The General Belongingness Scale (GBS): An assessment of achieved belongingness and an examination of its predictive utility

The purpose of this study was to construct a measure of general belongingness. Although belongingness has been included in an abundance of studies, there is a dearth of instruments that assess general levels of achieved belongingness. Our primary objectives included the following: (1) develop a reliable, valid, concise and easy to use instrument; (2) provide an instrument that would be a unique predictor of subjective well-being.

Participants 17 years and older were recruited from UTSA. In the pilot study (N = 81) we examined a 30-item pool to determine 12 items that would be retained. Retention criterion included: factor loadings, predictive utility, descriptive statistics, reliability, goodness of fit, and readability. The preliminary analyses supported a 2-factor model. Sequential regressions were conducted to determine which items provided unique variance. The final 12 items showed strong reliability, convergent and discriminate validity, and predictive utility.

In the primary study (N = 875) we used half of the sample to explore modifications designed to improve goodness of fit. The other half of the sample was used for confirmatory analyses. The modified model showed indices that were interpreted as a good fit. The instrument demonstrated patterns of convergent (r = -.88 to .80) and discriminate validity (r = -.57 to -.04). Reliability estimates were high (á = .95). Hierarchical regression revealed unique incremental predictive utility for satisfaction with life, subjective happiness, and depression.