Self-compassion is also good for your relationship

Self-compassion is also good for your relationship


The discovery is helpful because self-compassion is a quality that can be developed




Being more tolerant of your flaws in a romantic relationship can lead to a happier life together. This is what a recent study carried out by the Otto Friedrich Bamberg and Martin Luther Halle-Wittenberg universities in Germany and published in the journal Personal relationships.

The work included interviews with a total of 209 couples. The findings show that everyone benefits from self-compassion in a relationship, especially men (when their partners can be tolerant of their shortcomings).

For the authors the discovery is extremely useful, since self-compassion is a quality that can be developed.

What is self-compassion?

“Self-compassion is having a caring, kind, and caring attitude toward yourself, especially in relation to your shortcomings,” describes the study’s lead author, Robert Körner.

We have found that the ability to react with compassion to one’s own inadequacies, suffering and pain in the relationship benefits both members of the couple. In this way, a partner’s self-compassion not only improves their own happiness, but also that of their partner.”

In the study, men in heterosexual relationships, in particular, showed a high level of relationship satisfaction when their partners demonstrated self-compassion.

Possible impact on the relationship

Other studies have already indicated that levels of self-compassion can influence personal well-being. They can also influence how people experience their romantic relationships, how satisfied they are with them, and how they interact with their partners. This includes, for example, how they resolve conflicts or deal with jealousy.

In the current study, researchers went a step further to gain a deeper understanding of self-compassion’s potential to influence romantic relationships. Until then, existing work focused only on one person, while current work has shown that the impact also affects the partner.

The researchers used a comprehensive survey to be able to distinguish self-compassion related to relationship issues from that more associated with work issues, for example, which can have different impacts.

They hope more research will be conducted with couples of other sexual orientations and from other countries and cultures, to see if the findings remain valid. If this were to happen, self-compassion could become an interesting tool for couples in conflict.

Source: Terra

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