Development and initial testing of the Compassion Scale for Chinese (CSC)

Due to limited data and a lack of appropriate measures on compassion for the Chinese, our study was aimed at developing a Compassion Scale for Chinese (CSC) and examining its validity and reliability. We took the core of compassion in Chinese culture, kindness to suffering, into account in the development of the CSC. Total 540 Chinese participants were recruited for this study. Sample 1 (n = 331) was required to finish the preliminary scale of CSC. Sample 2 (n=209) was asked to complete a battery of questionnaires including the CSC, Self-Compassion Scale, Loving kindness-Compassion Scale, Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, and Undergraduates? Self-Compassion Questionnaire. Results of factor analyses suggested a 25-item compassion scale covers self and others, a four-factor correlated (sensitivity to others, kindness to self, kindness to others, and tolerance of uncomfortable feelings) and higher order model with a good fit in both the initial sample and the validation sample. Further, validity test and internal consistency test also showed a good level of validity and reliability. The CSC could benefit from further studies on individual well-being and compassion-related interventions in the Chinese context.