Personal Competence/ personal efficacy
(Agree a lot/ Agree a little/ Disagree a little/ Disagree a lot)
1. I would rather decide things when they come up than always try to plan ahead. *
2. I have always felt pretty sure my life would work out the way I wanted It to.
3. I seem to be the kind of person that has more bad luck than good luck. *
4. I never have any trouble making up my mind about important decisions .
5. I have always felt that I have more will power than most people have.
6. There’s not much use for me to plan ahead because there’s usually something that makes me change my plans. *
7. I nearly always feel pretty sure of myself even when people disagree with me.
8. I have often had the feeling that it’s no use to try to get anywhere in this life. *
* Reversed scoring
Forced choice (1960 & 1964)
1. Have you usually felt pretty sure your life would work out the way you want it to‚ or have there been times when you haven’t been very sure about it? (* Pretty sure/ Sometimes not very sure)
2. Do you feel that you are the kind of person who gets his share of bad luck‚ or do you feel that you have mostly good luck? (*Mostly good luck /Bad luck)
3. When you make plans ahead do you usually get to carry out things the way you expected‚ or do things usually come up to make you change your plans? (*Things work out as expected/ Have to change plans)
(Forced choice items used only in 1960)
4. Are you the kind of person that plans his life ahead all the time or do you live more from day to day? (*Plans ahead/ Live from day to day)
5. Some people feel like other people push them around a good b it. Others feel that they run their lives pretty much the way they want to. How is it with you? (*Run own life/ Get pushed around)
6. Would you say you nearly always finish things once you start them or do you sometimes have to give up before they are finished? (*Always finish/ Sometimes give up)
7. I f you had your choice‚ would you rather have a job where you gave the orders or a job where somebody else told you what to do? (*Rather give orders/ Rather be told what to do)
* indicates personal competence
This instrument can be found at: https://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/dis/infoserv/isrpub/pdf/Measuresofsocialpsychologicalattitudes_2928_.PDF
Barron‚ F. (1953). An ego-strength scale which predicts response to psychotherapy. Journal of Consulting Psychology‚ 17‚ 327-333.
Campbell‚ A.‚ Converse‚ P.E.‚ Miller‚ W.E.‚ and Stokes‚ D.E.‚ (1960). The American voter. New York: Wiley.
Robinson‚ John P.‚ Shaver‚ Phillip R. (1969). Measures of Political Attitudes. Institute for Social Research‚ University of Michigan/. Ann Arbor‚ Michigan