Self-Compassion as an Adaptive Feature of the Person

Despite the understanding of self-compassion as a spiritual and moral feature of a person adopted in Russian culture, in this study it is proposed to consider self-compassion in terms of its role in the adaptation of a person, understood as the maintenance of psychological well-being and functionality in difficult times. Another ultimate goal was to adapt the method of self-compassion assessment as no similar measurement tools suitable for Russian-speaking culture exist. At the first stage of the study, the primary psychometric development and validation of the Fears of Compassion Scale were done. At the second stage of the study, it should be confirmed or disproved that self-compassion is positively associated with well-being and authenticity and negatively – with symptomatic depression. 289 respondents (N = 289; 232 – female, 57 – male) participated in the research. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Fears of Compassion Scale, the Authenticity Scale, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Psychological Well-Being Scale were used. Fears of Compassion Scale has demonstrated the high scores of validity and reliability. A modified version of the questionnaire, suitable for Russian-speaking culture, was developed. Moreover, a translated version of the self-compassion development exercise is offered, because at the moment similar techniques are available only in the original version (in English), which means that not all Russian speaking psychologists can use them. The main results intend to be as follows: with a high level of self-compassion, the level of psychological well-being and authenticity also increase, on the contrary, the depression symptoms appear less. It is concluded that self-compassion is an evolutionarily necessary adaptive feature of the person, which helps to maintain the psychological well-being, the integrity of the Self, functioning and life satisfaction during the difficult times.