Measuring Self-Compassion

Kristin Neff, PhD

University of Texas at Austin
What is Self-Compassion?
Conceptualization primarily
drawn from Buddhism
 The three components of
self-compassion (Neff, 2003)
 Self-Kindness vs. Self-Judgment:
ØØ Treating self with care and understanding
rather than harsh judgment
ØØ Actively soothing and comforting oneself
 Common humanity vs. Isolation

ØØ  Seeing own experience as part of

larger human experience not isolating or
abnormal
ØØ  Recognizing that life is imperfect (us
too!)
 Mindfulness vs. Over-identification

ØØ Avoiding extremes of suppressing or running

away with painful feelings
ØØ Allows us to “be” with painful feelings as they
are
 The Self-Compassion Scale (Neff, 2003)
26 items
Self-Kindness Subscale: I try to be understanding and patient
toward those aspects of my personality I don't like.
Self-Judgment Subscale: I ’m disapproving and
judgmental about my own flaws and inadequacies.
Common Humanity Subscale: I try to see my failings as
part of the human condition.
Isolation Subscale : When I fail at something that's
important to me, I tend to feel alone in my failure.
Mindfulness Subscale: When I'm feeling down I try to
approach my feelings with curiosity and openness.
Over-identified Subscale: When something upsets me I get
carried away with my feelings.
 The Self-Compassion Scale

Self-Compassion

SK SJ CH I M OI

Single higher-order factor (CFA)

explains inter-correlation between subscales
CFI =.91; NNFI = .88
 The Self-Compassion Scale

Internal Consistency Reliability: α = .92

Test-Retest Reliability: α = .93

Convergent Validity:
•  Therapist Reports (one session): r = .32
•  Partner Reports: r = .70
 • 

•
 
•
 
S passion Scale
h (Raes, Pommier & Neff, 2010)
or 12 items
t
S
Correlates r = .98 with long
elf
- scale Internal consistency α = .
C86 Subscales not as reliable
o
m
 Populations studied using the
Self-Compassion Scale
Ages 14 – 83

United States, Canada, United Kingdom,

Belgium, Netherlands, Thailand, Taiwan, China,
Korea, Turkey, Germany, Norway, Iran
Self-compassion linked to well-being

Correlated with Less:

Anxiety, depression, stress, substance use,
perfectionism, body shame, fear of failure

Correlated with More:

Life satisfaction, happiness, coping skills,
motivation, responsibility, health behaviors
Research on self-compassion also
being done with other methods
 Behavioral ratings

Divorce Study (Sbarra et al. 2012)

•  Observers rated 5-minute stream of
consciousness video using Short-SCS
•  High inter-rater reliability (.77)
•  Self-compassion significantly predicted
adjustment to divorce 9 months later
 Mood inductions

Improvement motivation – series of 4 studies

(Breines et al. 2012)
•  Asked to think about mistake or failure
•  Writing task induced self-compassionate mood
•  Task significantly increased motivation compared
to controls
“Please write a paragraph to yourself expressing
kindness and understanding regarding the event
you described above.”
 Short Term Interventions

Depression study (Shapira & Mongrain, 2010)

•  Wrote a one-paragraph compassionate letter
to themselves each day for seven days
•  Significantly reduced depression (3 mo.) and
increased happiness (6 mo.) compared to controls
“To start writing your own letter, try to feel that part of
you that can be kind and understanding of others.
Think about what you would say to a friend in your
position, or what a friend would say to you in this
situation…”
 Long Term Interventions

Mindful Self-Compassion Program

Chris Germer & Kristin Neff

•  Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial (Neff &

Germer, 2012)
•  8-week program, 2.5 hours a week
•  Uses meditation, informal practices, experiential
exercises, interpersonal dialogues, homework
 Percent increase in self--compassion,
mindfulness, and compassion

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Journal articles and dissertations examining
self-compassion (using Google Scholar)
80

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60

50

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011/2