Desire for Control Test
Some people relax when someone else takes the wheel. Others only truly exhale when their own hands are on it. Psychology calls this difference the desire for control — and it quietly shapes your work, love and stress.
This free control test measures where you land on that spectrum: 16 everyday situations, about 4 minutes, inspired by Burger's classic Desire for Control Scale.
Neither end is the healthy one by default. Control-seekers pay stress prices; control-relaxers pay opportunity prices. Knowing your default is what makes it a choice.
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A quick history of the construct
The desire for control entered psychology through Burger and Cooper (1979), building on the locus-of-control tradition: not whether you believe outcomes are controllable, but how much you want them to be.
Related but distinct: internality (locus of control) is a belief; desire for control is a preference. You can believe outcomes are controllable and still be happy letting someone else hold the rope.
When control-seeking helps
High control desire predicts entrepreneurship, thorough preparation and crisis performance. Civilisations are built by people who could not stop adjusting things.
It turns costly when control becomes the goal itself: re-checking others' work, difficulty resting, and conflicts over how — not what — gets done. Precision, not quantity, is the upgrade.
References
- Burger, J. M., & Cooper, H. M. (1979). The desirability of control. Motivation and Emotion, 3(4), 381-393.
- Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80(1), 1-28.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have another question? Let us know.
What is the desire for control?
The general motivation to control the events of everyday life — how much you prefer your own hands on the wheel.
Where does the idea come from?
Jerry Burger and Harris Cooper's Desire for Control Scale (1979), a classic measure of how strongly people want to influence what happens around them.
How is the test scored?
You rate 16 everyday situations; a higher total means a stronger preference for being in control.
Is a high desire for control bad?
No. It predicts initiative and planning, and it can also bring rigidity and stress when something is genuinely out of your hands.
Is this the original scale?
No. These are adapted items for self-reflection, not the clinical instrument and not a personality diagnosis.
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