Background: Self-compassion is a fundamental aspect of psychological well-being, an important trait of positive personality, and serves as a psychological barrier against the negative effects of stressful life events that individuals encounter. Objective: The current study aims to explore the level of self-compassion among cancer patients and to examine the differences based on the variables of gender, disease duration, and type of cancer. Methodology: The study utilized a descriptive exploratory method on a sample of 80 patients (47 females and 33 males), aged between 18 and 60 years, who were receiving treatment at the Mohamed Boudiaf Public Hospital in the city of Ouargla, Algeria. Data was collected using Neff’s (2003) Self-Compassion Scale, translated into Arabic by Abdel Rahim (2014). Results: The findings indicated a high level of self-compassion among cancer patients and revealed no statistically significant differences in self-compassion based on the variables of gender, disease duration, or type of cancer. Conclusion: Self-compassion is considered a protective factor that helps individuals cope with difficult and painful experiences, including chronic or serious illnesses. The results suggest that patients with higher levels of self-compassion experience fewer symptoms and complications from their illness. Therefore, it is important for specialists to focus on fostering self-compassion as a protective health variable and to incorporate it into therapeutic programs to support patients.

Self-compassion, cancer patients.