Students’ Experiences of Academic Stress and Self-Compassion in Psychological Adaptation

Abstract

Academic stress represents a significant psychological challenge for university students because intensive workloads, performance expectations, competition, academic failure, and uncertainty may influence emotional well-being and students’ capacity to remain engaged with learning. This study aimed to explore students’ lived experiences of academic stress, their responses to academic pressure and failure, and the perceived role of self-compassion in supporting psychological adaptation. A qualitative phenomenological approach was employed to examine students’ subjective meanings and interpretations of academic experiences. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews focusing on academic pressure, emotional responses, coping strategies, self-critical experiences, self-compassion, social support, and psychological adjustment. The data were analyzed through coding, categorization, theme development, and interpretative analysis. The findings identified academic workload, expectations, competition, fear of failure, and uncertainty as major dimensions of students’ academic pressure. Students responded to these experiences through self-criticism, avoidance, reflection, acceptance, and seeking interpersonal support. Self-compassion appeared to facilitate psychological adaptation through self-kindness, self-acceptance, emotional regulation, perspective taking, and recovery. The findings indicate that self-compassion may function as an internal psychological resource that helps students reinterpret academic difficulties without equating failure with personal inadequacy. The study contributes to educational and positive psychology by conceptualizing psychological adaptation as a dynamic process involving the interaction between academic demands, emotional responses, coping processes, self-compassion, and renewed academic engagement.