The aim of our study was to explore the first three associations for the following two stimulus words: compassion and self-compassion. In addition, we were interested in whether the participants would conceptualise these words more in terms of emotions, cognitions, or behaviours. The sample consisted of 151 psychology students. A consensual qualitative research approach was adopted. Three members of the core team and an auditor analysed the free associations of compassion and self-compassion. The data showed that there were four domains for both compassion and self-compassion: the Emotional, Cognitive, Behavioural and Evaluative Aspects of compassion/self-compassion. The only domains that differed were the Biological Aspect of compassion and the Situational Aspect of self-compassion. The most frequently represented domain for both compassion and self-compassion was the Emotional Aspect, while both more positive as well as negative emotions were associated with self-compassion than was the case with compassion. The findings of our study show that the participants perceived compassion as mainly consisting of empathy; the emotions of love, sadness and remorse; cognitive understanding; and behavioural displays of help, physical or mental closeness. Compassion was seen as being mainly directed at those close to them, such as family and friends, and at vulnerable people. Compassion occurs in situations of loss or any other kind of suffering. The participants viewed self-compassion primarily in terms of the positive emotions of love and calmness; the negative emotions of unhappiness, sadness and remorse; cognitive understanding; and behavioural displays of self-help through the provision of self-support and self-assurance. Self-compassion is triggered mainly in situations involving internal suffering caused by criticism or externally as a response to a difficult situation. Self-compassion is evaluated in both negative (because of its misuse) as well as positive terms (because of its connection to virtues). The findings of our qualitative study support the idea that compassion is a multidimensional construct consisting of emotional, cognitive, and behavioural aspects.

In spite of a large body of research in the field of emotion regulation, this subject has not yet been studied vigorously in naturalistic settings, especially not in the context of task performance. Therefore, it remains uncertain whether predominant theoretical conceptualizations of emotion regulation (e.g., Gross, 1998) can be applied to this sort of situation. In this qualitative study, we aimed to identify emotion regulation strategies of paramedic crew leaders (n = 30) in a simulated task with a sudden onset of a stressful incident. For this purpose, we analyzed their emotional behavior (i.e., facial expression, voice volume, body posture and movements etc.) on video recorded performance, and their affective states and emotion regulation strategies based on interviews conducted right after the task. Verbal reports were analyzed via phenomenologically-laden template analysis. W e classified emergent strategies into two basic categories: task-related (e.g., attention narrowing, mobilization to action, monitoring) and self-supportive (e.g., emotional distancing, behavioral withdrawal, detachment and selective attention). Results of our analysis suggest that regulatory strategies are largely implemented on an implicit level of processing and their function might be a better criterion for their distinction than a type of mental process.

Criticism and self-criticism have far reaching impacts on wellbeing and emotional balance. In order to create better interventions for criticism and self-criticism, more in-depth knowledge about these two constructs is required. The goal of our study was to examine three associations for criticism and self-criticism. The data were collected from a sample of 151 psychology students: 114 women and 37 men (Mean age 22.2; SD 4.4). We were interested in the associations participants would produce in relation to criticism and self-criticism, whether participants conceptualized these two concepts in the same categories and whether the categories were equally important for each concept. The data were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative research (CQR). The team consisted of four core members and one auditor. Separately all four members analyzed the data multiple times and then discussed it until all the researchers including the auditor reached a consensus. We identified four domains common to both criticism and self-criticism. These were – Emotional Aspects, Cognitive Aspects, Behavioral Aspects, and Preconditions. For both stimulus words, the most saturated domain was Behavioral Aspects. These findings suggest that both concepts – criticism and self-criticism – are multidimensional constructs consisting of Behavioral Aspects, Cognitive aspects, Emotional Aspects, and Preconditions. Further research on this topic would be beneficial.

Although the research on compassion is growing, there is a lack of knowledge about how non-expert people perceive compassion. Therefore, the aim of the study was to explore compassion from the perspective of non-experts. Our sample consisted of 56 non-expert participants (Slovaks and Czechs) in 10 focus groups and we conducted a Consensual Qualitative Research analysis with two members of a core team and one auditor. In general, compassion was described as a mixture of non-specified positive emotions and specified negative emotions (mainly fear, remorse, and sadness). Compassion was related to empathy. In terms of behaviours, compassion was revealed to help, support, favour, mental closeness, and interest. Compassion is displayed mainly to people close to us in situations of suffering. However, people tend to evaluate beforehand whether the situation and person deserve compassion. Moreover, people are cautious about being exploited through compassion. To sum up, our findings support a multidimensional definition of compassion.

The COPE Inventory (Carver et al., 1989) is the most frequently used measure of coping; yet previous studies examining its factor structure yielded mixed results. The purpose of the current study, therefore, was to validate the factor structure of the COPE Inventory in a representative sample of over 2,000 adults in Slovakia. Our second goal was to evaluate the external validity of the COPE inventory, which has not been done before. Firstly, we performed the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with half of the sample. Subsequently, we performed the confirmatory factor analysis with the second half of the sample. Both factor analyses with 15 factor solutions showed excellent fit with the data. Additionally, we performed a hierarchical factor analysis with fifteen first-order factors (acceptance, active coping, behavioral disengagement, denial, seeking emotional support, humor, seeking instrumental support, mental disengagement, planning, positive reinterpretation, religion, restraint, substance use, suppression of competing activities, and venting) and three second-order factors (active coping, social emotional coping, and avoidance coping) which showed good fit with the data. Moreover, the COPE Inventory’s external validity was evaluated using consensual qualitative research (CQR) analysis on data collected by in-depth interviews. Categories of coping created using CQR corresponded with all COPE first-order factors. Moreover, we identified two additional first-order factors that were not present in the COPE Inventory: self-care and care for others. Our study shows that the Slovak translation of the COPE Inventory is a reliable, externally valid, and well-structured instrument for measuring coping in the Slovak population.

As self-criticism is considered to be the major underlying factor of all sorts of psychopathology, it is meaningful to explore the differences between how people deal with their self-criticism based on their level of self-criticism. The aim of this study was to categorise descriptions and investigate differences between 5 high and 5 low self-critical participants in their self-critical, self-protective and self-compassionate imageries. The total sample consisted of 10 university students, who were selected from a larger sample of 88 participants based on their extreme score from The Forms of Self-Criticising/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale. For analysis, we exploited Consensual Qualitative Research with two assessors and one auditor. The compassionate imagery was used to evoke the inner critic, protector and compassionate voice. The results showed differences in the imageries based on the level of self-criticism. Both high and low self-critics displayed difficulties in overcoming their self-criticism. Contrary to high self-critics, low self-critics showed more constructive and positive strategies for dealing with their self-criticism. Our study presented several different patterns between high and low self-critical participants in self-critical, self-compassionate, and self-protective imagery which could be used for diagnostic purposes in the future.

The aim of the study was to describe the spontaneous facial expressions elicited by viewers of a compassionate video in terms of the respondents’ muscular activity of single facial action units (AUs). We recruited a convenience sample of 111 undergraduate psychology students, aged 18-25 years ( M = 20.53; SD = 1.62) to watch (at home alone) a short video stimulus eliciting compassion, and we recorded the respondents’ faces using webcams. We used both a manual analysis, based on the Facial Action Coding System, and an automatic analysis of the holistic recognition of facial expressions as obtained through EmotionID software. Manual facial analysis revealed that, during the compassionate moment of the video stimulus, AUs 1 =  inner-brow raiser, 4 =  brow lowerer, 7 =  lids tight, 17 =  chin raiser, 24 =  lip presser, and 55 =  head tilt left occurred more often than other AUs. These same AUs also occurred more often during the compassionate moment than during the baseline recording. Consistent with these findings, automatic facial analysis during the compassionate moment showed that anger occurred more often than other emotions; during the baseline moment, contempt occurred less often than other emotions. Further research is necessary to fully describe the facial expression of compassion.

"Objective: The goal of the study was to map out the effectiveness of a 14-day online intervention (EFT-SCP) focused on self-compassion and self-protection in people with an increased level of narcissism. Method: The research sample consisted of 63 participants, 19 men and 44 women, aged 21 to 70 years (M = 32.49; SD = 15.73). Participants were randomly assigned to intervention group (N = 32) or to the passive control group (N = 31). Results: The results indicate that the self-compassion level in the experimental group did not increase following the intervention. However, the same group scored significantly lower on self-criticism after taking part in the intervention. Conclusion: Short term online intervention was able to decrease self-criticism in subclinical population with increased traits of narcissism but was not effective in increasing self-compassion. It seems that in individuals with increased narcissism, it could take longer to develop kind and warm feelings towards self, connected to self-compassion. The process of decreasing self-criticism was effective and could be the starting point for further cultivating of self."