Building bridges between early memories of warmth and safeness and psychological well-being

Abstract

This study explored the mediator role of external shame and fear of compassion from others in the link between early positive memories and current feelings of social safeness, in a sample of 400 women. Path analysis revealed that the ability to evoke early positive experiences is associated to a lower tendency to feel fear of receiving help and compassion from others and decreased feelings of inferiority, which seem to promote feelings of social safeness. These findings highlight the importance of addressing shame and fear of compassion, particularly when working with women who perceive the social world as unsafe and threatening.