Locus of Control Scale
Background
Introduced by Rotter (1966)
The scale
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.
SPSS Syntax
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.