Cross-cultural comparison of compassion: An in-depth analysis of cultural differences in compassion using the Compassion of Others’ Lives (COOL) Scale.

Chang, Jyh-Hann; Detrick, Sarah M.; Maas, Zoë; Coskun, Halise; Klos, Carolina; Zeifert, Heather; Parmer, Edward; Sule, Julia

doi:10.1037/hum0000167

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Along these lines, the factor labelled “Distress from witnessing the care recipient suffering” corresponds to the first component related to the perceptions and acknowledgment of suffering in the other individual, whereas the factor “Motivation/disposition for helping” corresponds to the motivational component related to the evoked desire to help the individual who is suffering. Moreover, the two obtained factors are also coherent with the subscales of the Compassion of Others’ Lives Scale (COOL; Chang et al., 2014) aimed at assessing compassion in general samples and whose factorial structure has been validated in different socio‐cultural contexts (Chang et al., 2020). Although the first CCS factor corresponds to the “empathy” COOL subscale, which contains items assessing the ability to acknowledge suffering in others and being able to put themselves in their position, the Motivation/disposition for helping factor could correspond to the COOL factor “alleviate suffering”, which contain items regarding the efforts of the person aimed at helping others.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Compassion in dementia caregiving: Psychometric properties of the Caregiving Compassion Scale in Spanish caregivers

Gallego-Alberto

Romero‐Moreno

Márquez‐González

et al. 2021

Health Social Care Comm

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Compassion has been suggested as a relevant variable for understanding dementia caregivers' psychological distress. The objectives were to analyse the psychometric properties of the Caregiving Compassion Scale (CCS) and to explore the association between caregivers' compassion and their emotional health. Two hundred and thirtysix dementia caregivers were evaluated for compassion, depressive symptoms, guilt, ambivalence, care-recipient's functional and cognitive status, frequency of behavioural problems and desire to institutionalise the care-recipient. Exploratory factor analyses, correlations and regression analyses were done. Two factors were obtained.The factor labelled "Distress from witnessing the care recipient suffering" was associated with higher stress linked to witness depressive problems in the care-recipient and with caregivers' ambivalence and guilt levels. The factor labelled "Motivation/ disposition for helping" was associated with less desire for institutionalisation, and it showed a negative association with ambivalence and guilt feelings. The CCS seems to be a valid and reliable scale for assessing compassion in dementia caregivers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Compassion in dementia caregiving: Psychometric properties of the Caregiving Compassion Scale in Spanish caregivers

Gallego-Alberto

Romero‐Moreno

Márquez‐González

et al. 2021

Health Social Care Comm

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“…Four (4.9%) studies were conducted entirely in India ( Choudhary and Madnawat, 2017a , b ; Singh et al, 2018 ; Prabha and Mittal, 2019 ), two (2.4%) each in Israel ( Eldor, 2018 ; Prabha and Mittal, 2019 ) and Chile ( Brito-Pons et al, 2018 ), and one (1.2%) each in Malaysia ( Owuamalam and Matos, 2019 ) and South Korea ( Moon et al, 2014 ). Eleven (13.4%) additional studies used data from multiple countries, including countries in Western Europe and North America, Israel, Turkey, nine countries in South America ( Chang et al, 2021 ), and Ethiopia, China, and Japan ( Howick et al, 2017 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Patterns for specific countries were inconsistent and inconclusive. Chang et al reported empathy being higher in subjects from South America than Turkey, although scores for alleviating suffering were highest in Turkey and lowest in South America ( Chang et al, 2021 ). Gilbert et al (2017) found that compassion for others was higher in Portugal than in the United States or the United Kingdom.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiology of compassion: A literature review

et al. 2022

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Psychology and neuroscience have contributed significantly to advances in understanding compassion. In contrast, little attention has been given to the epidemiology of compassion. The human experience of compassion is heterogeneous with respect to time, place, and person. Therefore, compassion has an epidemiology, although little is known about the factors that account for spatial or temporal clustering of compassion or how these factors might be harnessed to promote and realize a more compassionate world. We reviewed the scientific literature to describe what is known about “risk factors” for compassion towards others. Studies were included if they used quantitative methods, treated compassion as an outcome, and used measures of compassion that included elements of empathy and action to alleviate suffering. Eighty-two studies met the inclusion criteria; 89 potential risk factors were tested 418 times for association with compassion. Significant associations with compassion were found for individual demographic factors (e.g., gender, religious faith); personal characteristics (e.g., emotional intelligence, perspective-taking, secure attachment); personal experience (e.g., previous adversity); behaviors (e.g., church attendance); circumstantial factors during the compassion encounter (e.g., perceptions of suffering severity, relational proximity of the compassion-giver and -receiver, emotional state of the compassion-giver); and organizational features. Few studies explored the capacity to receive, rather than give, compassion. Definitions and measures of compassion varied widely across disciplines; 87% of studies used self-report measures and 39% used a cross-sectional design. Ten randomized clinical trials documented the effectiveness of compassion training. From an epidemiologic perspective, most studies treated compassion as an individual host factor rather than as transmissible or influenced by time or the environment. The causal pathways leading from suffering to a compassionate response appear to be non-linear and complex. A variety of factors (acting as effect modifiers) appear to be permissive of—or essential for—the arising of compassion in certain settings or specific populations. Future epidemiologic research on compassion should take into account contextual and environmental factors and should elucidate compassion-related dynamics within organizations and human systems. Such research should be informed by a range of epidemiologic tools and methods, as well as insights from other scientific disciplines and spiritual and religious traditions.

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“…Turkey is one of the transcontinental countries between Asia and Europe, unifying the Western education system and Anatolian tradition together. Thus, studying compassion within Turkish culture can provide new insights and constructs ( Chang et al, 2021 ). Compassion has also been evaluated from different perspectives such as the evolutionary and social psychology and the spiritual traditions of Buddhism, and Sufism ( Gilbert, 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The acquaintance of the Western world with the old Eastern construct “compassion” has continued with abundant research emphasizing its role in wellbeing and its positive effects on mental health, with the inclusion thereof with therapies or intervention programmes ( Barnard and Curry, 2011 ; Özyeşil and Akbağ, 2013 ; Chang et al, 2021 ). Gilbert (2017 , p. 73) defined compassion as a basic algorithm of ‘ sensitivity to suffering in self and others with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it .’ Hence first we need to pay attention to and engage with suffering and then second, we need to work out how to be helpful.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales for Self and Others: Turkish Adaptation, Validity, and Reliability Study

et al. 2022

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AimThis study aims to translate the Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales (CEAS) into Turkish and to test their subsequent validity, reliability, and psychometric properties. Turkey is one of the blended cultures with eastern and western elements under the influence of traditional religion. This cultural diversity brings about a rich context to study compassion and its relationship to mental health. The scales assess the ability to be sensitive to suffering and engage and then take helpful actions in compassion. The motivation for compassionate engagement and action is measured at three ‘flows’ as follows: (1) compassion for others; (2) compassion from others; and (3) compassion for self.MethodsThe sample consists of 525 college students aged 18 years or older. The participants completed the CEAS Turkish Form for Others, Self and from Others, Self-Compassion Scale Short Form, Compassionate Love Scale, and Self-Criticism Scale.ResultsThe confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using AMOS version 27 to examine the validity of the three scales with two different factor structures each. All the three models show good fits to the data. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the CEAS for Others and for Self and from Others are good to excellent (between 0.70 and 0.95 for all subscales). Compassion for self, compassion for others, and compassion from others correlated modestly.ConclusionIt can be concluded that the Turkish version of the Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales for Others and Self and from Others has sufficient psychometric properties and can be used as a reliable and valid measure to assess compassionate engagement and action.

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Cross-cultural comparison of compassion: An in-depth analysis of cultural differences in compassion using the Compassion of Others’ Lives (COOL) Scale.

Abstract: The results from the Turkish participants were higher for alleviating suffering behavior than those from Latin America. Reasons behind these differences will be discussed.

Cited by 6 publications

References 40 publications

Compassion in dementia caregiving: Psychometric properties of the Caregiving Compassion Scale in Spanish caregivers

Compassion in dementia caregiving: Psychometric properties of the Caregiving Compassion Scale in Spanish caregivers

Epidemiology of compassion: A literature review

The Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales for Self and Others: Turkish Adaptation, Validity, and Reliability Study

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