A French Version of the Action Control Scale (ACS-Fr): Psychometric Properties and Predictive Power

Abstract

This article presents four studies. Study 1 reports the development and psychometric properties of a French version of the Action Control Scale (ACS-Fr) (Kuhl, 1994a)-a frequently used instrument for assessing individual differences in action-state orientation in self-regulation. Studies 2-4 tested the predictive power of the ACS-Fr regarding individuals' ability to escape from rumination, initiate action, and maintain goal-directed behavior-three major components of efficient action control. In Study 1, confirmatory factor analysis revealed a revised three-factor model (with 24 items) fitting the scale's structure well. Regression analyses suggest convergent validity of the ACS-Fr in terms of associations with related self-regulation capacities and problems and a moderate overlap with the Big Five global personality traits. Further speaking for the ACS-Fr validity and its predictive power, we found preliminary evidence that actionoriented individuals ruminated less (Study 2), engaged in action more easily (Study 3), and persisted longer in a cognitive control task (Study 4) than state-oriented people.

Action‐orientation shields against primed cognitive conflict effects on effort‐related cardiac response

“…Some readers might have noted that the internal consistency of the ACS‐Fr Preoccupation was not very high (though not low) in the present study. However, this corresponds to this scale's internal consistency in other already published studies (Bouzidi & Gendolla, 2022, 2023b). As outlined in that work, low loadings on some items could be at the origin of this psychometric imperfection.…”

“…To assess individual differences in action‐state orientation, participants had completed the ACS‐Fr (Bouzidi & Gendolla, 2022)—a recently validated French version of the Action Control Scale, originally developed by Kuhl (1994b)—3 months before the experiment. Composed of 3 subscales, the ACS‐Fr assesses individual differences in volition and self‐regulation skills in the context of Kuhl's (1994a) action control theory.…”

Individual differences in action‐state orientation moderate task difficulty effects on effort‐related cardiac response

“…The study was announced by flyers in the university hall. Interested students contacted the authors and were first asked to complete an online version of the ACS-Fr questionnaire (Bouzidi & Gendolla, 2022) some days before their experimental session. The main study's experimental protocol was computerized (E-Prime 2, Psychology Software Tools, Pittsburgh, PA) and run in individual sessions of 30 min.…”

“…To assess individual differences in action‐state orientation, Kuhl (1994b) developed the Action Control Scale. As we recruited French speaking participants, we used a recently validated French version of the Action Control Scale—the ACS‐Fr (Bouzidi & Gendolla, 2022). This questionnaire consists of 3 subscales assessing individual differences in different aspects of volition of Kuhl's (1994a) action control theory.…”

From intentions to action: An integrative review of action control theory and research

“…The AOD-scale first appeared in German and English (Kuhl, 1994). In subsequent years, the scale has been translated into at least 16 additional languages, including Bengali (Chatterjee et al, 2018), Chinese (Song et al, 2006), Croatian (Niemivirta et al, 2001), Dutch (Koole & Jostmann, 2004), Farsi (Calero et al, 2007), Finnish (Niemivirta et al, 2001), French (Bouzidi & Gendolla, 2022), Greek (Papantoniou et al, 2010), Indonesian (Elia et al, 2022), Japanese (Sakuma & Sato, 2008), Polish (Marszał-Wiśniewska, 2002), Portuguese (Branco et al, 2015), Russian (Shlyapnikov, 2020), Spanish (Calero et al, 2007), Turkish (Peker & Meşe, 2021), and Vietnamese (Helmke & Tuyet, 1999). Across these languages, the AOD-scale has consistently shown adequate internal consistency, with Cronbach's alphas typically ranging between .60 and .80.…”