Personal Reaction Scale for College and Noncollege Adults: Its Development and Factorial Validity

Abstract

The Personal Reaction Scale (PRS) was developed as a paper-and-pencil test for college and non-college adults to measure their locus of control perceptions. The 79-item PRS was administered to women college students (n = 150), their mothers (n = 105) and fathers (n = 88), and parents of 20 preschool-age children. Responses of 382 subjects were factor analysed to yield six factors: Fate, Social Self, Personal Self, Self-Determination, Luck, and Powerlessness. Reliability estimates based on use of the usual Spearman-Brown formula, were computed for each factor for total variance (range = .39 to .84) and for unique variance (range = .34 to .75). The low intercorrelations among factors (range = .36 to -.32) offer support for uniqueness of each factor, and suggest that the locus of control construct is not a single concept but rather multidimensional in nature. Furthermore, even though relationships were evident between the responses of parents and children, it seems that the locus of control construct is either related to age or correlated with developmental processes experienced during the individual's like span. Additional research is required to verify the different emphases of persons' perceptions of control over events.

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