1. Compassion Literature Review
Broadly, compassion is generally regarded as a basic social force that “builds and
reinforces connections between people” (Dutton 2005). Historical, philosophical and theological
sources attest to the power of compassion to create, strengthen, and sustain human connection
and community (Clark, 1997; Dalai Lama, 1995; Glaser, 2005; Wuthnow, 1990). More
specifically, compassion involves “being touched by the suffering of others, opening one’s
awareness to others’ pain and not avoiding or disconnecting from it, so that feelings of kindness
toward others and the desire to alleviate their suffering emerge.” (Wispe qtd. in Neff, 2002).
Compassion also involves “offering nonjudgmental understanding to those who fail or do wrong,
so that their actions and behaviors are seen in the context of shared human fallability.”(Neff,
2002). Whether experienced directly or witnessed, people feel greater trust that if they go
through a difficult time they can count on those around them and compassion gives them the
understanding that they will not be taken advantage of (Porter, Lawler, & Hackman, 1975). This
fosters a place where people are more likely to find areas of mutual interest and shared advantage
making cooperation more likely and effective. Compassion occurs through three subprocesses:
noticing another’s pain, experiencing an emotional reaction to the pain, and acting in response to
the pain (Kanov, Dutton & Lilius et. al 2004). There are three theories on how this important trait
emerged: because it enhances the welfare of vulnerable offspring, because it is a desirable trait in
mate selection, and because it enables cooperative relations with nonkin (Goetz 2010).
Compassion can have to do with the self (self-compassion, fear of compassion from others or
self) and can manifest itself in the work world around us.
Compassion is an important, but often overlooked aspect. Lilius, Worline, Maitlis,
Kanov, Dutton and Frost say that “both directly and indirectly through its relationship with

2. positive emotion, compassion appears to influence employees’ feelings of job related stress and
affective commitment, which in turn shapes their behaviors.” Compassion focused meditations
also decrease negative affects and stress responses as well as increase positive affects and
increase feelings of affiliation and kindness to others (Gilbert et.al.) Self-compassion predicts
some aspects of well-being better than self-esteem (Neff & Vonk, 2009). Compassion also is
strong against many mental health difficulties inclusive of depression and anxiety (Gilbert et. al).
Compassion also leaves a “lasting trace” on the way that people feel and behave at work (Lilius
et.al.).
What makes a person more or less compassionate to themselves? Self-compassion has
three main components: self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness. Self kindness can be
defined as being kind and understanding toward oneself in moments of pain or failure instead of
being harshly self-critical. Common humanity can be defined as perceiving experiences as part
of a larger human experience rather than a separating and isolating occurrence. Mindfulness can
be described as holding painful thoughts and feelings in a balanced awareness rather than over-
identifying with them. The idea behind self-compassion is that healthy and constructive self-
attitudes emerge partly from putting less emphasis on the separate self rather than building upon
and solidifying a separate and unique identity. Self-compassion may protect against the negative
consequences of self-judgment, isolation, and rumination (such as in depression). It may also
protect against narcissism self-centeredness and downward social comparison that has been
associated with attempting to maintain self-esteem (Neff 2002). Individuals that are self-cold,
self-critical, insecurely attached, and have depression, anxiety or stress were linked to having
fear of compassion for self (Gilbert, McEwan, Matos, & Rivas 2010). People high in self-
criticism have more difficulty being self-reassuring; in fact they have a threat response when

3. they attempt to do so (Gilbert et al. 2010). The threat response includes clinical (Gilbert, 2000,
2007, 2009, 2010a, b; Pauley & McPherson, 2010) attachment (Bowlby, 1969, 1973) and
physiological evidence. Developing therapeutic techniques to help people resolve their fears of
compassion and resistance to it can have important therapeutic effects (Gilbert & Proctger, 2006;
Laithwaite et al. 2009).
The DASS 21 can be used for compassionate ends. The DASS 21 stands for the
Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales in the more condensed 21 self report items format (the
longer version is made of 42 items). The instrument quantifies emotional distress along the
depression, anxiety and stress dimensions. Each question is rated on a four-point Likert scale of
frequency or severity of the participants’ experiences over the past one week with the intention
of emphasizing states over traits. The score ranges from 0 to 3, with 0 standing for “did not apply
to me at all”, 1 standing for “applied to me to some degree, or some of the time”, 2 standing for
“applied to me to a considerable degree, or a good part of the time” to 3 standing for “applied to
me very much, or most of the time”. There is no right or wrong answer. The DASS classifies the
severity of each depression, anxiety and stress in normal, mild, moderate, severe and extremely
severe categories; but it does not assign a clinical diagnosis. By allowing individuals to identify
possible emotional issues with themselves, the DASS 21 serves a compassionate end.
The Five Facet Mindfulness Scale is another instrument that can be used for
compassionate ends. The Five Facet Mindfulness Scale resulted from a factor analytic study of
five independently developed mindfulness questionnaires which ended up with five facets. These
five facets comprise mindfulness as it is thought of today. The five facets are observing,
describing, acting with awareness, non-judging of inner experience and non reactivity to inner
experience. The items are self-report and are answered as is considered generally true of the

4. individual in question. An overall score is given and then a score for each of the five facets. The
score ranges from 1 being the least mindful to 5 being the most mindful without any cutoffs; the
scores are just on a continuum. This psychometric instrument was created by Ruth Baer at the
University of Kentucky and is in the public domain. It has been used in many recent
mindfulness research studies (awakemind.org). This instrument can also be used towards the
compassionate end of helping make others more mindful.
Organizational compassion manifests itself when members of a system “collectively
notice, feel and respond to pain experienced by members of that system” (Kanov, Dutton &
Lilius et. al). Compassion is associated with “a range of positive attitudes, behaviors and feelings
in organizations” (Dutton, Frost, Worline, Lilius & Kanov, 2002; Lilius et al. 2003). Compassion
cultivates skills that lead to more collectivist behaviors, specifically where the well-being of the
group takes precedence over personal interests, leading to greater levels of cooperation (Wagner,
1995). Small interpersonal actions can have ripple effects that affect the entire system (Dutton
2005).
Compassion is an important force (Dutton 2005) whether experienced as organizational
compassion or aimed inwardly as self-compassion. Compassion holds much promise
therapeutically, especially for those with mental issues such as depression and anxiety (Gilbert
et. al.). At its basic level, compassion emphasizes a shared humanity.