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Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS)3

Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS) Test

In about 6 minutes, this test helps you understand how clearly you sense body and social signals of safety. With 29 quick items, it supports therapy or teams by spotting stress triggers and guiding calmer connection.

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Questions: 296 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

20,929 views

1,967 completions

1,689 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

3/5

Bodily Sensations (BS)

Measures how aware you are of physical sensations that signal safety and internal calm or alertness.

Low awareness

High awareness

1 – 3.1: Low awareness | 3.2 – 5: High awareness

A score of 3 suggests lower-range awareness of bodily safety signals, meaning physical cues of comfort or tension may be less distinct or harder to track in the moment.

example score

3/5

Compassion (C)

Measures how readily you empathize with others and offer supportive, helping responses that can strengthen a sense of safety in groups.

Lower compassion

Higher compassion

1 – 3.3: Lower compassion | 3.4 – 5: Higher compassion

A score of 3 falls in the Lower compassion range, suggesting empathy and support for others are present but may not be consistently expressed across situations.

example score

3/5

Social Engagement (SE)

Measures engagement in social interactions and openness to communication as an indicator of felt safety in social contexts.

Low social activity

Typical social activity

1 – 3.2: Low social activity | 3.3 – 5: Typical social activity

A score of 3 suggests lower social activity, indicating more limited engagement or openness in social situations relative to higher scores on this scale.

example score

3/5

Psychological Safety (PS)

Measures how safe, comfortable, and trusting a person feels within their current social environment.

Low safety

High safety

1 – 3.2: Low safety | 3.3 – 5: High safety

A score of 3 suggests a lower sense of psychological safety, with comfort and trust in social situations feeling limited or inconsistent.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Therapy and coaching clients

41%OF USERS

People exploring anxiety, stress, or relationship patterns use it to see how their body reads safety versus threat in everyday situations.

Team leads and HR partners

34%OF USERS

Managers and people-ops professionals take it to gauge psychological safety in groups and spot conditions that increase tension or trust.

Helpers and care professionals

25%OF USERS

Clinicians, educators, and frontline helpers use it to understand their own nervous-system readiness for social interaction and recovery after strain.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Bodily sensations (Bs)

Average

Normal range

1.3 — 2.8

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Compassion (C)

Average

2.3

Normal range

1.8 — 2.8

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Social Activity (SA)

Average

3.5

Normal range

3 — 4

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Psychological Safety (PS)

Average

3.4

Normal range

2.8 — 3.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Strongly disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree somewhat
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree somewhat
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Strongly agree

These are 3 of the 29 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Neuroception Scale in Psychological Safety, NPSS Test

Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS) Test - Symptoms and Signs

security

This self-report measure assesses perceived cues of safety and threat as they relate to autonomic and social engagement responses. The Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS) is intended to capture individual differences in felt safety across interpersonal and contextual situations.

Developed by Stephen W. Porges, it includes 29 items and typically requires about 6 minutes to complete. Results may be used to inform case conceptualization or to track perceived safety over time in clinical, coaching, or organizational settings.

Interpretation of the Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS) should be integrated with clinical interview data and other relevant measures, as scores reflect subjective experience and may be influenced by current stress, symptoms, and situational factors.

Author: Amy C. Edmondson, Stephen W. Porges

Literature: Edmondson, A. C. Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly. 1999.; Morton, L., Cogan, N., Kolacz, J., Calderwood, C., Nikolic, M., Bacon, T., Pathe, E., Williams, D., & Porges, S. W. A new measure of feeling safe: Developing psychometric properties of the Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS). Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. 2022.