Relationships Between Mentalization Aspects and Subcomponents of Compassion for Others in a Female Group

Introduction: Mentalization and compassion for others are defined and studied in many ways in psychology. Essential for intra- and inter-personal functioning and critical of psychotherapy, however, they have not been studied together in a broad way. Research Aim: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between mentalization and compassion for others in a female group (n = 101). Research Method: The links between mentalization and compassion for others were measured via self-report using the Polish versions of the Mentalization Scale (MentS) by Jańczak and the CS-R-PL scale by Fopka-Kowalczyk et al. Results: Mentalization and compassion for others were positively correlated. The strongest relationship was found between mentalizing others and motivation to mentalize and kindness and mindfulness towards others. Lowered indifference, another component of compassion, correlated less with these two aspects of mentalization. The subcomponent of common humanity correlated only with the motivation to mentalize. The relationship between the aspect of self-mentalizing was insignificant in all the components of compassion for others. Conclusion: The study found that the greater the mentalization of others and the motivation to mentalize, the stronger the compassion for others. It is these two aspects of mentalizing that are primarily related to the affective and cognitive potential of compassion for others – kindness and mindfulness. This way of functioning is socially desirable because it can protect against automatic compassion for others without differentiating people’s intentions.