The paradox of compassion: The mediating role of psychological well-being in the association between compassion for others and resilience among emerging adults

Abstract

The present study investigated psychological well-being as a mediator between compassion for others and resilience with gender moderating the compassion–psychological well-being path in a sample of 324 young adults in Türkiye (mean age = 22.98 years). The findings indicated that there was no significant bivariate association between compassion for others and resilience. However, the analyses demonstrated a suppression effect when psychological well-being was included in the model. Specifically, the direct association between compassion and resilience became negative, while compassion simultaneously showed a positive indirect association with resilience through psychological well-being. Furthermore, gender did not play a moderating role in the association between compassion and psychological well-being and the index of moderated mediation was nonsignificant. In group comparisons, women exhibited higher compassion and psychological well-being, while men demonstrated greater resilience. These findings suggest that interventions promoting compassion for others may benefit from considering integrating psychological well-being support to sustain resilience.