Comparison of Alternative Response Formats for an Abbreviated Version of Rotter's Locus of Control Scale

Abstract

The present study analyzed the factor structure of an abbreviated version of Rotter's (1966) locus of control scale. The 11-item scale was administered in both the original forced-choice format and a 4-point rating format. The data were derived from administration of the scale as part of the National Longitudinal Survey (N=7,407). Maximum likelthood factor analysis with oblique rotation gave a threefactor solution for both the forced-choice and rating formats, but the resulting factors were not easily interpretable, and the subscales had high intercorrelations and unacceptably low r e l i a b h t~ coefficients. Subsequent analyses suggested that a single-factor solution was more appropriate. The 4-point rating format appeared to be more interpretable and had the highest reliability coefficient.

The roles of personality and general ethical judgments in intention to not repay credit card expenses

“…using credit cards to consume) that defined membership in the intended target population/universe. Barnett and Lanier (1995). Subjects were asked to respond to the items in the original forced-choice format by selecting the statement from each pair that best reflected their thoughts.…”

Modeling turnover intentions and their antecedents using the locus of control as a moderator: A case of customer service employees

“…The abbreviated LOC has eleven items originally from Rotter' s (1966) scale (Barnett & Lanier, 1995). Two measures of LOC were obtained: one in the original forced-choice format and one in a four-point rating format (Barnett & Lanier, 1995). Respondents were first asked to respond to the items in the original format by selecting the statement from each pair that better reflected their beliefs.…”

“…It has been proven to be valid, especially when used with a professional rather than bluecollar sample. LOC here was measured via rating format of an abbreviated version of LOC (Barnett & Lanier, 1995). Sample items include: "Many of the unhappy things in people' s lives are partly due to bad work," and "People' s misfortunes result from the mistakes they make."…”

“…If the chosen belief was slightly closer or much closer to the external statement, it was scored a 3 or 4. Total scores for the rating format were divided by the number of items in the scale and could therefore range from 1 to 4 (Barnett & Lanier, 1995). Finally, the correlation matrix is provided for reference in Appendix B.…”

“…Sample items include: "Many of the unhappy things in people' s lives are partly due to bad work," and "People' s misfortunes result from the mistakes they make." The abbreviated LOC has eleven items originally from Rotter' s (1966) scale (Barnett & Lanier, 1995). Two measures of LOC were obtained: one in the original forced-choice format and one in a four-point rating format (Barnett & Lanier, 1995).…”