Self-compassion test
Twelve statements look at how you treat yourself in hard moments. Based on the Self-Compassion Scale – Short Form (SCS-SF), you get an average score from 1 to 5, your tendencies in self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness, and exercises you can try right away. It is for reflection, not diagnosis.
About 2 min · 12 questions · For self-reflection, not diagnosis · Results stay in your browser
When I fail at something important to me I become consumed by feelings of inadequacy.
Think about how you typically act towards yourself in difficult times, and choose how often each statement applies.
Before You Start
What the 12 items of the Self-Compassion Scale – Short Form ask, how to read the 1–5 average and its three ranges, and how self-compassion differs from self-esteem.
Useful For
Useful if you wonder whether you tend to turn on yourself when you slip up or things go wrong. Where the self-esteem test looks at how you rate yourself, this one looks at how you treat yourself in hard times.
Answer Honestly, Read Carefully
Think of how you actually tend to react in hard times rather than how you would like to. It is fine if many answers are on the harsh side; honest answers help you pick exercises that fit.
How to read your results
How It Works
The 12 statements ask about reactions in hard moments in three pairs: self-kindness and self-judgment, common humanity and isolation, mindfulness and over-identification.
Each statement is answered from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always), and the six harsher statements are turned around (6 minus your answer). Your score is the average of all twelve, so it runs from 1.00 to 5.00; higher means you treat yourself more kindly when things are hard.
Score Interpretation
Following the ranges Neff suggests, an average of 1.00–2.49 is shown as low, 2.50–3.50 as moderate and 3.51–5.00 as high. These ranges are a reading aid, not a clinical cut-off.
The researchers who built the short form recommend using its total score rather than scoring the three components separately. That is why the result page shows the components only as indications based on two items each.
Limits
As a short self-report, the score can shift with recent mood and with what happened that day. It is not a percentile against other people but a number showing where your own average sits on the scale.
This test does not diagnose depression, anxiety or any other difficulty. If being hard on yourself has weighed on you for several weeks, talking with someone you trust or with a professional is the more reliable help.
Guides to read alongside
- Self-compassion vs self-esteem: stop being so hard on yourselfSelf-esteem rates you; self-compassion is how you treat yourself when things go wrong. Neff’s three parts, what research says, and exercises to try.
- Self-compassion test accuracy: what research says and why your score changesCan you trust a self-compassion test? What research says about Neff’s scale and its short form, why it has no official cut-offs, and why your score changes.
- How to build self-compassion: what research says works, and its limitsCan practice build self-compassion? Meta-analyses, 8-week programmes and brief exercises like letter writing and soothing touch: what works, and the limits.
Frequently asked questions
Which scale is the self-compassion test based on?
It uses the 12-item Self-Compassion Scale – Short Form (SCS-SF; Raes et al., 2011), a shortened version of psychologist Kristin Neff’s Self-Compassion Scale. The short form was built to give nearly the same total score as the original (Neff, 2003) and is widely used in research; mind.io’s English follows the published items.
How long does the self-compassion test take, and is it free?
It is free and has 12 statements, about 2 minutes in all. For each one you choose how often it applies, from “almost never” to “almost always”.
How is self-compassion different from self-esteem?
Self-esteem is how highly you rate yourself; self-compassion is how you treat yourself when things go wrong. Self-esteem tends to rise and fall with success and failure, while self-compassion is the attitude that holds you up in exactly the moments your self-evaluation drops. Take the self-esteem test as well if you want to see both.
Won’t being kind to myself make me lazy?
Research mostly points the other way. Studies often find that more self-compassionate people are more willing to admit mistakes and learn from them. Treating yourself like someone you care about, instead of scolding, makes failure less frightening and leaves room to try again.
What should I do if my self-compassion score is low?
A low score means there is room to practise, not that something is wrong with you. Pick one of the short exercises on the result page, keep it up for a few weeks and then retake the test to see what has changed. If harsh self-blame has gone on for a long time and daily life feels heavy, consider talking with a counselor.