Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale

BFNE

psychologysocial sciencesLicensed — permission required

A 12-item short form assessing apprehension and distress about being negatively evaluated by others.

Items

Response format

5-point Likert scale

Version

Original 12-item BFNE

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Fear of negative evaluation was measured with Leary's 12-item Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE; Leary, 1983), which showed strong internal consistency in its original validation (α = .90).

Citing this in a methods section? See the APA 7 guide — Author–date citations for psychology and the social sciences. Or compare all six citation styles.

Reliability & validation

notes

The 12-item score correlated .96 with the original 30-item FNE.

Validation population

Undergraduate validation sample (Leary, 1983)

Cronbach's α

0.9

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/10.1177/0146167283093007

This instrument is licensed. Folio does not distribute its item wording — obtain permission from the copyright holder before using it in your study.

Questions 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 licensed. You must obtain permission from the copyright holder before using it in a study — Folio does not distribute its item wording without that permission.

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

Permission required

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Library entry verified August 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.