ABSTRACT

There is rapidly growing interest in Western compassion trainings that rely especially on traditional Buddhist practices. This growing body of research distinguishes between two distinct compassion constructs, namely self-compassion versus other-oriented compassion (hereafter, other-compassion). However, the Buddhist traditions from which most studied compassion practices derive emphasize the relevance of compassion for breaking down artificial barriers between self and other. We therefore conducted a comprehensive review of 94 randomized controlled trials on compassion training, examining how the dualistic division of compassion (into self- versus other-compassion) has shaped compassion training research to date. Our review finds patterns both consistent (e.g. a disproportionate focus on the self-oriented benefits of compassion trainings) and inconsistent (e.g. particular pairings of self-other emphasis across training and outcome) with the dualistic division of compassion. Overall, findings reveal the need for more research on social benefits of self- and other-compassion training, as well as less dualistic approaches to compassion.

摘要

人们对尤其依赖于传统佛教实践的西方慈悲训练的兴趣迅速增长。越来越多的研究区分了两种不同的同情心结构，即自我同情心与面向他人的同情心（以下称为他人同情心）。然而，大多数研究慈悲实践的佛教传统都强调慈悲与打破自我与他人之间的人为障碍的相关性。因此，我们对 94 项关于同情心训练的随机对照试验进行了全面审查，研究了同情心的二元划分（自我和他人的同情心）如何影响了迄今为止的同情心训练研究。我们的审查发现模式既一致（例如 不成比例地关注同情心培训的以自我为导向的好处）并且与同情心的二元划分不一致（例如在培训和结果中自我和其他重点的特定配对）。总体而言，研究结果表明需要对自我和他人同情训练的社会效益进行更多研究，以及减少对同情心的二元化方法。