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An empirical examination of the factor structure of compassion.

ABSTRACT: Compassion has long been regarded as a core part of our humanity by contemplative traditions, and in recent years, it has received growing research interest. Following a recent review of existing conceptualisations, compassion has been defined as consisting of the following five elements: 1) recognising suffering, 2) understanding the universality of suffering in human experience, 3) feeling moved by the person suffering and emotionally connecting with their distress, 4) tolerating uncomfortable feelings aroused (e.g., fear, distress) so that we remain open to and accepting of the person suffering, and 5) acting or being motivated to act to alleviate suffering. As a prerequisite to developing a high quality compassion measure and furthering research in this field, the current study empirically investigated the factor structure of the five-element definition using a combination of existing and newly generated self-report items. This study consisted of three stages: a systematic consultation with experts to review items from existing self-report measures of compassion and generate additional items (Stage 1), exploratory factor analysis of items gathered from Stage 1 to identify the underlying structure of compassion (Stage 2), and confirmatory factor analysis to validate the identified factor structure (Stage 3). Findings showed preliminary empirical support for a five-factor structure of compassion consistent with the five-element definition. However, findings indicated that the 'tolerating' factor may be problematic and not a core aspect of compassion. This possibility requires further empirical testing. Limitations with items from included measures lead us to recommend against using these items collectively to assess compassion. Instead, we call for the development of a new self-report measure of compassion, using the five-element definition to guide item generation. We recommend including newly generated 'tolerating' items in the initial item pool, to determine whether or not factor-level issues are resolved once item-level issues are addressed.

SUBMITTER: Gu J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5315311 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An empirical examination of the factor structure of compassion.

Gu Jenny J Cavanagh Kate K Baer Ruth R Strauss Clara C

PloS one 20170217 2

Compassion has long been regarded as a core part of our humanity by contemplative traditions, and in recent years, it has received growing research interest. Following a recent review of existing conceptualisations, compassion has been defined as consisting of the following five elements: 1) recognising suffering, 2) understanding the universality of suffering in human experience, 3) feeling moved by the person suffering and emotionally connecting with their distress, 4) tolerating uncomfortable ...[more]

PMID: 28212391

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Project description:IntroductionSelf-compassion refers to a non-evaluative, interconnected and mindful attitude towards oneself especially when facing difficulties or feelings of personal inadequacies. The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) is a frequently used instrument designed to measure self-compassion either by using the six subscale scores, or by calculating a total score, averaged across all 26 items.PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale, and in particular, whether the widely used six-factor model and the unidimensional model can be confirmed.MethodsThe internal structure of the SCS was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Six different models (a one-factor model, an oblique six-factor model, a higher-order model, an oblique two-factor model, a bi-factor model with one general factor (bifactor model) and a bi-factor model with two general factors, i.e. two-bifactor model) were tested in a sample of adolescents (n = 1725; 50.3% female; mean age = 16.56, SD = 1.95). All models were replicated using responses collected five months after the first data collection from 1497 students (W2), who were largely, but not completely, the same students involved in W1 data collection.ResultsFit indices for the two-factor model implied an acceptable fit, but none of the remaining models tested met the criteria for an adequate solution. Although the fit indices for the six-factor model suggested an acceptable fit to the data, in this model the negative components of the SCS were highly correlated with each other, especially with the over-identification factor.ConclusionThe results of this study provide evidence to support the use of the separate self-compassion- and self-coldness -scores rather than the overall score of the SCS. Although the fit indices supported the six-factor model, the use of six subscale scores cannot be recommended on the basis of our results given the extremely high correlations within this model between some factors.

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An empirical examination of the factor structure of compassion.

Publications

An empirical examination of the factor structure of compassion.

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