title: The development and evaluation of a compassion scale.
abstract: Compassion is the capacity for being moved by suffering of others and wanting to help alleviate it. Compassion may mediate health benefits and hazards of social networks/relationships. The monitoring/management of level of compassion across social networks/relationships may be critical to health benefits' preservation and social networks/relationships' health hazards prevention. We developed and evaluated the psychometric properties of 10-item self-report measure of compassion among 310 respondents from the University and surrounding communities. The mean total score was 3.62 (SD=1.09). The item-to-total correlations ranged from 0.50-0.71. The mean inter-item correlation was 0.33. The internal consistency was 0.82. The scale correlated well with Sprecher and Fehr's Compassionate Love Scale (r=0.66; p=.000). Two factors measuring same construct explained 57% of sample variance. The scale is user-friendly, easy to score, and characterized by good psychometric properties. It can be used to foster understanding of the impact of compassion on disease and outcomes across social networks/relationships.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Martins
authors: Nichole A
authors: NA
authors: Nicholas
authors: Magda
authors: M
authors: Shaheen
authors: Loretta
authors: L
authors: Jones
authors: Keith
authors: K
authors: Norris
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D004645:Empathy; D005180:Faculty, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult
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