SELF-COMPASSION OF STUDENTS BASED ON SUNDANESE ETHNIC BACKGROUND

Indonesia, with its rich ethnic diversity, offers valuable insights into how compassion is understood and cultivated across cultures. Among its largest ethnic groups, the Sundanese uphold the philosophy of silih asah, silih asih, and silih asuh, which emphasizes mutual learning, compassion, and care. The concept of silih asih, in particular, aligns closely with Western notions of self-compassion as introduced by Kristin Neff, emphasizing sincere love for others that begins with kindness toward oneself. This study aims to explore the profile of self-compassion among Sundanese students through a culturally informed lens. A quantitative approach with a survey design was employed, using the Self-Compassion Scale adapted from Neff’s framework, which consists of 26 items. The sample consisted of 154 Sundanese university students (40 men and 114 women). Findings indicate that self-compassion among Sundanese students generally falls within the moderate range (75.97%), with male students at 72.50% and female students at 77.19%. These results reflect a meaningful intersection between traditional Sundanese values and contemporary psychological constructs of compassion. This research contributes to culturally grounded understandings of self-compassion and may inform the development of context-sensitive interventions in educational and counseling settings. Future studies should explore comparisons across ethnic groups and consider limitations such as the use of self-report measures and regional sample representation.