Desire for Control Scale

What it measures

The standard measure of desire for control as a stable individual difference, validated across multiple samples (total n>2,000). Alpha 0.76–0.80; two-week test-retest reliability r=0.75. Convergent validity with Type A behaviour, need for power, and internal locus of control. Discriminant from social desirability, self-monitoring, and self-esteem. Higher scores predict preference for leadership roles, greater information search before decisions, higher resistance to persuasion, stronger attributions of causality to oneself in performance situations, and more active coping with stressors. In consumer research, high desire-for-control individuals: (a) engage in more extensive pre-purchase information search to maintain an informed, controlling consumer role; (b) resist high-pressure sales tactics; (c) respond negatively to advertising implying dependency or loss of control; (d) show lower susceptibility to interpersonal influence; (e) prefer customisation and personalisation options; and (f) respond more positively to autonomy-supportive service encounters. Low desire-for-control individuals show higher susceptibility to social influence, greater reliance on expert recommendations, and less resistance to persuasion. Widely used as a moderator of reactance, consumer empowerment, and health decision-making research. Mean score Mapprox.81 (SDapprox.10) in general adult samples; higher in managerial and entrepreneurial samples.

Response format

6-point Likert (1=does not apply to me at all to 6=always applies to me); items 7, 14, and 17 are reverse-scored; items summed (range 20–120)

Scale items

• I prefer a job where I have a lot of control over what I do and when I do it.
• I enjoy political participation and influence over governmental decisions.
• I try to avoid situations where someone else tells me what to do.
• I prefer to be a leader rather than a follower.
• I enjoy having control over my own destiny.
• I am careful to always check everything on a list of things to do.
• I am inclined to let someone else take control of things that come up. (R)
• I would like to be an elected official.
• I like to get my own way.
• I enjoy making my own decisions.
• I like to have control over the things I own.
• I would prefer to be a supervisor rather than a subordinate.
• I tend to take charge in most situations.
• Others make the major decisions that affect me. (R)
• I would rather have a job where I can lead others.
• When I have problems, I prefer to make my own decisions about how to solve them.
• I let other people control things in my life. (R)
• I tend to organise the people around me.
• I try to direct projects rather than having others direct them.
• I prefer to get my own way when I can.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Items 7, 14, and 17 are reverse-scored before summing. Score range 20–120; higher = greater desire for control. The DCS is in the public domain. High-DC consumers are more engaged in pre-purchase information search, more reactive to autonomy-threatening sales tactics, more satisfied with self-service technologies that restore a sense of control, and more likely to seek second opinions in high-stakes decisions. The construct is theoretically related to but empirically distinct from locus of control (expectancy belief about control), psychological reactance (emotional response to freedom threats), and need for cognition (preference for cognitive engagement). A brief 15-item version (excluding items with lowest factor loadings) has been used in time-constrained marketing surveys.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Burger, J.M., & Cooper, H.M. (1979). The desirability of control. Motivation and Emotion, 3(4), 381–393.

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