Self-Regulatory Focus (Promotion)

What it measures

A nine-item Likert-type scale designed to measure the degree to which a person is motivated by achievement and focused on opportunities for advancement.

Response format

9-point scale

Scale items

• I frequently imagine how I will achieve my hopes and aspirations.
• I often think about the person I would ideally like to be in the future.
• I typically focus on the success I hope to achieve in the future.
• My major goal in school right now is to achieve my academic ambitions.
• I see myself as someone who is primarily striving to reach my “ideal self”—to fulfill my hopes, wishes, and
• I often think about how I will achieve academic success.
• In general, I am focused on achieving positive outcomes in my life.
• I often imagine myself experiencing good things that I hope will happen to me.
• Overall, I am more oriented toward achieving success than preventing failure.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Internal consistency (alpha = .87) was reported in the primary study. Formal validity assessment was not reported by the original authors.

Citation

Higgins, E. Tory (1997), “Beyond Pleasure and Pain,” American Psychologist, 52 (12), 1280–1300.

Keywords