Measuring individuals’ need for identification: Scale development and validation

We developed and validated a scale to measure individual differences in the propensity to identify with social groups. This tendency, termed need for identification (nID), addresses a gap in current identification literature, which ignores the potential role of the individual. Item development and review was followed by item reduction through exploratory factor analysis (N = 126). A second sample (N = 204) was used to refine the measure, and to provide evidence for discriminant and convergent validity. A two-dimensional structure of the nID construct was confirmed in a third sample (N = 180), and a final sample (N = 40) provided evidence of test–retest reliability. The first dimension (self-definition) was interpreted as a need for group memberships in order to define and understand the self. The second dimension (belongingness) was interpreted as a need for group affinity and relatedness. These dimensions may explain individual variation in identification, thereby advancing our understanding of social identification.