Aloneness Scale

What it measures

An eight-item, seven-point Likert-type scale measuring the degree to which an individual feels socially excluded, unaccepted, and disconnected from others. While the construct shares conceptual ground with loneliness, the scale places greater emphasis on perceived social exclusion and relational non-acceptance — not fitting in, not being included, and sensing that others do not care — rather than the subjective affective distress characteristic of loneliness measures. Administered to 216 undergraduate business students across two universities (University of Pittsburgh and Georgia Institute of Technology) in Study 4 of the parent article. The scale was originally used in a reverse-scored form to measure belongingness; it functions equally in its natural direction as a direct measure of aloneness or felt exclusion.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree)

Scale items

• I feel like I don't fit in.
• When I am with others, I feel like I don't belong.
• I feel like others don't accept me.
• I am often not included in other people's plans.
• I feel excluded a lot of the time.
• I worry about whether other people care about me.
• I want other people to accept me.
• I feel alone.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

In the parent study, all items were reverse-scored so that high scores indicated greater belongingness. Researchers should decide scoring direction based on their theoretical framing: unreversed scoring yields an aloneness/exclusion measure; reverse-scored items yield a belongingness measure. The scale occupies related but distinct conceptual space from established instruments in the database: UCLA Loneliness Scale (ID 11) emphasises affective responses to social isolation; State Loneliness (ID 804) captures momentary loneliness; State Belongingness (ID 927) measures current felt connectedness. This scale's focus on perceived exclusion and non-acceptance makes it particularly well suited to consumer vulnerability, social rejection, and brand-as-belonging research contexts. No formal validity assessment was reported by the authors.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Dommer, S.L., Swaminathan, V., & Ahluwalia, R. (2013). Using differentiated brands to deflect exclusion and protect inclusion: The moderating role of self-esteem on attachment to differentiated brands. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(4), 657-675.

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