Investigation of the relationship between perceived parental rejection-acceptance level, social appearance anxi̇ety, and self-compassion in indivi̇duals in emergi̇ng adulthood

The main problem of this research is to examine the relationship between perceived parental rejection-acceptance level, social appearance anxiety and self-compassion of individuals in emerging adulthood. The method of the research was determined as the correlational design, one of the quantitative research methods. The sample of the study consists of 590 people between the ages of 18-29. The relevant literature was searched and two theoretical models were created among the variables that were the subject of the research, and the research was built on these variables. Within the scope of this construct, the predictive relationships between the related variables and the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between perceived parental rejection-acceptance level and social appearance anxiety were tested. In addition, it was examined whether the perceived parental rejection-acceptance level, social appearance anxiety level and self-compassion level differed according to gender. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the theoretical models created. Appropriate path models were created to reveal the relationships between the variables. It was determined that the theoretical models tested with Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) had acceptable fit indices. Descriptive statistics, linear correlation and mediation analysis technique procedures were carried out on the data. During the analysis, the findings were evaluated by using SPSS and AMOS package programs. As a result of the findings, it was found that perceived maternal rejection-acceptance level positively predicted social appearance anxiety, perceived maternal rejection-acceptance level predicted self-compassion negatively, perceived father rejection-acceptance level positively predicted social appearance anxiety, perceived father rejection-acceptance level predicted self-compassion negatively. It was seen that the level of self-compassion predicted the social appearance anxiety negatively. As a result of the examination of the relationships between the variables, it was determined that there was a partial mediating role of self-compassion between maternal rejection-acceptance and social appearance anxiety, and a partial mediator role of self-compassion between father rejection-acceptance and social appearance anxiety. In addition, it was determined that maternal rejection-acceptance, father-rejection-acceptance, social appearance anxiety and self- compassion scores did not differ according to gender.