Fears of Scales Measuring Compassion

Abstract

The Fears of Compassion Scales (FOCS) were developed by Gilbert and colleagues as a sophisticated self-report measure designed to assess psychological resistance and apprehension related to the experience and expression of compassion. The instrument is structured into three distinct subscales, reflecting the directional flow of care: Fear of compassion for self, Fear of compassion from others, and Fear of compassion for others. Item generation was informed by extensive clinical discussions and established psychological frameworks, including the attachment literature. The final scale employs a five-point Likert scale and demonstrated robust internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.76 to 0.92 across student and therapist samples, confirming its utility as a reliable psychometric tool.

Keywords

Fear of Compassion, Self-Compassion, Self-Criticism, Attachment, Psychometrics, Gilbert, Self-report measure, Compassion

Authors

Gilbert, P., McEwan, K., Matos, M., Rivis, A.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the FOCS is to systematically identify and quantify the specific psychological barriers that individuals experience regarding the internal and external dynamics of compassion. This scale recognizes that while compassion is generally viewed positively, many people harbor anxieties, fears, or resistance towards its expression or acceptance, which can impede therapeutic progress and well-being.

By segmenting the construct into three factors (self, others, and from others), the FOCS provides clinicians and researchers with granular insight into where an individual’s resistance lies. This tool is instrumental in guiding interventions, particularly within approaches such as Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), where addressing these fears is a prerequisite for fostering genuine self-kindness and secure attachment. The original PDF of the scale can be downloaded here: http://www.compassionatemind.co.uk/downloads/scales/Fear_of_Compassion_Scale.pdf.

Construct

The FOCS measures the overarching psychological construct of Fear of Compassion, defined as defensive or avoidance mechanisms activated by the potential vulnerability or perceived negative consequences associated with receiving, giving, or self-administering kindness. The instrument operationalizes this construct across three dimensions:

1. Fear of Compassion for Others: Concerns that expressing kindness or forgiveness makes one vulnerable to exploitation, fosters dependency in others, or undermines necessary discipline and justice.
2. Fear of Compassion from Others: Apprehension regarding receiving kindness, often rooted in suspicion of others’ motives, fear of dependency, anxiety about intimacy, or the feeling that kindness is undeserved or embarrassing.
3. Fear of Compassion for Self: Resistance to self-kindness, driven by the fear that it will lead to weakness, a drop in personal standards, loss of self-criticism, or being overwhelmed by painful emotions like grief or loss.

Validity

The development of the FOCS prioritized content and face validity through a structured item selection process. Initial item generation was heavily influenced by clinical insights derived from patient discussions and theoretical grounding in established psychological texts, including the work of Arieti & Bemporad (1980) and the attachment literature (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980).

The research team initially generated twenty items for each of the three domains. These items were rigorously screened and ranked according to their perceived representativeness and clarity (i.e., face validity). Items that were consistently rated as having low face validity or were ambiguous were rejected, resulting in the final subscale lengths: Compassion for Self (15 items), Compassion from Others (13 items), and Compassion for Others (10 items).

Reliability

The internal consistency of the FOCS subscales was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha (a measure of how closely related a set of items are as a group). High coefficients were observed across both student and therapist populations, indicating that the items within each subscale reliably measure their respective fear construct.

• Internal Consistency (Students):
• Fear of compassion for self: 0.92
• Fear of compassion from others: 0.85
• Fear of compassion for others: 0.84

• Internal Consistency (Therapists):
• Fear of compassion for self: 0.86
• Fear of compassion from others: 0.85
• Fear of compassion for others: 0.76

Factor Analysis

The FOCS is explicitly designed as a multi-dimensional instrument measuring three distinct factors of Fear of Compassion. Although detailed statistical results of factor extraction (such as component loadings) are not provided in the source description, the development methodology strongly supports a three-factor solution.

The final instrument’s structure—comprising three scales with varying numbers of items (15, 13, and 10)—reflects the empirical distinction found between the three hypothesized flows of compassion. This structure allows for independent scoring of the fears related to giving compassion, receiving compassion, and engaging in self-compassion, confirming the conceptual independence of these factors.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report measure / Psychological Scale

Format: The instrument consists of 38 items distributed across three subscales. Responses are collected using a five-point Likert scale.

Language Available: English (Original)

Population Group: General adult population, including clinical samples (e.g., individuals in psychotherapy) and academic samples (e.g., university students).

Age Group: Adults

Population Details: Validation data utilized both student and therapist populations, demonstrating utility across different levels of psychological insight and education.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate the extent to which they agree with each statement using the following scale: 0 = Don’t agree at all, 1, 2 = somewhat agree, 3, 4 = Completely agree.

Keywords

Psychological assessment, Likert scale, Internal consistency, Psychotherapy, Attachment theory, Self-criticism, Face validity

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The FEARS OF COMPASSION SCALES were developed by Paul Gilbert and collaborators. The initial development and validation were documented in a manuscript submitted to Psychology and Psychotherapy. The scale is generally available for non-commercial research use, often requiring appropriate citation of the primary publication.

Reference’s

• Gilbert, P., McEwan, K., Matos, M. & Rivis, A. (Submitted). Fear of compassion: Development of a self-report measure. Psychology and Psychotherapy.
• Arieti, S., & Bemporad, J. (1980). Severe and mild depression: The psychotherapeutic approach. Basic Books.
• Bowlby, J. (1969, 1973, 1980). Attachment and Loss (Vols. 1-3). Basic Books.

Items of the FEARS OF COMPASSION SCALES

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Scale 1: Expressing compassion for others (10 items)

• People will take advantage of me if they see me as too compassionate
• Being compassionate towards people who have done bad things is letting them off the hook
• There are some people in life who don’t deserve compassion
• I fear that being too compassionate makes people an easy target
• People will take advantage of you if you are too forgiving and compassionate
• I worry that if I am compassionate, vulnerable people can be drawn to me and drain my emotional resources
• People need to help themselves rather than waiting for others to help them
• I fear that if I am compassionate, some people will become too dependent upon me
• Being too compassionate makes people soft and easy to take advantage of
• For some people, I think discipline and proper punishments are more helpful than being compassionate to them

Scale 2: Responding to the expression of compassion from others (13 items)

1. Wanting others to be kind to oneself is a weakness.
2. I fear that when I need people to be kind and understanding they wont be.
3. I’m fearful of becoming dependent on the care from others because they might not always be available or willing to give it.
4. I often wonder whether displays of warmth and kindness from others are genuine.
5. Feelings of kindness from others are somehow frightening.
6. When people are kind and compassionate towards me I feel anxious or embarrassed.
7. If people are friendly and kind I worry they will find out something bad about me that will change their mind.
8. I worry that people are only kind and compassionate if they want something from me.
9. When people are kind and compassionate towards me I feel empty and sad.
10. If people are kind I feel they are getting too close.
11. Even though other people are kind to me, I have rarely felt warmth from my relationships with others.
12. I try to keep my distance from others even if I know they are kind .
13. If I think someone is being kind and caring towards me, I ‘put up a barrier’.

Scale 3: Expressing kindness and compassion towards yourself (15 items)

• I feel that I don’t deserve to be kind and forgiving to myself
• If I really think about being kind and gentle with myself it makes me sad
• Getting on in life is about being tough rather than compassionate
• I would rather not know what being ‘kind and compassionate to myself’ feels like
• When I try and feel kind and warm to myself I just feel kind of empty
• I fear that if I start to feel compassion and warmth for myself, I will feel overcome with a sense of loss/grief
• I fear that if I become kinder and less self-critical to myself then my standards will drop
• I fear that if I am more self-compassionate I will become a weak person
• I have never felt compassion for myself, so I would not know where to begin to develop these feelings
• I worry that if I start to develop compassion for myself I will become dependent on it
• I fear that if I become too compassionate to myself I will lose my self-criticism and my flaws will show
• I fear that if I develop compassion for myself, I will become someone I do not want to be
• I fear that if I become too compassionate to myself others will reject me
• I find it easier to be critical towards myself rather than compassionate
• I fear that if I am too compassionate towards myself, bad things will happen