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