Interviews with Trappist Monks as a Contribution to Research Methodology in the Investigation of Compassionate Love

In-depth interviews of a group of Trappist monks demonstrate a method of refining and improving self-report measures of motivation and discernment. By selecting a group who have been trained over many years to examine motives for altruistic, other-centered actions and attitudes, and to give these high priority in their lives, there emerged some very interesting details about the nature of compassionate love and its process of expression, obstacles to its expression, and ways to encourage it. These results provide useful methodological insights for refining self-reports of motive, and also yield data that are important for understanding the nature of compassionate love, providing hypotheses for future research, and suggestions for possible action.