ECOS Scoring
Causality orientations theory adopts a multidimensional view of personality. Thus individuals are not categorised according to types (e.g autonomy oriented versus control oriented). Instead individuals can be profiled according to the strength of each orientation that they exhibit. Thus scores are derived for each orientation. The strength of each orientation is calculated by summing scores on each orientation item response as follows:
|
Scenario
|
Autonomy
|
Control
|
Impersonal
|
|
1
|
Item
2
|
Item
1
|
Item
3
|
|
2
|
Item
2
|
Item
3
|
Item
1
|
|
3
|
Item
2
|
Item
1
|
Item
3
|
|
4
|
Item
3
|
Item
1
|
Item
2
|
|
5
|
Item
1
|
Item
2
|
Item
3
|
|
6
|
Item
2
|
Item
1
|
Item
3
|
|
7
|
Item
3
|
Item
1
|
Item
2
|
Although Deci and Ryan (1985b) have argued against employing a typological approach to causality orientations, Koestner and Zuckerman (1994) have argued that it may be appropriate to classify individuals according to their predominant orientation. They suggested that this can be achieved by standardising respondents' scores on the the three orientations and then classifying individuals to groups according to the following schema:
| Autonomous: | z autonomy > z control AND z autonomy > z impersonal |
| Controlled: | z control > z autonomy AND z control > z impersonal |
| Impersonal: | z impersonal > z autonomy AND z impersonal > z control |
Researchers might find this method more appropriate than the dimensional approach in some circumstances.