Locus of Control Scale

Introduced by Rotter (1966)

Scoring

• Score one point for response ‘a’ to questions: 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, and 13.
• Score one point for response ‘b’ to questions: 2, 6, 7, 8, and 9.

The items:

Please choose one choice (a or b) for each number:

• 1. a. Children get into trouble because their patents punish them too much.
• 1. b. The trouble with most children nowadays is that their parents are too easy with them.
• 2. a. Many of the unhappy things in people's lives are partly due to bad luck.
• 2. b. People's misfortunes result from the mistakes they make.
• 3. a. One of the major reasons why we have wars is because people don't take enough interest in politics.
• 3. b. There will always be wars, no matter how hard people try to prevent them.
• 4. a. In the long run people get the respect they deserve in this world.
• 4. b. Unfortunately, an individual's worth often passes unrecognized no matter how hard he tries.
• 5. a. The idea that teachers are unfair to students is nonsense.
• 5. b. Most students don't realize the extent to which their grades are influenced by accidental happenings.
• 6. a. Without the right breaks, one cannot be an effective leader.
• 6. b. Capable people who fail to become leaders have not taken advantage of their opportunities.
• 7. a. No matter how hard you try, some people just don't like you.
• 7. b. People who can't get others to like them don't understand how to get along with others.
• 8. a. Heredity plays the major role in determining one's personality.
• 8. b. It is one's experiences in life which determine what they're like.
• 9. a. I have often found that what is going to happen will happen.
• 9. b. Trusting fate has never turned out as well for me as making a decision to take a definite course of action.
• 10. a. In the case of the well prepared student there is rarely, if ever, such a thing as an unfair test.
• 10. b. Many times, exam questions tend to be so unrelated to course work that studying is really useless.
• 11. a. Becoming a success is a matter of hard work, luck has little or nothing to do with it.
• 11. b. Getting a good job depends mainly on being in the right place at the right time.
• 12. a. The average citizen can have an influence in government decisions.
• 12. b. This world is run by the few people in power, and there is not much the little guy can do about it.
• 13. a. When I make plans, I am almost certain that I can make them work.
• 13. b. It is not always wise to plan too far ahead because many things turn out to be a matter of good or bad fortune anyhow.

compute locus=((lc1=1)+(lc2=2)+(lc3=1)+(lc4=1)+(lc5=1)+(lc6=2)+(lc7=2)+(lc8=2)+(lc9=2)+(lc10=1)+(lc11=1)+(lc12=1)+(lc13=1)).
exec.