The mediating role of self-compassion and mindfulness in the relationship between reasons for living and psychological well-being

Objective: The main purpose of this study is to analyze the mediating role of self-compassion and mindfulness in the relationship between the reasons for living and psychological well-being in university students. Also, the study investigated whether the findings of the participants' psychological well-being differ according to socio-demographic characteristics. Method: The research consists of 437 participants between the ages of 18-24 and was conducted online. Considering the purpose of the research; Demographic Information Form (DIF), Reasons for Living Inventory (RFLI), The Flourishing Scale (TFS), Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) were used, respectively. Result: According to the results of the research, the reasons for living and psychological well-being; self-compassion and the reasons for living; psychological well-being and self-compassion; also, the relationship between mindfulness and psychological well-being was found to be positive. However, there was no significant relationship between the reasons for living and mindfulness according to findings. Moreover, it was observed that the level of psychological well-being differed according to certain socio-demographic characteristics. As a result of the mediator variable analysis, it was detected that self-compassion had a partial mediator role between the reasons for living and psychological well-being in university students. Conclusion: It is considered that the mentioned variables of the study contributed to the literature in terms of investigating a limited number of previous studies. The results, limitations and implications of the current study are discussed in the lights of the relevant literature and suggestions are presented for future studies.