Description

The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-26) is a psychometric instrument developed in 2003 to assess self-compassion, that is, the way individuals relate to themselves when facing difficulties, failures, personal shortcomings, or emotional distress.

Self-compassion is approached as a psychological attitude characterized by understanding, acceptance, and balanced emotional awareness toward oneself, rather than excessive self-criticism or feelings of isolation.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the SCS-26 is to provide a quantitative assessment of self-compassion. According to the source material, self-compassion is considered important for psychological health and is related to self-esteem and the way people respond to difficult personal experiences.

The scale can therefore support the examination of individual differences in self-acceptance, self-criticism, and emotional responses during periods of difficulty.

Structure and Dimensions

The SCS-26 consists of 26 items and assesses self-compassion through six related dimensions. The three positive dimensions are Self-Kindness, Common Humanity, and Mindfulness.

The three corresponding negative dimensions are Self-Judgment, Isolation, and Over-Identification. Together, these dimensions reflect different ways in which individuals respond to themselves during difficult or stressful experiences.

Research and Clinical Applications

The SCS-26 can be used in research examining mental health, psychological well-being, self-esteem, self-criticism, mindfulness, and adjustment to stressful situations.

It may also be used in clinical and counseling contexts to assess changes in self-compassion over time or following psychological and educational interventions. However, scores should not be interpreted in isolation as a clinical diagnosis.

Scoring

The 26 items are rated on a five-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (“Almost Never”) to 5 (“Almost Always”), depending on how frequently each behavior or attitude is experienced.

The scale can be used to derive overall and component scores reflecting both positive and negative aspects of self-compassion. The source material indicates that higher levels of self-compassion are associated with greater psychological well-being.

Validity and Reliability

The scale has been adapted and evaluated in Greek populations. The source material refers to the work of Mantzios, Wilson, and Giannou (2014), as well as Karakasidou, Pezirkianidis, Galanakis, and Stalikas (2017).

Good internal consistency is reported for both the positive and negative components, with Cronbach’s α = 0.86 in each case.

References

Neff, K. D. (2003). Development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion.

Mantzios, M., Wilson, J. C., & Giannou, K. (2014). Greek adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Self-Compassion Scale.

Karakasidou, E., Pezirkianidis, C., Galanakis, M., & Stalikas, A. (2017). Greek translation, adaptation, and evaluation of the Self-Compassion Scale.