Home › Scale Atlas › Psychology: Social & Relationships › Need to Belong Scale (NBS, Leary et al.)

Need to Belong Scale (NBS, Leary et al.)

Psychology: Social & RelationshipsReliability: alpha 0.813 sample items

About this scale

A 10-item measure of dispositional need to belong — the desire for frequent, positive social interactions and stable, caring relationships.

Sample item(s)

“I have a strong need to belong”
“I want other people to accept me”
“If other people don't seem to accept me, I don't let it bother me (reverse)”

Reliability

Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.81. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.

Notes

Free for academic use.

Source & citation

Leary, M. R., Kelly, K. M., Cottrell, C. A., & Schreindorfer, L. S. (2013): Construct validity of the need to belong scale: Mapping the nomological network. Journal of Personality Assessment, Vol. 95, No. 6, pp. 610–624.

Leary, Kelly, Cottrell & Schreindorfer (2013): NBS. JPA, 95(6), 610–624.

Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.

Use it in your research

Need to check the reliability or psychometrics of this scale in your own data? Use the free DrAIStudio research tools:

Cronbach’s alpha calculator All statistical calculators Search the full Scale Atlas Academic writing humanizer

Related scales in Psychology: Social & Relationships

Related Psychology: Social & Relationships scales