Self-report measure

Need to Belong Scale (NTBS)

A 10-item measure of the fundamental human motivation to form and maintain enduring, positive interpersonal relationships.

A 10-item scale of how strongly you want acceptance and lasting interpersonal bonds—the need to belong.

You learn how strong your need to belong and be accepted is.

For anyone curious how much they need to feel accepted and included.

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Pay $5 before you start. The full report and PDF are included.

Your answers stay private.

It comes from social psychology research on belonging as a basic human motive.

Sample result, example data. Illustrative chart with invented scores; it does not describe any real respondent.

What this test is

Welcome. A 10-item measure of the fundamental human motivation to form and maintain enduring, positive interpersonal relationships.

A 10-item scale of how strongly you want acceptance and lasting interpersonal bonds—the need to belong.

The measure

The Need to Belong Scale (NTBS) was developed by Leary and colleagues (2013). It has 10 items, each answered on a 5-point (Not at all … Extremely) scale.

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, 95(6), 610–624.

At a glance

Items

Response scale

5-point (Not at all … Extremely)

Est. time

~1 min

Access

Pay before you start · $5, or $3 to repeat · full report and PDF included

What it measures

Ten statements ask how much a person wants to be accepted by others and how much it matters to belong: whether they try hard not to do things that will make others avoid them, need to feel that there are people they can turn to, are bothered when they are not included in others' plans, and have their feelings easily hurt when they feel that others do not accept them. Two statements are worded the other way, about not being bothered by being alone or excluded.

Baumeister and Leary (1995) argued that the need to belong, the need to form and maintain lasting, positive relationships is a fundamental human motivation, comparable in its effects to other basic needs. Leary, Kelly, Cottrell and Schreindorfer (2013) developed the scale to measure individual differences in the strength of this need.

The ten ratings are combined into one score. Higher scores describe a stronger desire for acceptance and a greater sensitivity to exclusion; lower scores describe a weaker need for social connection, which is not the same as dislike of others. The score describes motivation, not how well a person's need for belonging is currently met.

The scale is used in research on social exclusion, loneliness and relationships, and in personal reflection. On this site, the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (RSQ) measures anxious expectations of rejection, the Experiences in Close Relationships Short Form (ECR-SF) measures attachment patterns, and the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale describes reduced pleasure in social contact.

How well it holds up

The NTBS has also been related to several self-report and behavioral measures of other theoretically related constructs, including interpersonal sensitivity and facial expression decoding following experimentally induced social exclusion even after controlling for the effects of mood as well as empathic accuracy, social sensitivity, and vocal tone recognition (Pickett et al., 2010). In addition, the NTBS has demonstrated discriminant validity and was unrelated to measures of negative affect as well as verbal and math intelligence (Pickett et al., 2010). In addition, the NTBS appears to be independent of attachment style as individuals with avoidant versus nonavoidant attachment styles did not display significant differences on the NTBS (see Gabriel, Carvallo, Dean, Tippin, & Renaud, 2005, p. 1571).

Example item

“If other people don’t seem to accept me, I don’t let it bother me.”

Not at allSlightlyModeratelyVeryExtremely

Illustrative only. During administration items are presented one screen-set at a time; response-key direction is never shown to respondents.

Scoring & interpretation

Your report explains each of your scale scores in plain language.

Related measures

Common questions

How many items does the Need to Belong Scale have?

10 items. Some are reverse-scored before the items are combined into a total (or average) score for overall need to belong (Pickett et al., 2010).

What do higher scores mean?

Higher scores reflect a stronger need to belong—the desire for interpersonal attachments (Pickett, Gardner, & Knowles, 2010; Leary et al.).

Is need to belong the same as rejection sensitivity?

No.

What response anchors does this site use?

Each statement is rated for how true or characteristic it is of you, from 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely): 1 = not at all, 2 = slightly, 3 = moderately, 4 = very, 5 = extremely (Leary et al., 2013).

References

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, 95(6), 610–624.
Pickett, C. L., Gardner, W. L., & Knowles, M. (2004). Getting a cue: The need to belong and enhanced sensitivity to social cues. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30(9), 1095–1107.
Watt, S. E., & Badger, A. J. (2009). Effects of social belonging on homesickness: An application of the belongingness hypothesis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(10), 1308–1320.

Sample report preview

The report shows your total score and where it falls across the range of possible scores, followed by a plain-language explanation of what scores in that region describe. Where the instrument has published interpretive bands, the report names the band and what it means. It closes with notes on how to read the result and on when a conversation with a qualified professional may be useful.

Report contents
Section	What it shows
Score	Your scale score, computed with the published scoring key.
Comparisons	How your scores compare with a published comparison group.

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