Abstract
This commentary addresses Muris and Otgaar’s (2020) paper titled “The Process of Science: A Critical Evaluation of More than 15 Years of Research on Self-Compassion with the Self-Compassion Scale.” The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) is a multidimensional scale measuring self-compassion that includes subscales representing increased compassionate self-responding (CS)—self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness—and reduced uncompassionate self-responding (UCS)—self-judgment, isolation, and overidentification. Muris and Otgaar have proposed that a total SCS score should not be used because CS and UCS are separate and unrelated constructs. I propose that CS and UCS are distinct but related and that a total SCS score can validly be used. More than just asserting their viewpoint, however, Muris and Otgaar (2020) have made ad hominem attacks on any researchers who disagree with them as unscientific, irrational, or unethical. They claimed their position was irrefutable and that continued use of a total SCS score by researchers was evidence of bias. Although they acknowledged the need for empirical data confirming or disconfirming hypotheses generated by the different positions, they offered no confirmable hypotheses of their own and simply assumed the evidence supports their position. I lay out a series of ten hypotheses based on each position to test which is correct. The empirical evidence confirms the position that CS and UCS are related and that a total SCS score can be used, while disconfirming the position that CS and UCS are unrelated and that a total SCS score cannot be used.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J., & Toney, L. (2006). Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13(1), 27–45.
Boateng, G. O., Neilands, T. B., Frongillo, E. A., Melgar-Quiñonez, H. R., & Young, S. L. (2018). Best practices for developing and validating scales for health, social, and behavioral research: A primer. Frontiers in Public Health, 6(149). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149.
Brenner, R. E., Heath, P. J., Vogel, D. L., & Credé, M. (2017). Two is more valid than one: Examining the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(6), 696–707.
Brenner, R. E., Vogel, D. L., Lannin, D. G., Engel, K. E., Seidman, A. J., & Heath, P. J. (2018). Do self-compassion and self-coldness distinctly relate to distress and well-being? A theoretical model of self-relating. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(3), 346–357.
Cleare, S., Gumley, A., Cleare, C. J., & O’Conner, J. C. (2018). An investigation of the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale. Mindfulness, 9(2), 618–628.
Coroiu, A., Kwakkenbos, L., Moran, C., Thombs, B., Albani, C., Bourkas, S., Zenger, M., Brahler, E., & Korner, A. (2018). Structural validation of the Self-Compassion Scale with a German general population sample. PLoS One, 13(2), e0190771.
Costa Jr., P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). NEO-PI-R Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Costa, J., Marôco, J., Pinto-Gouveia, J., Ferreira, C., & Castilho, P. (2016). Validation of the psychometric properties of the Self-Compassion Scale. Testing the factorial validity and factorial invariance of the measure among borderline personality disorder, anxiety disorder, eating disorder and general populations. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 23, 460–468.
Ferrari, M., Hunt, C., Harrysunker, A., Abbott, M. J., Beath, A. P., & Einstein, D. A. (2019). Self-compassion interventions and psychosocial outcomes: A meta-analysis of RCTs. Mindfulness, 10, 1455–1473.
Gilbert, P. (2000). Social mentalities: internal ‘social’ conflict and the role of inner warmth and compassion in cognitive therapy. In P. Gilbert & K. G. Bailey (Eds.), Genes on the couch: Exploration in evolutionary psychotherapy (pp. 118–150). Hove: Psychology Press.
Gilbert, P. (2005). Compassion: Conceptualizations, Research, and Use in Psychotherapy. London: Routledge.
Gilbert, P. (2009). Introducing compassion-focused therapy. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 15(3), 199–208.
Gilbert, P. (2014). The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53(1), 6–41.
Gilbert, P., McEwan, K., Matos, M., & Rivis, A. (2011). Fears of compassion: Development of three self-report measures. Psychology and Psychotherapy, 84, 239–255.
Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26(1), 41–54.
Halamová, J., Kanovský, M., Petrocchi, N., Moreira, H., López Angarita, A. et al. (2020). The factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale in eleven distinct populations across the world. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. Advance online publication. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2020.1735203
Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K., & Wilson, K. G. (1999). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Understanding and treating human suffering. New York: Guilford.
Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J., Sawyer, A. T., & Fang, A. (2012). The efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36(5), 427–440.
Kim, J. J., Parker, S. L., Doty, J. R., Cunnington, R., Gilbert, P., & Kirby, J. N. (2020). Neurophysiological and behavioural markers of compassion. Scientific Reports, 10:6789. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63846-3.
Körner, A., Coroiu, A., Copeland, L., Gomez-Garibello, C., Albani, C., Zenger, M., & Brähler, E. (2015). The role of self-compassion in buffering symptoms of depression in the general population. PLoS One, 10(10), e0136598.
Leary, M. R., Tate, E. B., Adams, C. E., Batts Allen, A., & Hancock, J. (2007). Self-compassion and reactions to unpleasant self-relevant events: The implications of treating oneself kindly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(5), 887–904.
Longe, O., Maratos, F. A., Gilbert, P., Evans, G., Volker, F., Rockliff, H., et al. (2009). Having a word with yourself: Neural correlates of self-criticism and self-reassurance. Neuroimage, 49, 1849–1856.
López, A., Sanderman, R., Smink, A., Zhang, Y., van Sonderen, E., Ranchor, A., & Schroevers, M. J. (2015). A reconsideration of the Self-Compassion Scale’s total score: Self-compassion versus self-criticism. PLoS One, 10(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0132940.
Lovibond, P. F., & Lovibond, S. H. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 335–343.
Morin, A. J. S., Arens, A. K., & Marsh, H. W. (2016). A bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling framework for the identification of distinct sources of construct-relevant psychometric multidimensionality. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 23(1), 116–139.
Muris, P. (2016). A protective factor against mental health problems in youths? A critical note on the assessment of self-compassion. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 1461–1465. http://self-compassion.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mosewich_intervention.pdf.
Muris, P., & Otgaar, H. (2020). The process of science: A critical evaluation of more than 15 years of research on self-compassion with the Self-Compassion Scale. Mindfulness, 11(6), 1469-1482. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01363-0.
Muris, P., & Petrocchi, N. (2017). Protection or vulnerability? A meta-analysis of the relations between the positive and negative components of self-compassion and psychopathology. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 24(2), 373–383.
Muris, P., Otgaar, H., & Petrocchi, N. (2016). Protection as the mirror image of psychopathology: Further critical notes on the self-compassion scale. Mindfulness, 7(3), 787–790.
Muris, P., van den Broek, M., Otgaar, H., Oudenhoven, I., & Lennartz, J. (2018). Good and bad sides of self-compassion: A face validity check of the self-compassion scale and an investigation of its relations to coping and emotional symptoms in non-clinical adolescents. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(8), 2411–2421.
Muris, P., Otgaar, H., Meesters, C., Heutz, A., & Van den Hombergh, M. (2019a). Self-compassion and adolescents’ positive and negative reactions to daily life problems. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28, 1433–1444.
Muris, P., Otgaar, H., & Pfattheicher, S. (2019b). Stripping the forest from the rotten trees: Compassionate self-responding is a way of coping, but reduced uncompassionate self-responding mainly reflects psychopathology. Mindfulness, 10(1), 196–199.
Neff, K. D. (2003a). Development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2, 223–250.
Neff, K. D. (2003b). Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity, 2, 85–102.
Neff, K. D. (2016a). The Self-Compassion Scale is a valid and theoretically coherent measure of self-compassion. Mindfulness, 7(1), 264–274.
Neff, K. D. (2016b). Does self-compassion entail reduced self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification? A response to Muris, Otgaar, and Petrocchi (2016). Mindfulness, 7(3), 791–797.
Neff, K. D. (2019). Setting the record straight about the Self-Compassion Scale. Mindfulness, 10, 200–202.
Neff, K., & Germer, C. (2013). A pilot study and randomized controlled trial of the mindful self-compassion program. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(1), 28–44.
Neff, K. D., & Tóth-Király, I. (2020). Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). In O. N. Medvedev, C. U. Krägeloh, R. J. Siegert, & N. N. Singh (Eds.), Handbook of assessment in mindfulness. New York: Springer. In press.
Neff, K. D., Whittaker, T., & Karl, A. (2017). Evaluating the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale in four distinct populations: Is the use of a total self-compassion score justified? Journal of Personality Assessment, 99, 596–607.
Neff, K. D., Long, P., Knox, M., Davidson, O., Kuchar, A., Costigan, A., Williamson, Z., Rohleder, N., Tóth-Király, I., & Breines, J. (2018a). The forest and the trees: Examining the association of self-compassion and its positive and negative components with psychological functioning. Self and Identity, 17(6), 627–645.
Neff, K. D., Tóth-Király, I., & Colosimo, K. (2018b). Self-compassion is best measured as a global construct and is overlapping with but distinct from neuroticism: A response to Pfattheicher, Geiger, Hartung, Weiss, and Schindler (2017). European Journal of Personality, 32(4), 371–392.
Neff, K. D., Tóth-Király, I., Yarnell, L., Arimitsu, K., Castilho, P., Ghorbani, N., Guo, H. X., Hirsch, J., Hupfeld, J., Hutz, C., Kotsou, I., Lee, W. K., Montero-Marin, J., Sirois, F., de Souza, L., Svendsen, J., Wilkinson, R., & Mantios, M. (2019). Examining the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale using exploratory SEM bifactor analysis in 20 diverse samples: Support for use of a total score and six subscale scores. Psychological Assessment, 31(1), 27–45.
Neff, K. D., Bluth, K., Tóth-Király, I., Davidson, O., Knox, M. C., Williamson, Z., & Costigan, A. (2020a). Development and validation of the Self-Compassion Scale for Youth. Journal of Personality Assessment Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2020.1729774.
Neff, K. D., Tóth-Király, I., Knox, M., Kuchar, A. & Davidson, O. (2020b). Examining self-compassion experimentally: The development and validation of a state self-compassion scale and mindstate induction. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Oppenheimer, D. M., Meyvis, T., & Davidenko, N. (2009). Instructional manipulation checks: Detecting satisficing to increase statistical power. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), 867–872.
Parrish, M. H., Inagaki, T. K., Muscatell, K. A., Haltom, K. E., Leary, M. R., & Eisenberger, N. I. (2018). Self-compassion and responses to negative social feedback: The role of fronto-amygdala circuit connectivity. Self and Identity, 17(6), 723–738.
Pfattheicher, G., Hartung, W., & Schindler, S. (2017). Old wine in new bottles? The case of self-compassion and neuroticism. European Journal of Personality, 31(2), 160–169.
Phillips, W. J. (2019). Self-compassion mindsets: The components of the Self-Compassion Scale operate as a balanced system within individuals. Current Psychology Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00452-1.
Pommier, E., Neff, K. D., & Tóth-Király, I. (2020). The development and validation of the Compassion Scale. Assessment, 127(1), 21–39.
Popper, K. R. (1963). Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. London: Routledge.
Svendsen, J. L., Osnes, B., Binder, P. E., Dundas, I., Visted, E., Nordby, H., et al. (2016). Trait self-compassion reflects emotional flexibility through an association with high vagally mediated heart rate variability. Mindfulness, 7(5), 1103–1113.
Tóth-Király, I., & Neff, K. D. (2020). Is self-compassion universal? Support for the measurement invariance of the Self-Compassion Scale across populations. Assessment. In press.
Ullrich-French, S., & Cox, A. E. (2020). The use of latent profiles to explore the multi-dimensionality of self-compassion. Mindfulness, 11(6), 1483-1499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01365-y.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The author declares that she has no conflict of interest
Ethical Approval
The manuscript does not involve human or animal participants.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Neff, K.D. Commentary on Muris and Otgaar (2020): Let the Empirical Evidence Speak on the Self-Compassion Scale. Mindfulness 11, 1900–1909 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01411-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01411-9