Validating the state motivation to foster social connections scale

ABSTRACT

Motivations to foster social connections drive much of human behavior. While these motivations vary across both situations and time, no scale exists assessing them at the state level. In the current work, we develop such a state measure, yielding a two-factor solution: motivation to foster social connections with existing and with new social targets. Across nine studies with almost 2000 participants, the scale shows good factor structure and reliability, as well as convergent and divergent validity. In two experimental studies, it also showed sensitivity to manipulations of regulatory focus and hunger. Implications for future research on social interactions and other uses of the scale are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Belonging
• affiliation
• scale development
• state measures

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ No participants were removed during data analysis in any of the studies in this manuscript.

² Supplemental tables and can be found at this link: https://osf.io/n54d2/.

³ We conducted another study not included in the main text (N=293, 126 Female) in which we examined whether sexual arousal would increase motivation to socially connect with new and existing others. While the data yielded significant results, we decided to not include the study in the paper for multiple reasons, including our not measuring an important moderating factor (i.e., relationship status). Thus, we are not as confident in the effects as we might have otherwise been. For these reasons, we did not include this study and its findings in the main narrative. A fuller footnote about this study can be found on OSF for the sake of transparency.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences [1323349,1323418].

Notes on contributors

Michael J. Bernstein

Michael J. Bernstein is an Associate Professor of Psychology, focusing on social exclusion and utilizes a social cognitive approach to interpersonal and intergroup relations.

Heather M. Claypool

Megan Nadzan is a Social Psychology Doctoral student, focusing on how relational contexts moderate experiences of social rejection.

Megan A. Nadzan

Heather M. Claypool, Professor of Psychology, has published multiple articles on the consequences of belonging threats, the impact of fluency on social perception, and general social-cognitive processes, and her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation.

Kurt Schuepfer

Jacob A. Benfield is an Associate Professor of Psychology, focusing on the physical environment and often in the context of environmental management or individual wellness.

Jacob A. Benfield

Kurt J Schuepfer is a Data Scientist at Macy's, focusing on machine learning engineering and applications of natural language processing to consumer behavior.

Robert J. Nutt

Robert J. Nutt graduated from Penn State Abington in 2018 with a BS in Psychological and Social Sciences and currently is a research scientist at Mathematica.