Measuring Perceived Control: Exploratory Factor Analysis of a Perceived Control Scale Among United States Job Seekers

This study targeted 125 adult job seekers residing in the United States to evaluate the factor structure and reliability of a perceived control scale used by the German Institute of Economic Research in the German Socioeconomic Panel Study. An exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure with factors reflecting internal control and external control. No items cross loaded at a .4 loading threshold. Of the eight items used in the perceived control scale, only one, item 4, failed to load on either factor. The seven remaining items displayed poor average inter-item correlation, r = .17 and a low Cronbach’s alpha, α =.59. Internal and external factors had comparatively higher alphas, α = .74 and α = .72 respectively. The exploratory factor analysis suggests that seven of the eight items load on two factors and when used independently are moderately reliable measures of internal control and external control.