An adaptation study of social connectedness scale in Turkish culture

Problem Statement: Belongingness and social connectedness in social relationships framework has been studied increasingly by many scholars in recent years. Social connectedness and belongingness are a basic human need. Many of the problems, which people experience, are related to the fear of not being accepted by the significant others. In similar ways, some counseling theories such as Reality therapy and Adlerien therapy stress that our happiness and success are mostly related to the social connectedness. Although there are many more researches, models, and theories which try to explain what belongingness and social connectedness are, there is no any other measure that can be used to evaluate the feeling of individuals' social connectedness in Turkey. Purpose of the Study: The purpose of the study is to examine psychometric characteristics of Social Connectedness Scale in Turkish culture. Methods: The sample of this study is composed of 588 university students (357 female and 231 male) studying at different departments of the Faculty of Education in Pamukkale University. For the validity of SCS, correlations among three prominent scales such as UCLA Loneliness Scale, Life Satisfaction Scale and Social Provisions Scale were calculated. Findings and Results: The data collected were analyzed to evaluate the factor construct, reliability and validity of the SCS. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted by using principal component analysis and varimax rotation. Single independent factor with the eigenvalue over 1.00 has been found. This factor explained 59% of total variance. The reliability coefficient of the scale was examined by employing Cronbach Alpha. and test-retest methods. With the help these methods, the internal consistency (.90) and test-retest reliability of the instrument have been found very high. The test-retest correlation coefficient demonstrated that the scale had adequate test stability over a four week period (r=.90). The total score of SCS correlated significantly in the expected direction with the measures in the university sample. Conclusions and Recommendations: The findings concerned with the factor structure, internal reliability consistency and concurrent validity of the SCS with the criterion measures showed that the instrument can be evaluated as a reliable and valid measure in Turkish culture. In a general evaluation of these findings, it may be recommended that the SCS is reliable and a valid measure for the researches which will be carried out on the university students.