The Relationship between Self-Compassion, Subjective Social Status and Psychological Distress amongst Individuals who Have Experienced Involuntary Job Loss

The relationships between self-compassion change in subjective social status between before to after job loss (SSS-Change), and psychological distress were explored. One hundred and nineteen unemployed adults, who had lost a full time job that they had worked in for at least one year completed measures of self-compassion, SSS-change, and psychological distress. Results showed that there were significant relationships between self-compassion and psychological distress. Also, there was a significant relationship between SSS-change and psychological distress. There was a difference in the relationship between SSS- change and psychological distress between men and women, such that only women had a significant positive relationship between SSS-change and psychological distress. However, there were no gender differences in the relationship between self-compassion and psychological distress. This study adds to the literature indicating that self-compassion has a buffering effect on psychological distress and underscores the link between subjective social status and psychological distress following the specific stressor of job loss.