Internal Attribution of the Decision

What it measures

This scale measures how much the result of a decision is attributed to the self, with the implication (not stated explicitly in the items) that the alternative attribution is to an external source such as another person, a group, or an algorithm. Yalcin, Lim, Puntoni, and van Osselaer (2022) used it in Studies 4 (n = 571) and 5 (n = 443) with Prolific participants, drawing ideas from a measure by Russell (1982) that measures a related but distinct construct with different items.

Response format

11-point Likert

Scale items

• reflects something about yourself?
• can be attributed to something about yourself?
• is due to your personal qualities or behaviors?

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

Usage notes & scoring

Alphas were .91 and .95 in Studies 4 and 5, respectively (Yalcin et al. 2022, pp. 707, 709); validity was not discussed. Although the authors described the scale as "adapted" from Russell (1982), the items differ substantially from that source's Causal Dimension Scale; it is more precise to describe this as a scale created by Yalcin et al. (2022) that drew ideas from Russell's (1982) work. Items follow the stem "To what extent do you feel this decision..."

Citation

Yalcin, Gizem, Sarah Lim, Stefano Puntoni, and Stijn M.J. van Osselaer (2022), "Thumbs Up or Down: Consumer Reactions to Decisions by Algorithms Versus Humans," Journal of Marketing Research, 59 (4), 696-717.

Keywords