Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale
BFNEPermission: Free for research use. Free for non-commercial academic research, with no licence fee. Cite the original publication.
A 12-item short form assessing apprehension and distress about being negatively evaluated by others.
Ready-to-cite methods sentence
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Use BFNE in Folio Surveyor
Add it to a study with the full items, scoring, and analysis built in.
Reliability & validation
Response anchors
Not at all characteristic of me · Slightly characteristic of me · Moderately characteristic of me · Very characteristic of me · Extremely characteristic of me
Known limitations
Reverse-worded items can introduce method variance, and later straightforward-item variants are distinct instruments. Record the exact version used rather than treating BFNE variants as interchangeable.
Original citation
Leary, M. R. (1983). A brief version of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9(3), 371-375.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167283093007Questions researchers ask
What does the BFNE measure?
A 12-item short form assessing apprehension and distress about being negatively evaluated by others.
How many items does the BFNE have?
The Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE) has 12 items.
Is the BFNE free to use?
The BFNE is free to use for non-commercial academic research. You don't need to pay a license fee, but you should always cite the original publication.
Is the BFNE reliable?
Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.9. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.
Who developed the BFNE, and how do I cite it?
Leary, M. R. (1983). A brief version of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9(3), 371-375. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167283093007
Related scales
Library entry verified September 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.