Locus of Control Scale Test

With 44 questions and an estimated completion time of 7 minutes, the locus of control test explores whether you tend to view outcomes as shaped mainly by your own actions or by external circumstances. Your profile can highlight patterns across health, achievement, and relationships, supporting focused self-reflection about responsibility and influence.

Questions: 447 minutes

Locus of Control Scale Test: sample question card

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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2,446 completions

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Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

HealthH

Assesses whether you attribute health outcomes more to your own actions (internality) or to external factors (externality).

example score-8/12

-8/12More externalexample score

-12 – -1More external

0Balanced

1 – 12More internal

A score of -8 falls in the “More external” range, suggesting you more often see health outcomes as shaped by circumstances or other influences rather than primarily by your own efforts.

Personal RelationshipsPR

Measures whether a person tends to attribute outcomes in personal relationships to their own actions (internal) or to external circumstances (external).

example score-3/12

-3/12More externalexample score

-12 – -1More external

0Balanced

1 – 12More internal

A score of -3 suggests a mildly more external orientation in personal relationships, meaning relationship outcomes are more often linked to circumstances or other people than to one's own influence.

Business RelationshipsBR

Measures whether a person attributes outcomes in business relationships to their own actions (internality) versus external circumstances (externality).

example score8/12

8/12More internalexample score

-12 – -1More external

0Balanced

1 – 12More internal

A score of 8 falls in the “More internal” range, suggesting you tend to see successes and setbacks in business relationships as influenced mainly by your own decisions and efforts.

Family RelationshipsFR

Assesses whether a person attributes outcomes in family relationships more to their own actions (internality) or to others and circumstances (externality).

example score-1/12

-1/12More externalexample score

-12 – -1More external

0Balanced

1 – 12More internal

A score of -1 suggests a slightly more external orientation in family relationships, with outcomes more often seen as shaped by others or circumstances than by one’s own influence.

FailuresF

This scale measures whether a person tends to attribute failures to external circumstances versus their own actions and effort.

example score-10/12

-10/12External attributionexample score

-12 – -1External attribution

0Balanced attribution

1 – 12Internal attribution

A score of -10 indicates a strong tendency to explain failures mainly through external factors rather than personal actions.

Achievement DomainAD

Measures whether achievements are attributed more to one’s own efforts (internality) or to external circumstances (externality).

example score3/12

3/12More internalexample score

-12 – -1More external

0Balanced

1 – 12More internal

A score of 3 falls in the “More internal” range, suggesting you tend to see your achievements as influenced mainly by your own actions and effort.

Internality–ExternalityIE

Measures whether a person generally attributes life events to their own actions (internality) versus external circumstances (externality).

example score20/44

20/44Internalityexample score

-44 – -1Externality

0Balanced

1 – 44Internality

A score of 20 falls in the Internality range, suggesting a tendency to see outcomes as more influenced by personal effort and decisions than by external factors.

just completed the test

DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Students and teens

42%OF USERS

They take it to understand whether they credit school successes and setbacks to their own effort or to luck, teachers, and circumstances.

Coaches and counselors

33%OF USERS

They use it as a quick screen to guide goal-setting, motivation work, and responsibility skills in sessions or workshops.

Adults in transition

25%OF USERS

They take it during career, relationship, or life changes to see how their sense of control affects decisions, stress, and follow-through.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

HealthH

You?

Average-2.9

Typical rangeTypical-7.3 – 1.5

Possible-12 – 12

Personal RelationshipsPR

You?

Average-1.7

Typical rangeTypical-5.2 – 1.9

Possible-12 – 12

Business RelationshipsBR

You?

Average-4.5

Typical rangeTypical-8.1 – -0.9

Possible-12 – 12

Family RelationshipsFR

You?

Average2.4

Typical rangeTypical-1.8 – 6.6

Possible-12 – 12

Area of FailureAoF

You?

Average2.8

Typical rangeTypical-0.9 – 6.5

Possible-12 – 12

Field of AchievementsFoA

You?

Average1.9

Typical rangeTypical-1.3 – 5

Possible-12 – 12

Externality – InternalityE–I

You?

Average8.6

Typical rangeTypical-3.3 – 20.4

Possible-44 – 44

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree
- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree
- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree

These are 3 of the 44 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Locus of Control Scale Test - Description and methodology of the test

locus of control

People who want to understand how they explain success, setbacks, and influence may find the locus of control test useful. It is intended for self-reflection about whether responsibility is assigned to personal effort, other people, luck, or circumstances. As a locus of control assessment, it combines an overall orientation with domain scores, so the domain pattern adds context to the overall result.

What This Assessment Explores

Outcomes are attributed to personal efforts or outside forces. Health, achievement, failure, and relationships receive domain scores, creating a profile for the locus of control questionnaire.

Five scales use More external (-12--1), Balanced (0-0), and More internal (1-12); Failures uses External attribution (-12--1), Balanced attribution (0-0), and Internal attribution (1-12); overall uses Externality (-44--1), Balanced (0-0), and Internality (1-44).

The profile dimensions are:

Business Relationships (-12-12) attributes business-relationship outcomes to personal or external causes.
Health (-12-12) attributes health to personal effort or external factors.
Personal Relationships (-12-12) attributes events to own actions or external circumstances.
Family Relationships (-12-12) attributes events to personal responsibility or external circumstances.
Failures (-12-12) attributes failures to internal causes or external circumstances.
Achievement Domain (-12-12) attributes success to personal effort or external circumstances.
Internality-Externality (-44-44) summarizes life-event attribution to own actions or external circumstances.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Short self-report statements make up this loc test, covering responsibility, luck, effort, relationships, health, and setbacks. Items use Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, or Agree; some use Somewhere in between as the middle response. The displayed results combine answers into domain and overall scores.

The displayed scoring logic treats positive values as greater internality, negative values as greater externality, and zero as balanced. These results describe the direction of attribution represented by this questionnaire.

The questionnaire is an English online adaptation of the Bazhin-Golynkina-Etkind instrument; Rotter's theory of generalized control expectancies supplies the broader internal-external framework.

Lange and Tiggemann's study concerns the dimensionality and reliability of Rotter's I-E scale; it does not establish reliability or dimensionality for this online questionnaire.

Because responses are self-reported and the displayed bands are interpretive labels rather than population norms or clinical cutoffs, scores can be influenced by current circumstances, self-awareness, and impression management; they are best used as a structured reflection on the situations covered by the items.

Author: J. B. Rotter

Literature:

Bazhin, E. F., Golynkina, E. A., & Etkind, A. M. (1993). Questionnaire of the Level of Subjective Control. Moscow: Smysl. 16 pp. [In Russian].
Bazhin, E. F., Golynkina, E. A., & Etkind, A. M. (1984). The method of studying the level of subjective control. Psikhologicheskii Zhurnal, 5(3), 152-162. [In Russian].
Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80(1), 1-28. 10.1037/h0092976
Lange, R. V., & Tiggemann, M. (1981). Dimensionality and reliability of the Rotter I-E locus of control scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 45(4), 398-406. 10.1207/s15327752jpa4504_9

Updated: 2025-10-02