INTERNAL CONTROL INDEX

Read each statement. Where there is a blank indicate what your usual attitude, feeling or behaviour would be.

A = Rarely (less than 10 % of the time)
B= Occasionally (30% of the time)
C= Sometimes (50% of the time)
D= Frequently (70% of time)
E= Usually (+90% of time)

1. When faced with a problem I ____ try to forget it.
2. I ____ need frequent encouragement from others to keep working at a difficult task.
3. I ____ like jobs where I can make decisions and be responsible for my own work.
4. I_______ change my opinion when someone I admire disagrees with me.
5. If I want something I ____ work hard to get it.
6. I _____prefer to learn facts about something I work hard to get it.
7. I will_____ accept jobs that require me to supervise others.
8. I_____ have a hard time saying "no' when someone tries to sell me something.
9. I_____ like to have a say in any decisions made by any group I'm in.
10. I _____consider the different sides of an issue before making a decision.
11. What other people think_____has a great influence on my behaviour.
12. Whenever something good happens to me I _____ feel it is because I earned it.
13. I _____ enjoy being in a position of leadership.
14. I ____need someone else to praise my work before I am satisfied with what I've done.
15. I am _____ sure enough of my opinions to try to influence others.
16. When something is going to affect me I _____ learn as much as I can about it.
17. I_____decide to do things on the spur of the moment.
18. For me, knowing I've done something well is_____ more important than being praised by someone else.
19. I____let other people's demands keep me from doing things I want to do.
20. I_____stick to my opinions when someone disagrees with me.
21. I____ do what I feel like doing, not what other people think I ought to do.
22. I_____get discouraged when doing something that takes a long time to achieve results.
23. When part of a group I ____ prefer to let other people make all the decisions.
24. When I have a problem I_____follow the advice of friends or relatives.
25. I____ enjoy trying to do difficult tasks more than I enjoy doing easy tasks.
26. I _____prefer situations where I can depend on someone else's ability rather than my own.
27. Having someone important tell me I did a good job is________ more important to me than feeling I've done a good job.
28. When I am involved in something I ____try to find out all I can about what is going on, even when someone else is in charge.

Author of test: Patricia Dutteiler

Purpose: to measure locus of control

Scoring:
Each item is scored on a 5 point scale from A (rarely) to E (usually) Half of the items are worded so that high internally oriented respondents are expected to answer at the" usually" end of the scale and the other half at the "rarely" end.

The "rarely" response is scored as 5 points on items 1,2,8,11,14,17,19,22,23,24,26,27. For the remainder of the items, the response "usually" is scored as 5 points. This produces a possible range of scores from 28 to 140 with higher scores reflecting higher internal locus of control.

Norms: 1365 respondents from college and university, both sexes scored MEAN: 99.3- 120.8

 

Source: Mastering Human Relations 3rd Edition, A Falikowski, 2002. Pearson Education

HUMAN RELATIONS HOME

Organizational Behaviour Home