This study examined the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) using secondary data drawn from 20 samples (N = 11,685)-7 English and 13 non-English-including 10 community, 6 student, 1 mixed community/student, 1 meditator, and 2 clinical samples. Self-compassion is theorized to represent a system with 6 constituent components: self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness and reduced self-judgment, isolation and overidentification. There has been controversy as to whether a total score on the SCS or if separate scores representing compassionate versus uncompassionate self-responding should be used. The current study examined the factor structure of the SCS using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) to examine 5 distinct models: 1-factor, 2-factor correlated, 6-factor correlated, single-bifactor (1 general self-compassion factor and 6 group factors), and 2-bifactor models (2 correlated general factors each with 3 group factors representing compassionate or uncompassionate self-responding). Results indicated that a 1- and 2-factor solution to the SCS had inadequate fit in every sample examined using both CFA and ESEM, whereas fit was excellent using ESEM for the 6-factor correlated, single-bifactor and correlated 2-bifactor models. However, factor loadings for the correlated 2-bifactor models indicated that 2 separate factors were not well specified. A general factor explained 95% of the reliable item variance in the single-bifactor model. Results support use of the SCS to examine 6 subscale scores (representing the constituent components of self-compassion) or a total score (representing overall self-compassion), but not separate scores representing compassionate and uncompassionate self-responding. (PsycINFO Database Record

The authors used Iranian (N = 723) and American (N = 900) samples to develop an Integrative Self-Knowledge Scale for measuring a temporally integrated understanding of processes within the self. They administered this new instrument, the Mindfulness Scale (K. W. Brown & R. M. Ryan, 2003), the Reflective and Experiential Self-Knowledge Scales (N. Ghorbani, M. N. Bing, P. J. Watson, H. R. Davison, & D. L. Lebreton, 2003), and additional sample-specific measures to 3 separate groups of university students in each society. The Integrative Self-Knowledge Scale displayed internal reliability and measurement equivalence, along with convergent, criterion, discriminant, and incremental validity. This new instrument may be useful in promoting cross-cultural research in positive psychology.

No abstract

This study employed the Trait Meta‐Mood Scale (TMMS) to assess self‐reported emotional intelligence cross‐culturally as an input (attention to emotions), process (clarity of emotions), and output (repair of emotions) information‐processing system. Iranian (N = 231) and American (N = 220) university students responded to the TMMS along with measures of alexithymia, public and private self‐consciousness, depression, anxiety, self‐esteem, and perceived stress. Negative correlations with alexithymia and expected linkages with all other variables documented the validity of the TMMS in both cultures. Most of the other measures correlated similarly in the two samples. However, private and public self‐consciousness displayed a stronger positive association in Iran. These two scales were also more predictive of adjustment in Iran and of maladjustment in the United States. This difference perhaps reflected a poorer integration of the two dimensions of self‐consciousness within a presumably more individualistic American society. Confirmatory factor analyses and measurement invariance procedures revealed cross‐cultural similarities in the fit of an a priori higher‐order factor structure to the obtained data, but subsequent structural equation modelling techniques uncovered cross‐cultural dissimilarities in the actual processing of emotional information. Specifically, the higher‐order factors of emotional intelligence were similar, but the interrelationships among those higher‐order factors were not. As expected, Iranians displayed positive relationships among the input, processing, and output activities of the information‐processing model. For the Americans, however, greater input was associated with diminished processing and output. This unanticipated relative contrast seemed congruent with speculation that the historical American emphasis on the self and individualism promotes positive, optimistic thinking. Overall, these data most importantly suggested that subtle cultural differences might exist in the processing of emotional information.

No abstract