Fears of compassion scale (FCS)

Different people have different views of compassion and kindness. While some people believe that it is important to show compassion and kindness in all situations and contexts, others believe we should be more cautious and can worry about showing it too much to ourselves and to others. We are interested in your thoughts and beliefs in regard to kindness and compassion in three areas of your life:

1. expressing compassion for others

2. responding to compassion from others

3. expressing kindness and compassion towards yourself.

Below are a series of statements that we would like you to think carefully about and answer in a way that best describes how each statement fits you.

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Scale one: expressing compassion for others

People will take advantage of me if they see me as too compassionate Required

Being compassionate toward people who have done bad things is letting them off the hock Required

There are some people in life who don't deserve compassion Required

I fear that being too compassionate makes people an easy target Required

People take advantage of you if you are too forgiving an compassionate Required

I worry that if I am compassionate, vulnerable people can be drawn to me and drain my emotional resources Required

Need to help themselves rather than waiting for others to help them Required

I fear that if I am compassionate, some people will become too dependent upon me Required

Being too compassionate makes people soft and easy to take advantage of Required

For some people, I think discipline and proper punishment are more helpful than being compassionate to them Required

Scale two: responding to the expression of compassion from others

Wanting others to be kind to oneself is a weakness Required

I fear that when I need people to be kind and understanding they won't be Required

I am fearful of becoming dependent on the care from others because they might not always be available or willing to give it Required

I often wonder whether displays of warmth and kindness from others are genuine Required

Feelings of kindness from others are somehow frightening Required

When people are kind and compassionate towards me I feel anxious or embarrassed Required

If people are friendly and kind I worry they will find out something bad about me that will change their mind Required

I worry that people are only kind and compassionate if they want something from me Required

When people are kind and compassionate towards me I feel empty and sad Required

If people are kind I feel they are getting too close Required

Even though other people are kind to me, I have rarely felt warmth from my relationships with other Required

I try to keep my distance from others even if I know they are kind Required

If I think someone is being kind and caring towards me, I put up a barrier Required

Scale three: expressing kindness and compassion towards yourself

I feel that I don't deserve to be kind and forgiving to myself Required

If I really think about being kind and gentle with myself it makes me sad Required

Getting on in life is about being tough rather than compassionate Required

I would rather not know what being kind and compassionate to myself feels like Required

When I try and feel kind and warm to myself I just feel kind of empty Required

I fear that if I start to feel compassion and warmth for myself, I will feel overcome with a sense of loss/grief Required

I fear that if I become kinder and less self-critical to myself then my standards will drop Required

I fear that if I am more self-compassionate I will become a weak person Required

I have never felt compassion for myself, so I would not know where to begin to develop these feelings Required

I worry that if I start to develop compassion for myself I will become dependent on it Required

I fear that if I become too compassionate to myself I will lose my self-criticism and my flaws will show Required

I fear that if I develop compassion for myself, I will become someone I do not want to be Required

I fear that if I become too compassionate to myself others will reject me Required

I find it easier to be critical towards myself rather than compassionate Required

I fear that if I am too compassionate towards myself, bad things will happen Required

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