Table 2.
Compassionate attributes and skills
| Compassionate attribute/skill | Definition | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | I | NI | ||
| Care for well‐being | Motivation/intention to be caring for the purpose of alleviating suffering and facilitating flourishing of the self or others | 36.3 | 36.2 | 36.4 |
| Sensitivity | Ability to be attentive to and recognize (stimuli that trigger) suffering of the self or others (e.g., unpleasant feelings) | 53.1 | 49.2 | 56.8 |
| Distress tolerance | Ability to contain, stay with, and tolerate suffering/distress (e.g., unpleasant feelings, memories or situations) rather than avoid, fearfully divert from, close down, contradict, invalidate, or deny them | 7.8 | 10.0 | 5.9 |
| Empathy | Ability to stand back from and view our own or others’ suffering and its causes from the perspective of someone else or different parts of ourselves (cognitive empathy) and/or to emotionally connect with the suffering of self or others (emotional empathy/sympathy). This concerns a reflection on/thoughts and feelings underlying suffering/distress and does not involve a shift in thinking styles | 46.2 | 45.5 | 46.9 |
| Common humanity | Ability to recognize that suffering is part of the human experience and that we are not alone in our suffering | 3.0 | 4.0 | 2.2 |
| Compassionate attention | The process of becoming aware of or focus one's attention on things that are helpful and supportive | 30.2 | 31.6 | 29.0 |
| Compassionate reasoning | Thinking about and reflecting on the world, ourselves, and others from a balanced perspective with the purpose of alleviating or preventing suffering, and to experience these thoughts as kind, supportive, and helpful. This includes non‐judgement, that is, taking an accepting, non‐critical, and non‐condemning view/attitude towards ourselves and others | 46.2 | 51.8 | 41.0 |
| Compassionate behaviour | Engaging in activities/behaviours that help to alleviate or prevent suffering and facilitate positive feelings, development, and growth. This may involve both passive and active actions (e.g., using imagery/meditation to generate compassionate feelings for the self and others) | 76.8 | 77.7 | 75.9 |
| Compassionate feeling/sensation | Experiencing emotional and/or bodily feelings of warmth, kindness, and soothing when being compassionate, experiencing compassion from others or being self‐compassionate | 35.0 | 42.5 | 28.1 |
I = improvers; NI = non‐improvers.
The percentages give the proportion of email messages wherein a particular attribute is expressed within the total number of sent email messages. For example, care for well‐being was expressed in 36.2% of all messages sent by improvers to their counsellor.