Self-Regulatory Focus (Prevention)

What it measures

A nine-item Likert-type scale designed to measure the extent that a person is worried about being irresponsible and is motivated to avoid failure, losses, and threats.

Response format

9-point scale

Scale items

• I am anxious that I will fall short of my responsibilities and obligations.
• I often think about the person I am afraid I might become in the future.
• I often worry that I will fail to accomplish my academic goals.
• I see myself as someone who is primarily striving to become the self I “ought” to be—to fulfill my duties,
• I often imagine myself experiencing bad things that I fear might happen to me.
• I frequently think about how I can prevent failures in my life.
• I am more oriented toward preventing losses than I am toward achieving gains.
• My major goal in school right now is to avoid becoming an academic failure.
• In general, I am focused on preventing negative events in my life.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Internal consistency (alpha = .82) 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