You would probably never talk to a friend the way you talk to yourself after a mistake. Self-compassion is the research term for closing that gap — treating yourself with the kindness you would offer someone you care about.
This guide explains the idea, how our self-compassion test measures it, and how to read your score as a starting point.
A self-compassion test measures how a person typically treats themselves in difficult times. This test administers Kristin Neff's 26-item Self-Compassion Scale (2003), which scores six components: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness, and the reverse of their opposites — self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification. The total is the mean of the six. Self-compassion is distinct from self-esteem, and the scale has no clinical norms.
Three components and their opposites
Kristin Neff's 26-item Self-Compassion Scale (2003) measures six components: three compassionate ones and the reverse of three uncompassionate ones.
- ✦Self-kindness, versus self-judgment.
- ✦Common humanity — seeing struggle as part of being human — versus isolation.
- ✦Mindfulness — holding pain in balance — versus over-identification with it.
Not the same as self-esteem
Self-esteem is a judgement of your own worth, and it tends to rise and fall with success and comparison. Self-compassion does not require a positive judgement at all: it is how you treat yourself when the judgement is bad. That is why it is often described as steadier than self-esteem.
Reading your score
The scale has no clinical norms, and its author says so. She offers a rough guide: totals in US samples sit close to 3.0, so 2.4 or below can be considered low, 3.6 or above high, and anything in between average. The result uses exactly those ranges and labels them as hers.
Some components read as "less self-judgment" or "less isolation" because those items are reversed before scoring, so every score points the same way: higher means more self-compassionate.
It can be learned
A meta-analysis of 27 randomised controlled trials found that self-compassion training changed all six components, alongside reductions in stress, depression, and anxiety. Your score describes a habit, not a fixed trait.
A low score is not a sign of depression, and this questionnaire does not diagnose anything. If things feel hard, that is worth talking to a doctor or therapist about, whatever your score. If work is part of the picture, see our burnout guide.