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Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale (SCBCS)

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Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research

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Abstract

Compassion seems to be in very short supply in our deeply troubled world. Yet efforts have been underway to develop and nurture compassion for both self and others by researchers, clinicians, clerics, both private and public organizations and institutions, among others in recent years. A more compassionate world would be a better world for everyone. Research has also suggested that contemplative and meditative techniques, such as mindfulness, can increase compassion for self and for others as well. Interest in compassion means that quality assessment techniques must be readily available and accessible for researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and experts in many diverse fields. Measures need to be reliable, valid, and easy to use, score, and interpret. They also need to be affordable and ideally free to use. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale (SCBCS) published in 2008. An introduction to the scale, information about reliability, validity, and utility, and a brief summary of some of the global research conducted using the scale is provided.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Santa Clara University and Stanford University School of Medicine, Santa Clara, CA, USA

    Thomas G. Plante

Authors
  1. Thomas G. Plante
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas G. Plante .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Oleg N. Medvedev

  2. North Shore Campus, Auckland Univ of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Christian U. Krägeloh

  3. Dept of Psychology and Neuroscience, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Richard J. Siegert

  4. Augusta University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Nirbhay N. Singh

Appendix

Appendix

Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale (SCBCS).

Please answer the following questions honestly and quickly using the scale below.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

not at all true of me very true of me

_____ 1. When I hear about someone (a stranger) going through a difficult time, I feel a great deal of compassion for him or her.

_____ 2. I tend to feel compassion for people, even though I do not know them.

_____ 3. One of the activities that provides me with the most meaning to my life is helping others in the world when they need help.

_____ 4. I would rather engage in actions that help others, even though they are strangers, than engage in actions that would help me.

_____ 5. I often have tender feelings toward people (strangers) when they seem to be in need.

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Plante, T.G. (2022). Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale (SCBCS). In: Medvedev, O.N., Krägeloh, C.U., Siegert, R.J., Singh, N.N. (eds) Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77644-2_54-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77644-2_54-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-77644-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-77644-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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