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Self-Regulation

Ralf Schwarzer, Manfred Diehl, & Gerdamarie S. Schmitz, 1999

  1. I can concentrate on one activity for a long time, if necessary.
  2. If I am distracted from an activity, I don't have any problem coming back to the topic quickly.
  3. If an activity arouses my feelings too much, I can calm myself down so that I can continue with the activity soon.
  4. If an activity requires a problem-oriented attitude, I can control my feelings.
  5. It is difficult for me to suppress thoughts that interfere with what I need to do. (–)
  6. I can control my thoughts from distracting me from the task at hand.
  7. When I worry about something, I cannot concentrate on an activity. (–)
  8. After an interruption, I don't have any problem resuming my concentrated style of working.
  9. I have a whole bunch of thoughts and feelings that interfere with my ability to work  in a focused way. (–)
  10. I stay focused on my goal and don’t allow anything to distract me from my plan of action.


Note: (–) indicates the item has to be reversed.
Response format: (1) not at all true, (2) barely true, (3) moderately true, (4) exactly true
This test may only be used by scientists or for private purpose.

This scale refers to post-intentional self-regulation when individuals are in the phase of goal-pursuit and face difficulties in maintaining their action.  In such a maintenance situation it is required to focus attention on the task at hand and to keep a favorable emotional balance.  Thus, attention-regulation and emotion-regulation are reflected in these scale items.

In a sample of N = 442 persons the scale has obtained an internal consistency of Cronbach's alpha = .76.  In a sample of N = 239 persons the scale yielded a retest stability of .62 after six weeks.

In a sample of N = 330 persons Cronbach's alpha was found to be .84. In three subsamples of ca. N = 100 each it yielded associations with general self-efficacy (r = .62 - r = .72), and proactive coping (r = .58 - r = . 67).

There were associations found with general self-efficacy beliefs (r = .57), and with proactive coping (r = .55).

References

Diehl, M., Semegon, A. B. & Schwarzer, R. (2006). Assessing Attention Control in Goal Pursuit: A Component of Dispositional Self-Regulation. Journal of Personality Assessment, 86 (3), 306-317.

Luszczynka, A., Diehl, M., Gutiérrez-Doῆa, B., Kuusinen, P., Schwarzer, R. (2004). Measuring one component of dispositional self-regulation: attention control in goal pursuit. Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 555-566.