Exploring the relationship between compassion, closeness, trust, and social support in same-sex friendships

The aim of this exploratory study was to explore the relationship between self-compassion, other-compassion, closeness, trust, and social support, and to determine whether there were gender differences between variables. First, it discusses the new construct of compassion for self and others. Second, it examines the potential relationship between compassion and interpersonal communication variables such as closeness, trust, and perceived social support in same-sex friendship communication. Third, it explores whether there are gender differences in self-compassion, other-compassion, closeness, trust, and perceived social support. A total of 142 university students (50 males and 93 females) participated in this study. Self-Compassion Scale, OtherCompassion Scale, Trust Scale and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were used as data collection instruments. The result of this study revealed that males and females differ in selfand other compassion. Other compassion was positively related to closeness, trust, and social support. However, selfcompassion was not related to any interpersonal construct.