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Threatened Needs Scale – Ostracism3

Threatened Needs Scale – Ostracism Test

Understand how ostracism impacts teens and young adults in 4 minutes. With 20 quick items, it pinpoints hits to belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaning for targeted support.

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Questions: 204 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

13,580 views

1,293 completions

1,111 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

3/5

Meaningful Existence (ME)

Measures how strongly a person’s sense of meaningful existence and personal significance feels frustrated after experiences of ostracism.

Low frustration

Moderate frustration

High frustration

1 – 1.9: Low frustration | 2 – 3.2: Moderate frustration | 3.3 – 5: High frustration

A score of 3 indicates a moderate level of frustration in meaningful existence, suggesting some difficulty feeling significant or recognized by others in the context of ostracism.

example score

2/5

Control (C)

Measures how much ostracism is disrupting a person’s sense of control over their social environment and ability to influence what is happening.

Low frustration

Moderate frustration

High frustration

1 – 1.7: Low frustration | 1.8 – 2.8: Moderate frustration | 2.9 – 5: High frustration

A score of 2 indicates a moderate level of control-need frustration, suggesting some difficulty feeling influential in social situations after experiences of being ignored or excluded.

example score

3/5

Self-Esteem (SE)

Measures how strongly ostracism is frustrating the person’s need for self-respect and feeling valued by others.

Low frustration

Moderate frustration

High frustration

1 – 1.9: Low frustration | 2 – 3.2: Moderate frustration | 3.3 – 5: High frustration

A score of 3 falls in the Moderate frustration range, suggesting some challenge maintaining self-worth and feeling valued in the context of ostracism.

example score

3/5

Acceptance (A)

Measures the degree to which the need for acceptance feels frustrated following experiences of ostracism.

Low frustration

Moderate frustration

High frustration

1 – 1.7: Low frustration | 1.8 – 3: Moderate frustration | 3.1 – 5: High frustration

A score of 3 indicates moderate frustration of the need for acceptance, suggesting some perceived lack of support or inclusion in the context of ostracism.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Bullied or excluded students

41%OF USERS

Teens and young adults who feel ignored, left out, or bullied use it to see which basic needs (belonging, self-esteem, control, meaning) were hit hardest.

School and college counselors

34%OF USERS

Counselors and psychologists use it for a quick check-in after conflicts or peer rejection to guide targeted support.

Youth mental health researchers

25%OF USERS

Researchers studying peer relations and social stress use it to quantify how ostracism threatens key psychological needs over time or across groups.

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.

in a meaningful existence (iame)

Average

3.9

Normal range

3.3 — 4.5

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.

in control (ic)

Average

2.5

Normal range

2 — 3.1

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.

in self-respect (is)

Average

2.6

Normal range

2 — 3.3

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.

in acceptance (ia)

Average

2.9

Normal range

2.4 — 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.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Disagree
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Strongly agree
- Disagree
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Strongly agree
- Disagree
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Completely agree

These are 3 of the 20 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

Threatened Needs Scale – Ostracism Test - Symptoms and Signs

bullying

frustration

social alienation

This self-report measure evaluates perceived threat to basic psychological needs following experiences of social exclusion or being ignored. The Threatened Needs Scale - Ostracism is intended to quantify subjective impact across core need domains commonly affected by ostracism.

The measure consists of 20 items and typically requires about 4 minutes to complete. Items ask respondents to rate current feelings related to belongingness, self-esteem, perceived control, and meaningful existence in the context of an ostracism experience.

The Threatened Needs Scale - Ostracism may be used in clinical or research settings to characterize need-threat severity, support case formulation, and monitor change over time; interpretation should be integrated with clinical interview and other relevant measures. The original measure is attributed to Kipling D. Williams.

Author: Kipling D. Williams, Roy F. Baumeister

Literature: Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin. 1995.; Van Beest, I., & Williams, K. D. When inclusion costs and ostracism pays, ostracism still hurts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2006.