Belonging
Do team members feel genuinely included?
Is there a sense of psychological membership — that they matter to this group, and this group matters to them?
Grounded in: Relatedness (SDT) and Baumeister & Leary's research on the need to belong
What We Measure
Whether team members feel genuinely included — a sense of psychological membership that they matter to this group and this group matters to them. We surface the felt experience of belonging, distinct from surface-level friendliness.
Why It Matters
Grounded in SDT's need for Relatedness and Baumeister & Leary's research on the need to belong, this is a fundamental human motivation, not a perk. Belonging is what psychological safety protects: when people feel they belong, they bring their full capability and stay invested over time.
When It's Working
- People feel they genuinely matter to the team
- Newcomers are brought in rather than left to prove themselves
- Members invest in the group, not just their own work
When It's Not
- People keep their heads down and stay transactional
- Some members are quietly on the outside
- Turnover is driven by feeling unseen, not pay
Connected Components
No component works in isolation. Belonging combines with others to produce Psychological Safety.
Assess Belonging in Your Team
See how your team scores on Belonging as part of a full team diagnostic across all 14 components.