Relationships
Support around you
12 questions · 3 min
This questionnaire looks at how much support you feel you have from three places: your family, your friends and a special person in your life. The special person can be anyone close to you, not only a partner.
It’s about how supported you feel, not how many people you know.
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What it shows
How supported you feel by the people in your life right now.
What it doesn’t
A count of how many people you know, or a judgement of your relationships.
Who it’s for
This test may help if you’ve been wondering who you can really lean on, for example after a move, a break-up, a new baby, a bereavement or a busy stretch when you’ve lost touch with people. It can show where you feel well supported and where you feel less so.
It can also be a gentle starting point if you’re thinking about reaching out more, or if you’d like to see how your sense of support changes over time.
Questions people ask
What does the MSPSS measure?
It measures perceived social support: how supported you feel by your family, your friends and one especially close person. It’s about how supported you feel, not how many people you know or how often you see them.
Who counts as the “special person”?
Anyone who is especially close to you: a partner, a relative, a friend or anyone else. It doesn’t have to be a romantic partner.
How long does the MSPSS take?
There are 12 statements, and most people finish in about 3 minutes. For each one, you choose how much you agree, from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”.
How is the MSPSS scored?
Each answer is scored from 1 to 7. Your overall score is the average of all 12 answers, and family, friends and the special person each get their own average too. Following the author’s optional guide, averages below 3 are described as little support, 3 to 5 as some support, and above 5 as strong support.
How often can I retake it?
About every 8 weeks. How supported you feel can change as your life and relationships change, so taking it again can show how things are moving.
What if I feel I have little support?
Many people go through times when they feel unsupported, and it isn’t a judgement of you or your relationships. Talking to someone you trust or your doctor can be a first step, and small moments of reaching out can help over time.
Where it comes from
Developed by psychologist Gregory Zimet and colleagues in 1988.
Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support
On iPhone or iPad?
Sprout is an app there too, and this link opens the test straight away if you have it.
Coming soon to the App Store