Short-form Locus of Control Scale

Measuring an individual’s agency requires understanding the degree to which individuals believe they can purposefully achieve their goals (Kabeer 1999; Donald et al. 2020). A common conceptualization in psychology is an individual’s locus of control (Rotter 1966): the degree to which an individual believes that events are caused by one’s own behavior versus external factors (chance or powerful others). This construct is of policy interest because a greater internal locus of control is empirically associated with positive outcomes including human capital, technology adoption, employment outcomes, and savings. This 9-item scale adapts the Sapp and Harrod (1993) scale, allowing us to capture who the “powerful others” are that individuals have in mind when we try to measure individuals’ external locus of control. This scale includes items that explicitly mention household and non-household members.

This scale can be used to measure differences in internal locus of control within a population, determine where an individual’s feeling of lack of control comes from, or to assess heterogeneity in the impact of a program by baseline levels of locus of control. Which “powerful others” are included in the scale can be adapted depending on the context. For example, when administering this scale to adolescent girls, asking about parents or peers may be more relevant.

Link to: tool content and guidelines, CTO file, and statistical annex

Duration: This tool takes on average 2.73 minutes to be implemented.

Permitted use of the tool: users are free to use the tool with citation "MAGNET (2023). Short-form Locus of Control Scale. https://magnet.stage.ifpri.info/short-form-locus-of-control-scale/"

Tool sample

Please indicate the degree to which you agree with each of the following statements.

1. To a great extent, my life is controlled by accidental happenings.
2. My life is determined by my own actions.
3. I feel like what happens in my life is mostly determined by others in my household.

Response Options:

How much do you agree with the following statements? 

1. completely disagree 2. mostly disagree 3. neither agree nor disagree 4. mostly agree 5. completely agree.

Measurement properties

• Geographies Tested: Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi, Uganda
• Populations included: Female, Male
• Age range: Adults, Adolescent girls

For details on these testing metrics, visit our scoring methodology page.