The Development and Preliminary Validation of a Service Locus of Control Scale

Abstract

This paper describes a six facet model of service locus of control (SLOC), and reports upon the development of a scale designed to measure this construct. Preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of this new 24-item scale is presented. Factor analysis suggests that the scale assesses three dimensions of control beliefs - internal, powerful others, and luck/chance, Correlations with related measures, including Rotter’s (1966) I-E scale, Levenson’s (1974) PC scales and a short measure of Social Desirability, are reported. Further tests of, and applications for, the instrument are discussed.