اثرات خود تفسیری، خودانتقادی و خوددلسوزی بر نشانه های افسردگی

Abstract The purpose of this exploratory study was to cross-culturally examine associations among self-construals, comparative vs. internalized self-criticisms, self-compassion, and depressive symptoms. 1200 undergraduates in the city of Kyoto, Japan, and 420 college students in Tennessee and Michigan participated in this study. The results indicated that both independent and interdependent self-construals were negatively related to comparative self-criticism while positively related to internalized self-criticism. Both forms of self-criticism negatively affected self-compassion, while self-compassion lowered depressive symptoms. In the U.S., independent (vs. interdependent) self-construal had stronger impact on both types of self-criticism, while in Japan, interdependent (vs. independent) self-construal had stronger impact on both types of self-criticism, indicating that culturally dominant self-construal has a larger influence on self-criticism. In both cultures, internal (vs. comparative) self-criticism has a less negative impact on self-compassion. Cultural specific tests are described to support the findings.

Introduction Research on self-criticism has paid increasing attention to depressive symptoms that affect health and well-being (Blatt et al., 1993 and Thompson and Zuroff, 2004). Claims that self-criticism engenders depressive symptoms have been applied to cross-cultural contexts (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). In addition to self-criticism, Neff (2003, 2008) established self-compassion as a promising new concept related to depressive symptoms. Studies on self-compassion in Western cultures have demonstrated that people who show compassion towards themselves experience greater psychological health and resilience than those who lack self-compassion. It has been proposed that self-criticism is more prevalent among East Asians because awareness of personal shortcomings aids self-improvement efforts needed to function harmoniously within a group (Heine, 2003). Neff (2003) argues that if self-criticism is a key factor among those who have lower level of self-compassion, this could be a greater problem for East Asians than for Euro-Americans. However, Neff (2003) also suggests that the relationship between self-criticism and depressive symptoms in East Asian cultures may not be the same as that in Western cultures. Japanese people may believe that, opposite to self-compassion, means of shame, rather harsh self-judgment, and threat of isolation are needed to better improve themselves. It could be misleading to generalize the implication of self-critical behavior observed in Western cultures to East Asian cultures like Japan, since cultural backgrounds need to be considered to understand the relationships between key variables. This generalization, indeed, has been called into question by cultural psychologists (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). The effect of self-compassion on depressive symptoms, however, has not been extensively examined in cross-cultural research. The purpose of this study was to examine the cultural underpinnings of self-criticism and the lack of self-compassion, which may lead to higher levels of depressive symptoms. Drawing on the theory of independence–interdependence cultural self-construals (Markus & Kitayama, 1991), we argue that comparative self-criticism may not always be directly linked to depressive symptoms in cultures that emphasize independence. In contrast, internalized self-criticism is likely to be functional in cultures characterized by interdependence. We further argue that self-compassion may be negatively linked to depressive symptoms across cultures. In order to address these cross-cultural factors of self-criticism and self-compassion, we examined depressive symptoms among college students in two different cultures. This article is organized as follows. First, we review the independent and interdependent self-construals, self-criticism, self-compassion, and depressive symptoms in relation to each other as delineated in the psychology and communications literature. We further explicate the concept of self-criticism by introducing comparative and internal self-criticism and explore their relationship to self-compassion from a cross-cultural perspective. Second, we propose a conceptual model specifying the respective influences of the cultural self-construals, two types of self-criticism, and self-compassion on depressive symptoms. Third, we describe a study conducted to test the conceptual model, followed by an analysis of the results. The concluding section discusses implications, limitations, and possible directions for future research. 1.1. Self-contrual, self-criticism, and self-compassion across cultures Markus and Kitayama (1991) found that Western cultures tend to construe the self as separate from its social context, and thus emphasize autonomy and independence, which is independent self-construal. In contrast, Eastern cultures conventionally construe and construct the self as a constituent of a broader social context; their concept of self entails characteristics and qualities of the social environment, which is interdependent self-construal. It is proposed that self-construal varies among cultures based on an emphasis on either independence or interdependence ( Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Kitayama and colleagues used cultural self-construal theory to support their proposition that, in interdependent East-Asian cultures such as Japanese, people tend to be more self-critical than they are in independent cultures such as Euro-American (Kitayama & Markus, 2000). Researchers have argued that self-criticism is adaptive for those individuals in interdependent cultures, because an awareness of personal shortcomings helps them address the required self-improvement efforts for them to function harmoniously within a group (e.g., Heine, 2003). If so, levels of self-compassion may be lower among East Asians than Euro-Americans, given that self-criticism is a key trait among those who lack self-compassion. Untoward impact of self-criticism on depressive symptoms among Euro-Americans may not be necessarily exist among East Asians as suggested by some cross-cultural studies because of the complicated nature of interdependent self-construal (Kagitcibasi, 2005). The present study provides an evidence of this cultural variation, which would help us better understand how interdependent self-construal relates to self-compassion from a cross-cultural perspective. The promotion of self-criticism and the reflection of social conformity and harsh self-regulatory tactics are more likely to promote interdependence with the feelings of human interconnectedness (Neff, Pisitsungkagarn, & Hsieh, 2008). Thus, it is suggested that interdependence may hinder the impact of self-compassion on depressive symptoms. On the other hand, independence may involve and promote care and concern for the self (Singelis, 1994), which may increase self-compassion. However, independence may also promote feelings of separation or isolation, thus undermining self-compassion. 1.2. Comparative vs. internalized self-criticism Thompson and Zuroff (2004) developed the Level of Self-Criticism (LOSC) scale to measure two-dimensional concepts and developmental levels, which are comparative self-criticism and internalized self-criticism. They developed and explained comparative self-criticism as a negative perspective and view of the self as compared to others or as an unfavorable comparison of the self with others, who are seen as superior and hostile or critical. For example, from the cross-cultural perspectives, the Euro-Americans are more likely to view their own shortcomings in comparison to others. With regard to comparative self-criticism, they aim for self-enhancement, independence, seeking to confirm their positive internal attributes of self and self-esteem. By contrast, Thompson and Zuroff (2004) developed and explained internalized self-criticism as a negative perspective and view of the self as compared to internal, personal standards wherein people respond to success by seeing it as failure. The consequence of internalized self-criticism may be equally critical in both East Asian cultures and Western cultures. While similar relational concepts to self-compassion have long been studied in psychology (Baumeister et al., 1993, Sedikides, 1993 and Taylor and Brown, 1988), Neff (2003) developed Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) and showed that if a person has a higher score on this scale, s/he tends to have lower scores on various depressive symptoms and anxiety self-report scales. Following research also confirmed that people with greater self-compassion were less likely to have high levels of depressive symptoms and anxiety (e.g., Neff, Rude, & Kirkpatrick, 2007). As such, the literature makes a strong argument for a relationship between self-compassion and positive psychological outcomes (e.g., less depressive symptoms and anxiety). However, little is known about its background mechanisms, especially about culture-related background mechanisms.

4. Results 4.1. Preliminary analyses The descriptive statistics in this study are shown in Table 1. The mean CSC score for all participants was 4.17 (SD = .62) on a scale of 1–7, and the mean ISC score for all participants was 4.32 (SD = .87) on a scale of 1–7. Table 1 also shows the means and standard deviations for all variables in the model. Correlation analysis was conducted to assess the potential for multicollinearity among the variables. Table 2 shows the correlation matrix. Most of the correlations were significant at p < .001. To better care about the concerns of multicollinearity, we organized the goal pursuit predictors, which are based on the theoretical model. Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations for Study Measures in Japan and Mainland US. Mean SD US JA US JA 1. ID 4.42 5.20 0.76 0.85 2. INT 4.43 4.62 0.75 0.83 3. CSC 4.17 3.67 0.62 0.81 4. ISC 4.32 4.58 0.87 0.91 5. SECOM 3.91 3.90 0.50 0.71 6. Depressive Symptoms 2.63 2.63 0.42 0.55 Note: IND = Independent Self-Construal; INT = Interdependent Self-Construal; CSC = Comparative Self-Criticism; ISC = Internalized Self-Criticism, SECOM = Self-Compassion. Table options Table 2. Correlation of Variables in the Multivariate Model. 1 2 3 4 5 6 1. ID – .300∗∗ .460∗∗ −.210∗∗ −.001 .382∗∗ .300∗∗ −.092 .085∗∗ −.066 .042 2. INT – .068 .130∗∗ .270∗∗ .400∗∗ −.093 −.083∗∗ .064 −.053 3. CSC – .465∗∗ .571∗∗ −.653∗∗ −.612∗∗ .550∗∗ .383∗∗ 4. ISC - −.675∗∗ −.534∗∗ .335∗∗ .342∗∗ 5. SECOM – -.370∗∗ .357∗∗ 6. Depressive Symptoms - Note: IND = Independent Self-Construal; INT = Interdependent Self-Construal; CSC = Comparative Self-Criticism; ISC = Internalized Self-Criticism; SECOM = Self-Compassion. ∗p < .05, ∗∗p < .01. Parameter: US Japan. Table options 4.2. Model analysis The model specified in Fig. 1 was estimated and evaluated with path analysis, structural equation modeling using AMOS 18.0 (Arbuckle, 2009), and a chi-square test providing a measure of the GFI of the data to the model (Byrne, 2001). To endure accurate results for the GFI test, a sample size of 100–200 is recommended (Hoyle, 2009), which was met for our analysis. The final model for the U.S., with standardized path coefficients, is presented in Fig. 2. The model fit did well appreciably. The fit of the model presented in Fig. 2 was good except for the Chi-square test, χ2 (10) = 135.96, p < .001 (CFI = .960, GFI = .970, RMSEA = .08). All path coefficients were significant at p < .001. The covariance between ID and INT was significant at p < .001. From this analysis, we concluded that the effects of ID and INT on depressive symptoms are fully influenced through comparative and internalized self-criticism and self-compassion. This model is preferred because it is the most parsimonious one that still provides excellent data ( Byrne, 2001 and Hoyle, 2009). Final model of self-construal, self-criticism, self-compassion on depressive ... Fig. 2. Final model of self-construal, self-criticism, self-compassion on depressive symptoms in the US and Japan. ∗ID: Independent Self-Construal, INT: Interdependent Self-Construal, CSC: Comparative Self-Criticism, ISC: Internalized Self-Criticism, SECOM: Self-Compassion Scale. ∗Parameter: US Japan. Figure options Our primary research objective was to propose and test a model that delineates the process by which the dimensions of self-construal influence depressive symptoms. The model also incorporates anti-coping resources (comparative vs. internalized self-criticism) and a coping resource (self-compassion) as factors having potential effects on depressive symptoms. A path analysis was conducted to test the integrated model as it relates to the effects of self-construals, self-criticism, and self-compassion on depressive symptoms. As shown in Fig. 2, for participants in the U.S., independent self-construal negatively influenced comparative self-criticism (β = −.25, t = −5.07, p < .01) and positively influenced internalized self-criticism (β = .33, t = 7.10, p < .01). Interdependent self-construal positively influenced comparative self-criticism (β = .14, t = 2.89, p < .01) and positively influenced internalized self-criticism (β = .18, t = 3.66, p < .01). Comparative self-criticism negatively influenced self-compassion (β = −.50, t = −16.00, p < .01), as did internalized self-criticism (β = −.40, t = −12.00, p < .01). Self-compassion, in turn, negatively influenced depressive symptoms (β = −.60, t = −11.00, p < .01). Please note that these βs are not necessarily the same as pass coefficients depicted in Fig. 2. As also shown in Fig. 2, for participants in Japan, independent self-construal negatively influenced comparative self-criticism (β = −.07, t = −2.38, p < .01) and positively influenced internalized self-criticism (β = .16, t = 4.88, p < .01). Interdependent self-construal positively influenced comparative self-criticism (β = .14 t = 5.126, p < .01) and internalized self-criticism (β = .34, t = 10.98, p < .01). Comparative self-criticism negatively influenced self-compassion (β = −.45, t = −18.80, p < .01), as did internalized self-criticism (β = −.53, t = −11.10, p < .01). Self-compassion, in turn, negatively influenced depressive symptoms (β = −.63, t = −14.62, p < .01). In order to examine cultural variations in the proposed path model, the critical ratios for difference between the two estimations (i.e., using the U.S. sample and using the Japanese sample, respectively) for the same parameters were calculated. These results are depicted in Fig. 3, as a culturally general path model of the role of comparative and internalized self-criticisms as well as self-compassion as mediating factors in the relationship between self-construals and depressive symptoms. Culturally general or similar processes are depicted as solid lines, while culturally different processes are depicted as broken lines. The results show that the culturally general or similar processes are the positive relationship between interdependent self-construal and comparative self-criticism, and the negative relationship between self-compassion and depressive symptoms. Except for these relationships, our study found cultural differences in the positive relationships between independent self-construal and internalized self-criticism, and between interdependent self-construal and internalized self-criticism. It also found cultural differences in the negative relationships between independent self-construal and comparative self-criticism, between comparative self-criticism and self-compassion, and between internalized self-criticism and self-compassion. Culturally general or similar processes and culturally different processes in ... Fig. 3. Culturally general or similar processes and culturally different processes in path model. ∗ID: Independent Self-Construal, INT: Interdependent Self-Construal, CSC: Comparative Self-Criticism, ISC: Internalized Self-Criticism, SECOM: Self-Compassion Scale. ∗Solid line: culturally general or similar processes; Broken line: culturally different processes.