A single-item measure of social identification: Reliability, validity, and utility
Postmes, Haslam and Jans introduce a single-item measure of social identification in which respondents indicate their agreement, on a seven-point scale, with a statement that they identify with their group or category. Three studies examine its convergent, divergent and test-retest validity across a wide range of social groups, and its reliability is reported as good. The authors also meta-analyse sixteen commonly used single-item measures, finding their reliability ranges from low to reasonably high and that the new item's is high by comparison. They argue that short measures tend to struggle when the constructs they assess are broad and heterogeneous, but that social identification appears homogeneous enough to be measured adequately with a single item.
Postmes, Haslam and Jans introduce a single-item measure of social identification in which respondents indicate their agreement, on a seven-point scale, with a statement that they identify with their group or category. Three studies examine its convergent, divergent and test-retest validity across a wide range of social groups, and its reliability is reported as good. The authors also meta-analyse sixteen commonly used single-item measures, finding their reliability ranges from low to reasonably high and that the new item's is high by comparison. They argue that short measures tend to struggle when the constructs they assess are broad and heterogeneous, but that social identification appears homogeneous enough to be measured adequately with a single item.
Written from the abstract, journal record, 2026-10-31.
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Postmes, T., Haslam, S. A., & Jans, L. (2013). A single-item measure of social identification: Reliability, validity, and utility. British Journal of Social Psychology, 52(4), 597-617. doi:10.1111/bjso.12006 https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12006