The Hypo-Egoic Self: Pathways from Self-Compassion, Intellectual Humility, and Adaptive Suffering Beliefs to Resilience and Intergroup Goodwill

Abstract

Excessive self-focus and rigid ego-investment—hyper-egoic tendencies—are associated with heightened psychological distress, defensive self-evaluation, ingroup favoritism, and resistance to constructive conflict resolution. This dissertation advances a unifying framework of hypo-egoic processing—states and traits characterized by reduced ego-investment and less self-preoccupied evaluation—and examines three psychological pathways through which such processing may foster adaptive functioning: self-compassion, intellectual humility, and beliefs about suffering.The first empirical chapter investigates self-compassion as a hypo-egoic mechanism that enables resilience under stress. In a four-year longitudinal study of 1,137 university students, annual assessments of perceived stress, self-compassion, and resilience were analyzed using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model with latent interactions. Increases in stress predicted subsequent increases in self-compassion, and increases in stress coupled with increases in self-compassion—but neither alone—predicted later gains in resilience. These findings suggest that self-compassion may transform stress into growth by reducing defensive self-evaluation and supporting adaptive coping.The second empirical chapter examines intellectual humility (IH) as a hypo-egoic epistemic orientation in the context of intergroup conflict. In a cross-sectional survey of 158 Jewish Israeli adults during an acute escalation of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, participants reported IH, empathy and identification toward both Israelis and Palestinians, collective victimhood, and support for peaceful conflict resolution. Structural equation modeling revealed that higher IH was indirectly associated with stronger support for peaceful resolution and lower endorsement of collective victimhood through mutuality—a latent construct reflecting inclusive empathy and broader group identification. IH was thus linked to reduced ingroup favoritism and greater openness to diplomatic solutions. The third empirical chapter examines beliefs about suffering asa belief-based hypo-egoic pathway. Across four studies with U.S. undergraduates, U.S. adults, and Jewish Israeli adults, perceiving one’s difficulties as common was associated with lower distress, whereas viewing suffering as unpleasant yet potentially enriching predicted better psychosocial adjustment and greater resilience. Among Jewish Israeli participants, an enriching view of suffering was further associated with better mental health, greater acknowledgment of Palestinian suffering, and stronger support for peaceful resolution.Together, these findings provide converging evidence that hypo-egoic processes—whether expressed through compassionate self-relating, epistemic humility, or common-humanity beliefs about suffering—promote resilience, prosocial concern, and intergroup goodwill. By identifying distinct yet conceptually unified pathways, this dissertation clarifies how reducing ego-investment may support adaptive functioning across intrapersonal and intergroup domains.