(Pommier 2010)

THE COMPASSION SCALE

by Elizabeth Ann Pommier, B.A., M.Ed.

Dissertation

The University of Texas at Austin December 2010

" Compassion Scale Items consisted of 80 remaining items after dropping 38 items based on the expert review. Participants were instructed to report how often they felt or acted in the stated manner on a scale from 1 “Almost Never” to 5 “Almost Always”. Examples of the items include “When I see someone fail, I think about how hard it must be for them.” (Kindness) “Other people’s problems aren’t really my concern.” (Indifference) “Everyone feels down sometimes, it is part of being human.”"

Scales Mentioned

• Compassion: Compassion Scale

  • " Compassion Scale Items consisted of 80 remaining items after dropping 38 items based on the expert review."

  • Social Desirability: Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale

  • "The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Short Form) (Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972) is a well known measure used to assess socially desirable responding. "

• Compassionate Love: The Compassionate Love Scale

  • " The Compassionate Love Scale (Sprecher & Fehr, 2005) has two versions including the close others version and the stranger-humanity version. In the close others version, respondents are asked questions about concern and caring for family members and friends."

• Social Connectedness: The Social Connectedness Scale (Lee & Robbins, 1995)

  • "The Social Connectedness Scale (Lee & Robbins, 1995) measures feelings of closeness between individuals and others including peers, strangers, friends, and people/ society in general."

  • Mindfulness: Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire

  • "The Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire is a 16-item measure that measures emotional response to distressing thoughts and images."

• Wisdom: Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale

  • "Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale is a three-dimensional scale measuring cognitive, reflective, and affective indicators of wisdom to reflect an Eastern perspective on the construct. "

• Empathy: Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1980)

  • "The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1980) is a 28-item scale that is commonly used as a measure of empathy. "

• Empathy: The Questionnaire Measure of Empathic Tendency (Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972)

  • "The Questionnaire Measure of Empathic Tendency (Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972) is another commonly used measure to assess empathy. However, it should be noted that although it has been taken as a measure of empathetic responding, it could also be suggested that it encompasses a variety of other factors."

• Empathy: The Empathic Concern Subscale of the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index

• Empathy: The Perspective Taking Subscale of the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index

• Empathy: Perspective Taking Subscale of the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index

• Self-Compassion: The Self-Compassion Scale (Neff, 2003a)

  • "The Self-Compassion Scale (Neff, 2003a) is a 26-item measure on a five-point scale from “Almost Never” to “Almost Always” with higher scores representing greater self-compassion. It includes six subscales that sum to an overall self-compassion score."

Scales

1. Compassionate Love Scale

   1. Close Others Version .54*

   2. Stranger-Humanity Version .27*

2. Social Connectedness Scale .41*

3. Ardelt 3-Dimensional Wisdom Scale Affective Subscale .56*

4. Ardelt 3-Dimensional Wisdom Scale Reflective Subscale .26*

5. Cognitive Subscale .39*

6. Empathy Scales

• 1. Davis IRI (Empathic Concern Subscale) .65*

  2. Davis IRI (Perspective Taking Subscale) .35*

  3. Mehrabian Questionnaire of Empathic Tendency .58*

7. Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire -.12