Mediating Role of Self-Compassion in the Relationship between Attitude toward Religion and Psychological Well-Being in the Elderly

Psychological well-being is one of the most important needs of the elderly, which can affect various aspects of their lives. Religiosity increases the psychological well-being, but the causes of this occurrence are not clearly known. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the role of self-compassion in the relationship between religiosity and psychological well-being.

According to Guadagnoli & Velicer (1998), a sample of 300 male elderly was selected through simple random sampling method in Kermanshah, Iran. The elderly responded to the following three questionnaires: psychological well-being, self-compassion, and attitude toward religion. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate descriptive indexes. To investigate the relationship between research variables, Pearson correlation coefficient was used using SPSS software, version 23. Also, to analyze the data, structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation routes in the proposed model, and to answer the research hypotheses about the indirect effects of attitude towards religion through Self-Compassion, AMOS, version 23, was used.

The results showed that the direct effect of attitude to religion and psychological well-being without the presence of the intermediary variable (Self-Compassion) is significant and confirmed (β=0.48). That is, religiosity can increase well-being without the presence of a mediator variable. Also, the direct effect of attitude toward religion on Self-Compassion (β=0.46), the direct effect of Self-Compassion on well-being (β=0.80), and the indirect effect of attitude toward religion on psychological well-being through self-compassion (β=0.37) were found to be significant.

The present study, after drawing a pattern for determining the relationship between attitude toward religion and psychological well-being, clarified the relationship between attitude toward religion and self-compassion, as well as their relationship with psychological well-being. This way, attitude toward religion was observed to have a positive impact on the psychological well-being of the elderly by increasing self-compassion. Therefore, attention to the role of self-compassion is important in explaining the relationship between attitude toward religion and psychological well-being and can improve the psychological well-being of the elderly by creating individual and mental capacities to increase self-compassion.