Abstract
The negative effects of the financial crisis of 2007/2008 are still being felt today as seen in the relatively high levels of youth unemployment in many countries. As a result, many young people experience high stress levels when facing an uncertain and precarious job market. Participants were 178 undergraduate students (79% female; M age = 20.00, SD = 4.29) who were randomly assigned to read a news article that documented an uncertain financial future with limited job opportunities (the economic stress group), or an article that documented a tour of the Royal Canadian Mint (the control group). The role of self-compassion was explored in its relation to distress. Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses indicated that, in the economic stress group, self-compassion negatively predicted anxiety above and beyond self-esteem and familial support. In the control group, however, self-compassion did not negatively predict anxiety above and beyond self-esteem and familial support. Additionally, structural equation modeling indicated that self-compassion was directly associated with lower anxiety and indirectly related to anxiety through perceptions of financial threat. These findings suggest that self-compassion may be an important resource that is associated with less distress during times of economic threat.
Daniel J. Chiacchia
PhD Student, Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management
My research interests include the social psychology of working in the digital economy (e.g., the automation of work and dehumanization, ‘gig’ work); leadership during threat and uncertainty (e.g., how leaders effectively adapt to change); as well as best practices in quantitative methodology, including open science, replicability, statistical power, data visualization, and effect sizes.