Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol 72(6), Nov 2025, 637-650; doi:10.1037/cou0000824
Classism is a multidimensional social process involving a network of prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory practices. While past studies have found a positive association between classism and lower well-being and life satisfaction, research on the effects of classism and strategies to mitigate these effects remains relatively scarce. This present study sought to examine the adverse effects of perceived classism on mental health outcomes and explore whether critical consciousness and self-compassion can buffer these effects. A total of 292 participants, all of whom identified as people of color (POC), completed an online survey. Two structural equation models were fit to assess the indirect effects of classism through critical consciousness and self-compassion on each mental health outcome (i.e., psychological distress and well-being), using bootstrapping to estimate 95% CIs to test the indirect effect. For both models, the indirect effects of classism through critical consciousness were not statistically significant for either psychological distress or well-being (95% CI [−.018, .110]; 95% CI [−.020, .359]), whereas the indirect effects through self-compassion were both statistically significant (95% CI [.414, .927]; 95% CI [−.719, −.237]). These results suggest that while self-compassion is a significant mediator of classism’s impact on mental health outcomes for this sample, critical consciousness may not be. Future studies can further explore self-compassion as a buffer for classism, particularly for POC, and other pathways by which critical consciousness may improve mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)