A Closer Look at the Giant with Feet of Clay: Analyzing and Refining Neff´s Theory of Self-Compassion.

In this article, the authors aim to offer a perspective on self-compassion capable of becoming part of a unified psychology; however not "from scratch", but based on what Neff (2003a, b) proposed. This is through the analysis and refinement of her theory in two stages. First, they check whether the supposed six factors exist in the constitution of self-compassion using the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) technique in a collected sample for this study (249 participants, 69.8% women ranging in age from 18 to 65, median = 22). In the second stage, they analyze and refine Neff's theory based on the results of the EFA, and in light of an evolutionary perspective and Aristotle's philosophy, following, respectively, the suggestions proposed by Zagaria et al. (2020); Osmo and Borri (2024a) that aim to unify psychological science.