Self-compassion moderates body comparison and appearance self-worth's inverse relationships with body appreciation

•We explored links among social comparison, appearance-contingent self-worth, self-compassion, and body appreciation.•Self-compassion weakened the social comparison and body appreciation link.•Self-compassion weakened the appearance-contingent self-worth and body appreciation link.•Increasing self-compassion may be a way to help women protect their positive body image.

Although research on positive body image has increased, little research has explored which variables protect body appreciation during body-related threats. Self-compassion may be one such variable. Individuals high in self-compassion are mindful, kind, and nurturing toward themselves during situations that threaten their adequacy, while recognizing that being imperfect is part of “being human.” In this study, we investigated whether two body-related threats (i.e., body comparison and appearance contingent self-worth) were more weakly related to body appreciation when self-compassion was high among an online sample of 263 women (Mage = 35.26, SD = 12.42). Results indicated that self-compassion moderated the inverse relationships between body related threats and body appreciation. Specifically, when self-compassion was very high, body comparison and appearance contingent self-worth were unrelated to body appreciation. However, when self-compassion was low, these relationships were strong. Self-compassion, then, may help preserve women's body appreciation during body-related threats.