Sense of Control Over Life Assessment

Thanks for taking a few minutes to reflect on how much control you feel you have over your life right now. Your responses are completely confidential and anonymized. There are no right answers here — honest, in-the-moment responses are most useful. About 5 minutes.

Overall, how much control do you feel you have over the direction your life is taking right now?

How much control do you feel you have in each of these areas of your life?

In the last 30 days, how often did you feel like things were happening to you rather than resulting from your own choices?

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Almost always

When something in your life goes wrong, how much do you believe your own actions can change the outcome?

If you gained more say over each of these areas, which would increase your overall sense of control the most, and which the least?

• Career decisions
• Financial decisions
• Health and wellness choices
• Where or how you live
• Relationships and social time
• Daily schedule and time use
• Major life decisions (moving, having kids, etc.)
• Long-term goals and plans

In the last 30 days, how often were you able to decide your own daily schedule without needing someone else's approval?

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always

Which of the following, if any, currently limit your sense of control over your life?

• Financial constraints
• Work or employer demands
• Family obligations
• Health issues
• Lack of time
• Other people's expectations

Identify the life domain where the respondent's matrix ratings show the lowest sense of control, and reconstruct one specific, recent moment when that lack of control was most apparent: what happened, what they wanted to do differently, and what actually stopped them. If their ratings are high across every domain, probe instead what specific habit, decision, or circumstance they credit for that and whether they expect it to hold up under stress.

What's one thing that would give you more control over your life in the next few months?

Which age range do you fall into?

• Under 25
• 25-34
• 35-44
• 45-54
• 55-64
• 65 or older
• Prefer not to say

What's your current employment status?

• Employed full-time
• Employed part-time
• Self-employed
• Unemployed
• Student
• Retired
• Prefer not to say

That's everything — thank you for reflecting on this with us. Your answers feed into a broader picture of where people feel in charge of their lives and where more support is needed.