Edward L. Deci & Richard M. Ryan (1985)
Introduces the General Causality Orientations Scale to assess autonomy, control, and impersonal orientations in personality.
Deci and Ryan propose that people differ in chronic motivational tendencies that shape how they interpret events and regulate behavior. The paper introduces the General Causality Orientations Scale (GCOS) to measure three orientations central to self-determination theory: autonomy, controlled, and impersonal. By operationalizing these orientations as stable individual differences, it provides a tool for linking personality to intrinsic/extrinsic motivation and well-being outcomes. The scale became foundational for studying how social contexts and personal tendencies jointly influence self-determined behavior.
Scale development and psychometric validation of a personality measure grounded in self-determination theory.
Basic knowledge of self-determination theory, intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation, and introductory psychometrics.
An empirical measure within the framework of Self-Determination Theory that identifies causal orientation (autonomous, external, or impersonal). The primary instrument for the corresponding construct.
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