Effect of the Intervention of the Compassion Cultivation Training on the Level of Self-Criticism and Self-Compassion

Abstract

The Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) is an intervention aimed at compassion cultivation involving a variety of meditation practices and exercises enhancing mental and emotional well-being, empathy, and kindness towards others and oneself. The goal of the study was to analyze the effect of the shortened online intervention, The Compassion Cultivation Training, on the level of self-criticism and self-compassion in an available non-clinical sample of 117 participants. Data were collected before intervention, immediately after intervention, and two months after completion of the CCT. All participants were randomly assigned to the experimental or the control group. At the final measurement, 24 participants were in the intervention and 30 participants in the no-contact control group. The battery of administrated questionnaires consisted of two scales: The Forms of Self-Criticism/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale and the Self-Compassion Scale. The results of the research confirmed the effectiveness of online CCT intervention since the participants from the experimental group achieved a significant increase in the level of self-compassion and a decrease in the level of self-criticism. The study offers promising results in that the shortened online version of CCT lasting 14 days is also effective not just in cultivating compassion but also in decreasing self-criticism.