Description of the Questionnaire

The Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire (IARQ) is a self-report tool designed to measure children’s beliefs about the extent to which they have control and responsibility over their academic successes and failures. It consists of 34 closed-ended questions, each offering two alternative responses (a, b), one indicating internal control and the other external control. The child is asked to select the one they consider more representative.

Data Analysis and Use

Responses are scored based on the type of control they express. When a child selects the response that indicates internal control, they receive 1 point. Correspondingly, responses that indicate external control receive 0 points. Total scores range from 0 (complete external control) to 34 (complete internal control). The results can be analyzed either as a total score or by separating items that relate to positive or negative achievement experiences.

Purpose

The purpose of the questionnaire is to assess the extent to which children believe that their academic successes and failures are due to their own actions (internal control) or to external factors, such as luck or other people (external control). The tool provides insight into the level of personal responsibility children attribute to the outcomes of their cognitive efforts.

Scoring

Scoring is based on a binary scale, with each internal control choice receiving 1 point and each external control choice receiving 0. The total score is the sum of all responses indicating internal control. The internal reliability of the tool, as determined by standardization studies, is 0.56 for the total set of items, 0.33 for items measuring external control, and 0.53 for items measuring internal control.

Bibliography

Alexopoulos, D. S., & Keralidi, E. (in preparation). Psychometric properties of the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire. Crandall, V. C., Katkovsky, W., & Crandall, V. J. (1965). Children’s beliefs in their own control of reinforcement in intellectual-academic achievement situations. Child Development, 36, 91–109.