relationship.

Methods and Results

Professor Dong Yan’s research team conducted four studies. They used various methods and samples to validate the relationship between self-compassion and trust, while exploring the mediating role of interpersonal responsibility.

As a cross-sectional study, Study 1 measured self-compassion, sense of community responsibility, and community trust among 322 Beijing residents through questionnaire surveys. Employing structural equation modeling, the team found positive correlations between self-compassion, sense of community responsibility, and community trust, with sense of community responsibility significantly mediating the relationship between self-compassion and community trust.

Figure 1. The Mediating Effect of SOC-R.

(SC: self-compassion, SOC-R: sense of community responsibility, CT: community trust)

While Study 1 preliminarily validated the research hypothesis, Study 2 further verified the results using a longitudinal design. Data for Study 2 were collected from a large-scale survey conducted by the team during the 2020 covid-19 pandemic, when individuals commonly underwent negative life experiences, making the effects of self-compassion more pronounced. Employing cluster sampling, the team conducted three questionnaire surveys (T1, T2, T3) with a 6-month interval among 1304 students from five Chinese universities. The study measured self-compassion, sense of interpersonal responsibility (SIR), and trust using the Self-Compassion Short-Scale, the Perceived Social Responsibility Scale, and the General Trust Scale. Controlling gender in the analysis, the results of a latent cross-lagged panel mediation model indicated that T1 self-compassion predicted T3 trust via T2 SIR (β = 0.012, p = .048, 95% CI = [0.003, 0.028]), but not the other way around (p = .198).

Figure 2. The Longitudinal Mediating Effect of SIR

(SC: self-compassion, IR: sense of interpersonal responsibility, GT: trust)

Studies 3 and 4 used experimental a causal chain design to examine the mediation effect (Spencer et al., 2005). Study 3 primarily tested the first half of the mediation pathway by utilizing Leary et al.’s (2007) writing task to manipulate participants’ self-compassion, validating the impact of self-compassion on SIR. The study recruited 145 university student participants and randomly assigned them to the self-compassion condition or the control condition using a between-subjects design. Participants first completed writing tasks to induce state self-compassion or daily descriptions, followed by trust games and interpersonal responsibility questionnaires. Results showed that participants in the self-compassion condition reported significantly higher interpersonal responsibility (t = 2.15, df = 143, p = .033, Cohen’s d = .53) and exhibited significantly higher trust behaviors in trust games (t = 3.05, df = 143, p = .003, Cohen’s d = .68).

Study 4 primarily tested the latter half of the mediation pathway by manipulating participants’ interpersonal responsibility using Levine et al.’s (2018) research method, exploring the impact of interpersonal responsibility on trust behavior and trust beliefs. The study recruited 125 Chinese university student participants and randomly assigned them to the interpersonal responsibility condition or the control condition. Participants then completed trust games, and their trust beliefs were measured. Experimental results indicated that participants in the interpersonal responsibility condition exhibited significantly higher trust behaviors (t = 2.68, df = 111, p = .009, Cohen’s d = .69) and trust beliefs (t = 2.14, df = 111, p = .034, Cohen’s d = .59) compared to those in the control condition.

Discussion and Significance

The comprehensive evidence from the four studies supports the hypothesis that self-compassion leads to trust in others, with interpersonal responsibility functioning as the underlying mediating mechanism. Employing both questionnaires and experiments, Professor Dong Yan’s team demonstrates the cross-temporal stability, cross-sample stability, and cross-method stability of this result. Indeed, treating oneself kindly during times of adversity is a valuable strength, as it helps individuals maintain a balance between relational enhancement goals and self-enhancement goals in the face of potential threats to self-worth, thereby facilitating positive interpersonal outcomes. Additionally, this study extends the scope of self-compassion research by highlighting the advantage of self-compassion in facilitating positive social outcomes during interactions with the external environment. In practical terms, the findings of this research encourage community workers to promote community trust and increase social capital by focusing more on intervention methods related to self-compassion.

About the Journal

Founded in 1935, The Journal of Psychology is an interdisciplinary journal that publishes empirical research, theoretical articles, and selected reviews in applied areas of psychology. It is an Q2 journal with an impact factor of 2.7.