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An analysis of the effects of the forced‐choice format of rotter's internal‐external scale
Author(s) -
Gatz Margaret,
Good Paul R.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(197804)34:2<381::aid-jclp2270340224>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - psychology , two alternative forced choice , replication (statistics) , rating scale , locus of control , social psychology , scale (ratio) , correlation , developmental psychology , statistics , cognitive psychology , physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics
The forced choice Rotter I‐E scale and a scale that involved rating percentage agreement with the separate item alternatives both were completed by 294 undergraduates. Disagreement between the two scale formats was greater when pairs of alternatives were seen as more equal. Disagreement also was related to self‐rated level of conflict when S s were responding to the forced choice item. Correlations between responses to pairs of separate item alternatives were low, which replicates previous studies. However, correlation between the forced choice I‐E score and an I‐E score derived from ratings of the separate alternatives was high, a replication of other previous work. These results were integrated by showing support for a model of locus of control as comprised of independent external and internal subscales, in which forced choice I‐E represents a balance score.