Measuring Belongingness: The Social Connectedness and the Social Assurance Scales

The study developed 2 measures of belongingness based on H. Kohut's (1984) self psychology theory. The Social Connectedness Scale and the Social Assurance Scale were constructed with a split-sample procedure on 626 college students. Internal reliability estimates for the 2 scales were.91 and.82, respectively. Test-retest correlations revealed good test stability over a 2-week period (r s =.96 and.84, respectively). Cross-validation for the 2 measures was achieved with confirmatory factor analysis with an incremental fit index greater than.90. Scale functions are described and results are discussed in light of current research and theory.