Development and validation of the Internet Locus of Control Scale (I-LOC)

Abstract

No psychological tools have yet been developed to assess the locus of control that people experience when in the Internet environment. In a first study, we developed the Internet Locus of Control (I-LOC) Scale and validated it through a sample of 743 participants. The I-LOC consisted of 18 items revolving around two dimensions, Internal and External I-LOC, and proved to have satisfactory psychometric properties. A second study was conducted on a 219-people sample to externally validate the I-LOC Scale through two Internet-related constructs assessing online self-efficacy, comparing its sensitivity to that of the Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale (LCS). The I-LOC Scale was significantly correlated with both the measures of Internet-related self-efficacy, while the LCS correlations with Internet Self-efficacy Scale (ISS) and Social Network Confidence Scale (SNC) were weaker or non-existent. Thus, I-LOC can be considered as characterized by a higher specificity for the online context with respect to LCS.