Effects of Compassion-Based Education Program on Students’ Compassion Levels and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

A key construct in the field of positive psychology, compassion is considered a positive emotion as well as an important human strength. It refers to being cognizant of the troubles and pain felt by others or the individual him- or herself, and being willing to take action to relieve those problems. This study examined the effects of a Compassion-Based Education Program (CBEP) on secondary-school students’ compassion and life-satisfaction levels. It adopted an experimental design that included a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test, with control and placebo groups. There were 13 adolescents in the experimental group, 12 in the placebo group, and 12 in the control group. The researchers’ CBEP was implemented in the experimental group only. Activities not related to compassion education, but which could reasonably be expected to contribute to secondary-school students’ educational and future professional development, were carried out with the placebo group, and no intervention took place in the control group. Nas and Sak’s Compassion Scale (CS) and Çivitçi’s Turkish-language version of Huebner’s Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS) were used as data-collection tools. The analysis results indicated that there were significant differences between the experimental group’s CS pre-test and post-test scores, and between the same group’s pre-test and follow-up test scores, with the latter being higher in each case. The experimental group’s MSLSS post-test scores were also significantly higher than their pre-test scores. However, the difference between the same group’s pre-test and follow-up test scores on the MSLSS was non-significant. Likewise, there was no significant difference between the MSLSS post-test and follow-up test scores of any of the three groups.