A Brief Compassion Focused Therapy Intervention Can Increase Moral Expansiveness: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives: This study investigated whether training in compassion can broaden individuals’ moral circles. In total, 102 participants, including 87 females, took part in a brief seminar on Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), which is a psychological intervention aimed at cultivating greater levels of compassion. 

Method: Participants were randomized to either the CFT intervention (n = 48) or waitlist control group (n = 54). Participant levels of moral expansiveness (moral concern for human, non-human animals, and environmental entities) were measured at pre-intervention, 2 weeks post-intervention, and the CFT group again at 3-month follow-up. 

Results: At 2 weeks post-intervention, participants in the CFT group compared to control had significantly increased total moral expansiveness, as well as increases specifically for family and revered sub-groups. At 3-month follow-up, these outcomes improved, with reported moral concern for all sub-groups significantly increasing, including out-groups, stigmatized members of society, animals, plants, and the environment. 

Conclusions: The results show promise for how we can expand the boundaries of our moral concern through compassion focused interventions. 

Preregistration: The study was preregistered on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/z3c9f).