Factorial Validity of the Self-Compassion Scale among University Female Students: A Comparative Study Between Saudi and Egyptian culture

The study aimed to verify the factorial construction of the self-compassion scale across cultures. The study is based on Neff et al.’s (2017) model that explains self-compassion in its three dimensions in a bipolar manner. The researchers relied on the Neff (2003) scale for self-compassion, the abbreviated form of 26 items. The participants consisted of 1039 university students, divided in terms of culture into 521 students at Zagazig University in Egypt, and 518 at Princess Nourah Bint AbdulRahman University in Saudi Arabia. The scale was prepared in the same electronic form. All females of the sample were informed of the purpose of the study. The sample was chosen randomly. Exploratory factor analysis was used to test the stability of items on the dimensions and results showed the stability of the kindness with self, isolation, shared humanity, and self-judgment dimensions. Confirmatory factor analysis results reached the best fit for the total sample. Factor analysis across the two groups was used to verify the existence of differences between Saudi and Egyptian cultures. The results revealed that the Egyptian environment model is superior to its Saudi counterpart, and it has been proven that there are no differences between the two cultures using the factorial differences indicators RSMEA, NNFI, GFI, and SRMR.