Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support
MSPSSA 12-item scale measuring perceived adequacy of social support from three sources: family, friends, and a significant other (four items each).
Ready-to-cite methods sentence
Reliability & validation
Subscales
Response anchors
Very strongly disagree · Strongly disagree · Mildly disagree · Neutral · Mildly agree · Strongly agree · Very strongly agree
Known limitations
Measures perceived (not received or structural) support and shows ceiling effects in some samples; the significant-other subscale can be ambiguous for respondents without a partner.
Original citation
Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., Farley, G. K. (1988). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30-41.
https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2Questions researchers ask
What does the MSPSS measure?
A 12-item scale measuring perceived adequacy of social support from three sources: family, friends, and a significant other (four items each).
How many items does the MSPSS have?
The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) has 12 items across 3 subscales: Family, Friends, Significant Other.
Is the MSPSS free to use?
The MSPSS 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 MSPSS reliable?
Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.88. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.
Who developed the MSPSS, and how do I cite it?
Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., Farley, G. K. (1988). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30-41. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2
Reference only
Folio has verified the citation and methods metadata for this scale, but does not hold confirmed item wording or scoring to import into Surveyor.
Related scales
Library entry verified July 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.