CMU Core Competencies Initiative › Intercultural & Global Learning + Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) › Resources & Tools › Sense of Social Fit Scale

Sense of Social Fit Scale

Screenshot of an article entitled: Mere Belonging The Power of Social Connections which reads: Four experiments examined the effect on achievement motivation of mere belonging, a minimal social connection to another person or group in a performance domain. Mere belonging was expected to increase motivation by creating socially shared goals around a performance task. Participants were led to believe that an endeavor provided opportunities for positive social interactions (Experiment 1), that they shared a birthday with a student majoring in an academic field (Experiment 2), that they belonged to a minimal group arbitrarily identified with a performance domain (Experiment 3), or that they had task-irrelevant preferences similar to a peer who pursued a series of goals (Experiment 4). Relative to control conditions that held constant other sources of motivation, each social-link manipulation raised motivation, including persistence on domain- relevant tasks (Experiments 1-3) and the accessibility of relevant goals (Experiment 4). The results suggest that even minimal cues of social connectedness affect important aspects of self.

What is it and how does it work?

The Sense of Social Fit Scale is a 17-item self-report rating scale that measures the degree to which an individual feels that they belong in an academic context (e.g., university, college, program, etc.) (Walton & Cohen, 2007). It has previously been used with a range of college student populations including first-generation students (Stephens, Hamedani, & Destin, 2014) and students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds (Walton & Cohen, 2007; Walton et al., 2012).

Surveys may be administered multiple times in a semester to collect longitudinal data. Instructors can configure the survey to release results to students for feedback purposes.

Which skill(s) are targeted?

The Sense of Social Fit Scale can be used to collect students' self-report ratings of their own skills in the following competency areas:

Demonstrate an attitude of inclusion by engaging mindfully across a diversity of lived experiences

Who else has used it?

70-106: Business Science course
Heinz College
Student Academic Success Center
School of Computer Science Undergraduate Programs

Educator time commitment

15 minutes

Student time commitment

3-5 minutes

Contact eberly-assist@andrew.cmu.edu for help with incorporating this resource.

Educator how-to steps

Download and review the Sense of Social Fit Scale.
Specify the appropriate academic context (e.g., school/college, academic program, etc.)
Decide when students should complete the Sense of Social Fit Scale and then include this in the corresponding assignments/instructions to students.
Set up the assignment in Canvas (or as you normally would).

Reference

Stephens, N. M., Hamedani, M. G., & Destin, M. (2014). Closing the social-class achievement gap: A difference-education intervention improves first-generation students’ academic performance and all students’ college transition. Psychological Science, 25(4), 943–953. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613518349

Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2007). A question of belonging: race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 82-96. https://doi/10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.82

Walton, G. M., Cohen, G. L., Cwir, D., & Spencer, S. J. (2012). Mere belonging: The power of social connections. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(3), 513-532. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025731