The Mediating Role of Self-Compassion in the Relationship between Social Commitment and Self-Esteem with Job Adjustment

According to Dawis and Lofquist’s theory of job adjustment, people bring their needs to the workplace and the workplace provides them with needs. The individual and the work environment must adapt to some degree. Having job adjustment in any institution and organization can reduce the consequences of work stress in employees. The present study aimed to determine whether self-compassion has a mediating role in the relationship between social commitment and self-esteem with job adjustment.

The method of the present study was descriptive-correlational. 480 male and female employees working in the education department of Tehran's 19th district in 2019-20 were selected by the convenient sampling method and completed Self-Compassion Scale )Neff, 2003(, Social Commitment Questionnaire (Carroll, 1991(, Self-Esteem Scale )Rosenberg, 1989(, and Job Adjustment Questionnaire )Dawis & Lofquist, 1984(. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling in AMOS-24 software.

The results showed that social commitment has a direct and significant effect on job adjustment (P<0.01), and self-compassion has a direct and significant effect on job adjustment (P<0.01). The indirect effect of social commitment and self-esteem on job adjustment is significantly mediated by self-compassion (P<0.01). Social commitment, self-esteem, and self-compassion explain 21% of the variance of employee job adjustment.

In this study, the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between predictor variables and job adjustment was confirmed. Therefore, it is suggested that self-compassion should be considered as a training program for school counselors and psychologists, clinical psychologists, and therapists.