Compassionate and Self-Image Goals Scale

Background:

Compassionate and self-image goals are defined not by content, but by process; specifically, the intentions one has toward others while pursuing important goals.  When people have self-image goals, they want to construct, maintain, and defend desired public and private images of the self to obtain social goods from others. When people have compassionate goals they want to be a constructive force in their interactions with others and avoid harming others; they consider others’ needs, and the impact of their behavior on others.

Psychometrics:

There is strong evidence for convergent and divergent validity of the goals with the beliefs, self-relevant variables, relationship style variables, and Big 5 personality factors. Both scales had high internal consistency each week of the study, and there is strong evidence for the validity of the scale since average self-image goals predicted conflict, loneliness, and feeling afraid and confused; compassionate goals attenuated these effects, and changes in weekly goals predicted changes in goal-related affect, closeness, loneliness, conflict, and beliefs about mutual and individualistic caring. 

Author of Tool:

Crocker, J.

Key references:

Crocker, J., & Canevello, A. (2008). Creating and undermining social support in communal relationships: The role of compassionate and self-image goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 555-575.  

Primary use / Purpose:

This tool can be used to track changes weekly in compassionate and self-imaging goal setting. It consists of 16 items, (8 measuring compassionate goals, 8 self-imaging goals) each rated on a five point scale.

COMPASSIONATE AND SELF-IMAGE GOALS SCALE

Researchers have our permission to use these measures in their research.  For information about reliability and validity, see Crocker & Canevello, 2008, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.  If you have questions about how to use or think about the measures, feel free to contact us: Jennifer Crocker [email protected] or Amy Canevello [email protected].

It is helpful to remember that people can have compassionate and self-image goals simultaneously; they are not opposite ends of a continuum.  In addition, people can approach their most important goals with either a compassionate or a self-image goal orientation, or both. For example, when we asked a sample of incoming college freshmen about their most important academic goal for the semester, almost all of them mentioned a GPA they would like to receive.  Yet, despite their shared overarching goal, these students differed in how much they had compassionate and self-image goals for academics.  That is, people with compassionate and self-image goals don’t necessarily care about or do different things; rather, they approach their important goals with different motivational perspectives on the relation between the self and others, and with different intentions toward others

 

FRIENDSHIP COMPASSIONATE AND SELF-IMAGE GOALS SCALE

  • COMPASSIONATE GOALS: items 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12
  • SELF-IMAGE GOALS: items 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 13
  • SCORING: Take the mean of items in each subscale.

ROOMMATE COMPASSIONATE AND SELF-IMAGE GOALS SCALE

  • COMPASSIONATE GOALS: items 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13
  • SELF-IMAGE GOALS: items 3, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16
  • SCORING: Take the mean of items in each subscale.

CITATION:

Crocker, J., & Canevello, A. (2008). Creating and undermining social support in communal relationships: The role of compassionate and self-image goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 555-575.

FRIENDSHIP COMPASSIONATE AND SELF-IMAGE GOALS SCALE

 

In the past week, in the area of friendships, how much did you want or try to: Not at All A little Somewhat A lot Extremely
1. avoid doing things that aren’t helpful to me or others 1 2 3 4 5
2. avoid the possibility of being wrong 1 2 3 4 5
3. get others to recognize or acknowledge your positive qualities 1 2 3 4 5
4. avoid being selfish or self-centered 1 2 3 4 5
5. have compassion for others’ mistakes and weaknesses 1 2 3 4 5
6. avoid being rejected by others 1 2 3 4 5
7. avoid taking risks or making mistakes 1 2 3 4 5
8. be constructive in your comments to others 1 2 3 4 5
9. avoid showing your weaknesses 1 2 3 4 5
10. avoid doing anything that would be harmful to others 1 2 3 4 5
11. be supportive of others 1 2 3 4 5
12. make a positive difference in someone else’s life 1 2 3 4 5
13. convince others that you are right 1 2 3 4 5

 

 

ROOMMATE COMPASSIONATE AND SELF-IMAGE GOALS SCALE

 

TODAY in my relationship with my roommate, I wanted / tried to . . .  Not at all A little Somewhat A lot Extremely
1. Have compassion for my roommate’s mistakes and weaknesses. 1 2 3 4 5
2. Make a positive difference in my roommate’s life. 1 2 3 4 5
3. Avoid the possibility of being wrong. 1 2 3 4 5
4. Be supportive of my roommate. 1 2 3 4 5
5. Avoid neglecting my relationship with my roommate. 1 2 3 4 5
6. Avoid being selfish or self-centered. 1 2 3 4 5
7. Avoid doing things that aren’t helpful to me or my roommate. 1 2 3 4 5
8. Avoid showing my weaknesses. 1 2 3 4 5
9. Be constructive in my comments to my roommate. 1 2 3 4 5
10. Avoid doing anything that would be harmful to my roommate. 1 2 3 4 5
11. Get my roommate to do things my way. 1 2 3 4 5
12. Avoid being blamed or criticized. 1 2 3 4 5
13. Be aware of the impact my behavior might have on my roommate’s feelings. 1 2 3 4 5
14. Demonstrate my intelligence. 1 2 3 4 5
15. Convince my roommate that I am right. 1 2 3 4 5
16. Avoid coming across as unintelligent or incompetent. 1 2 3 4 5

 

 

x