Abstract
The field of sports psychology has long examined how athletes cope with the unique stressors of sports. Student-athletes face these demands alongside the additional pressures of academics. While research on self-compassion has focused on its role in reducing self-criticism and psychological distress while enhancing well-being, little is known about how self-compassion may support an athlete’s sustained interest and perseverance in sport, commonly referred to as grit. Self-compassion, a self-attitude involving mindful awareness of personal suffering, kindness toward oneself, and recognition of shared humanity, has been linked to greater self-control and adaptive goal pursuit. The present study explored the relationship between self-compassion and grit in varsity student-athletes at Saint Mary’s University (N = 51). Participants completed questionnaires assessing self-compassion, mindfulness, grit, fears of compassion, well-being, and perceived performance. We hypothesized that mindfulness would mediate the relationship between self-compassion and grit, providing insight into processes that support sustained motivation in sports. Findings revealed a moderate positive relationship between mindfulness and self-compassion and a moderate negative relationship between mindfulness and self-criticism. While the hypothesized mediation model did not entirely fit the data, additional analysis revealed other variables potentially influencing grit.
