Compassion for Oneself and Others Protects the Mental Health of First Responders

The compassionate love for humanity scale (CLS-H-SF): psychometric properties of the Persian version

“…In this tradition, compassion is understood to be “ compassionate love ” or “ loving-kindness ”, and its purpose is to alleviate the suffering of others [ 12 – 14 ]. Consistent with Buddhism concepts, self-compassion means the compassion for others [ 15 ]; however, it should note that the compassionate love is the more comprehensive construct. As such, although compassionate love associates with empathy, compassionate love distinguishes from empathy.…”

“…Compassionate love is a tendency towards others (i.e., acquaintances, or strangers, or humanity as a whole), especially when they are suffering or in need [ 16 ]. As defined by McDonald et al [ 15 ], compassionate love is a long-term characteristic that includes empathetic feelings as well as patterns of action toward other people. However, Farsi-speaking practitioners and researchers are more likely to have encountered compassion, as it is understood in the Islamic tradition.…”

“…Compassion for others, then, has been defined as “ a feeling of concern and a desire to help when exposed to others’ suffering ” [ 15 ], however, the construct has been conceptualized in a variety of ways [ 5 ]. Researchers adhering to the Buddhist view of compassion have opted to measure a slightly broader construct than that defined by McDonald et al [ 15 ].…”

“…Compassion for others, then, has been defined as “ a feeling of concern and a desire to help when exposed to others’ suffering ” [ 15 ], however, the construct has been conceptualized in a variety of ways [ 5 ]. Researchers adhering to the Buddhist view of compassion have opted to measure a slightly broader construct than that defined by McDonald et al [ 15 ]. Other researchers have focused on the altruistic aspect of compassion, conceptualizing compassion as a more enduring, trait-like variable than might be suggested by McDonald et al’s definition.…”

“…In fact, some researchers have been keen to distinguish between compassion and empathy, especially given that these constructs can lead to different mental health outcomes [ 5 ]. This is because simply sharing negative emotions has been shown to have negative psychological consequences when individuals are not offered support to process these emotions [ 15 ]. Nevertheless, empathy has been shown to be an important component of compassion as a construct [ 18 ].…”