Writing kindly to yourself made people more motivated to improve
HelpedThe short version
After writing kindly about a weakness, people saw it as more open to change than those who wrote about strengths.
- 318
- students and adults in four experiments
- Randomised
- groups picked at random
- Self-rated
- people rated themselves
- 1 tool
- tested
The study
Who took part
318 people took part in four experiments. Three used students, and one used adults from across the United States.
What they did
In three experiments, people wrote a kind paragraph to themselves about a weakness or a wrong they had done. In one, a short note after a failed test told people not to be too hard on themselves. The other groups wrote about their strengths, described a hobby, or got nothing.
What happened
People who wrote kindly to themselves felt more motivated to improve than the other groups. In one test, people with the kind note studied for about 307 seconds, against about 203 with no note. The gap with the strengths group was not clear, and test scores did not differ.
What the study found
- HelpedMotivation
After writing kindly about a weakness, people saw it as more open to change than those who wrote about strengths.
Randomised trial of 318 students and adults in four experiments · vs people who wrote about strengths or nothing · they rated themselves · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show
- HelpedMotivation
After recalling a wrong, people who wrote kindly to themselves were keener to make amends.
Randomised trial of 318 students and adults in four experiments · vs people who wrote about strengths or a hobby · they rated themselves · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show
- HelpedFocus
After a failed test, a kind note made people study longer for a retest than those with no note.
Randomised trial of 318 students and adults in four experiments · vs people who got no note · they rated themselves · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show
- HelpedMotivation
People who wrote kindly about a weakness felt more motivated to change it than those who wrote about strengths.
Randomised trial of 318 students and adults in four experiments · vs people who wrote about strengths or a hobby · they rated themselves · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show
How solid is this?
- Groups picked at random
- People rated themselves
- Summary claims more than the results show
Source
Self-Compassion Increases Self-Improvement Motivation (2012)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167212445599 (opens in a new tab)
