Effect of Self-Compassion on Evaluation and Choice of Healthy Food

Abstract

In today's affluent food environment, investigating factors that facilitate resistance in the face of barriers to health goals may be vital for achieving successful promotion and regulation of health. This study was implemented to investigate the effect of self-compassion on the evaluation and choice of healthy vs. unhealthy food. In Study 1, participants (N = 101) primed with self-compassion evaluated unhealthy food more negatively than those primed with self-esteem. As predicted, however, there was no difference in attitude toward healthy food between the two priming conditions. In Study 2, participants (N = 54) were asked to choose between healthy and unhealthy food and then their self-compassion was measured. Results show that participants with high self-compassion chose healthy food more often than unhealthy food, while those with low self-compassion chose unhealthy food more than healthy food. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of health campaign strategies and further research into the relation between self-compassion and health behaviors.