Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS)
A 13-item self-report measure of trait (dispositional) self-control — the ability to override or change inner responses and to interrupt undesired behavioral tendencies. Respondents rate how much each statement reflects them on a 1–5 scale. Higher scores indicate greater self-control. There are no formal clinical cutoffs; scores are interpreted descriptively.
At a glance
Detailed write-up pending
A full, citation-backed scientific write-up for this scale — overview, clinical use, and psychometrics in the voice of a dissertation "Measures" section — has not yet been authored. To honor the platform's no-fabricated-sources rule, this page currently shows only the verified registry facts above (item count, structure, scoring, and any published norms). No validity coefficients, reliability figures, or citations are shown here that cannot be traced to a named source; the authored write-up will be added once its sources have been read and recorded in the plan-integrity file.
Example item
“I am good at resisting temptation.”
Illustrative only. During administration items are presented one screen-set at a time; response-key direction is never shown to respondents.
Scoring & interpretation
Item responses are summed within each scale (reverse-keyed items recoded first) and expressed as a percent of the maximum possible score. No normative percentile is applied — there is no verbatim-matched published norm for this exact item set.
Source & citation
Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72(2), 271–324.
Brief Self-Control Scale (Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L., 2004), Journal of Personality, 72(2), 271–324. Free for research and clinical use with attribution.