Perceived Choice and Awareness of Self Scale (PCASS)

This scale assesses individual differences (trait level) in perceived choice and awareness of self. Perceived choice reflects feeling a sense of choice with respect to one’s behavior and awareness of self reflects being aware of one’s feelings and one’s sense of self. The PCASS is a short, 10- item scale, with two 5-item subscales. The first subscale is perceived choice in one’s actions, and the second is awareness of oneself. The subscales can either be used separately or they can be combined into an overall score.

This scale was formerly labeled as Self-Determination Scale (SDS) and has been renamed to better capture the constructs it assesses. Those interested in measures of self-determination, please refer to the following: (1) General Causality Orientations Scale (GCOS) or (2) Autonomous Functioning Index (AFI) when assessing global individual differences in self- determination/autonomy; (3) Self-Regulation Questionnaires (SRQ) when assessing self- determination/autonomy of a specific domain/behavior (e.g., academic, exercise).