Relationships of Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Meditation Experience With Shame-Proneness

Abstract

The tendency to experience shame or guilt is associated differentially with anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, with shame being associated with greater psychopathology. Recent interventions designed to decrease shame emphasize mindfulness or self-compassion. This study investigated correlational relationships of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness with mindfulness and with self-compassion in undergraduate participants. Shame-proneness was strongly negatively correlated with all facets of mindfulness and with self-compassion, whereas guilt-proneness was weakly positively correlated with self-compassion and some facets of mindfulness. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that shame-proneness was predicted by self-compassion but not by mindfulness. More frequent meditation was associated with greater mindfulness and self-compassion and lower shame-proneness but not guilt-proneness. Limitations of the study and implications of the findings for interventions to reduce shame are discussed.

Dispositional Mindfulness, Shame, and Compulsive Sexual Behaviors Among Men in Residential Treatment for Substance Use Disorders

“…These findings were consistent with, and extended, previous mindfulness research documenting an inverse association between mindfulness and shame-based cognitions (Woods & Proeve, 2014). Specifically, results from the present study suggested that individuals with low levels of dispositional mindfulness may be more likely to negatively evaluate themselves due, in part, to their engagement in CSB.…”

“…Specifically, results from the present study suggested that individuals with low levels of dispositional mindfulness may be more likely to negatively evaluate themselves due, in part, to their engagement in CSB. It is plausible, then, that increases in mindfulness would facilitate acceptance, self-compassion, and non-judgment such that shame diminishes (Woods & Proeve, 2014), even among individuals who engaged in behaviors that are more prone to judgment and non-acceptance (e.g., CSB and substance use). Future research is needed to evaluate this supposition.…”

“…Conceptualized as a propensity to purposefully and non-judgmentally attend to present-moment internal and external events, dispositional mindfulness is one such construct linked to lower levels of shame (Baer, 2003; Woods & Proeve, 2014). Individuals higher in dispositional mindfulness were better able to separate cognitions and emotions from the self thereby reducing over-engagement with emotions (Bowlin & Baer, 2012; Hayes & Feldman, 2004).…”

“…Recent evidence suggested that approaching experiences with acceptance facilitated self-compassion (i.e., being touched by or open to one’s suffering as opposed to avoiding or disconnecting from it; Neff, 2003). That self-compassion negatively related to shame implies that mindfulness may reduce shame through increases in self-compassion (Woods & Proeve, 2014). …”

An assessment of mindfulness intervention as a regular subject in Ecuadorian higher education

“…Studies assessing the relationship between mindfulness practice and FFMQ also yield mixed results, for example, (Morgan et al, 2014) found limited relationships between practice frequency and FFMQ subscale scores in a sample of 27 people. In contrast, another study found that rate of mindfulness practice associated with an MBI was related to differences in scores on the FFMQ (Woods & Proeve, 2014). And the present study, which presents evidence of positive changes in the relationship between mindfulness practice in universities through improvements in the academic performance of the students involved, in a contrast between two groups and despite the limitations in the practical implementation, hoping to be able to establish an effective modality in the area for future applications both in the national context where the experiment was applied and in the near latitudes.…”