The Need to Belong Scale measures the extent to which people are motivated to fit into and feel like a part of a group. The survey consists of 10 statements and the survey taker must select from five possible responses on a Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5) scale. The 10 statements draw upon personal emotions associated with the need to feel accepted and liked by others and comfort level with being alone or left out. You can complete the survey on your own without a scoring protocol as a personal reflection experience, or you can complete it online at mysocialbrain.org (see under Links above). If you do complete this assessment online, you receive a graph showing your score in relation to others who have taken the survey. It is up to you how to understand your score. The results do not place you into categories or orientations. In other words, it does not provide the kind of fleshed out categorization that an assessment tool like the IDI gives you. I took the survey myself, placing on the high end (71^st percentile), something that was not surprising to me. It gave me limited opportunity for personal reflection, though Leary and his co-authors (2012) showed a positive correlation between high need to belong scores and extraversion, something that certainly does not hold true in my case. This prods me to dig deeper in trying to understand my own results.

It is as a group activity that the Need to Belong Scale can potentially be the most useful and insightful. The assessment could give rise to useful conversations in a classroom or other group setting that focuses on intercultural understanding or diversity, equity and inclusion issues. By comparing scores openly and using them as a springboard to discussion, the group can begin to ask questions about – and possibly look for trends in - how one’s cultural background or status as a member of marginalized vs. non-marginalized groups can potentially shape the need to feel like a part of a group.