Academic Locus of Control Scale

What it measures

Measures the degree to which students believe academic outcomes are controlled by their own effort and ability (internal) versus external forces such as luck, teacher bias, or task difficulty (external). Academic locus of control is a strong predictor of academic achievement, persistence, and motivation. Internal students take more responsibility for their learning outcomes and respond better to failure.

Response format

Forced choice (Internal vs External statement pairs)

Representative items

• The grade I get in a course depends mainly on how much I study. (Internal)
• My grades in college depend heavily on how I got along with my professor. (External)
• If I understand the material, I am sure to do well on the test. (Internal)
• No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get good grades. (External)
• Doing well on exams is mostly a matter of luck. (External)

Usage notes & scoring

Score = count of internal choices (0–28). Higher = more internal locus of control. Academic locus of control is more predictive of academic outcomes than general locus of control. Internal students show greater resilience after failure — they attribute poor performance to insufficient effort (controllable) rather than lack of ability or bad luck.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Trice, A.D. (1985). An academic locus of control scale for college students. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 61(3), 1043–1046.

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