Page No: 185-194
Jalva Nusrin, Padhma Varshini B and Padiri Ruth Angiel
Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, India
The stigma associated with seeking psychological help is prominent in India. This
stigma is higher among men, reducing their tendency to seek psychological help. Selfcompassion
is having an understanding, non-judgmental attitude toward one’s
inadequacies and failures, and recognizing that one’s experience is part of the common
human experience. Being self-compassionate helps individuals be more open towards
their suffering and encourages them to seek professional help. The objectives of the
study were to assess and examine the relationship between self-compassion and
attitude towards seeking professional psychological help among men in Kerala. The
study used a correlational design with a convenient sample of 200 men belonging to
the developmental phase of early adulthood from various districts of Kerala, India.
Pearson’s correlation showed a significant positive relationship between self-compassion
and men’s attitude towards seeking psychological help, suggesting that higher selfcompassion
fosters more positive help-seeking attitudes. Among the six subscales,
only isolation had significant positive correlation with attitude towards seeking
professional psychological help, indicating that greater isolation had an increased positive
attitude toward seeking psychological help. The implications of the study have also
been discussed.