Index of Autonomous Functioning (IAF)
Scale Description
A growing interest in the functional importance of dispositional autonomy led to the
development and validation of the Index of Autonomous Functioning (IAF) across seven studies
(Weinstein, Przybylski, & Ryan, 2012). The IAF provides a brief and reliable measure of trait
autonomy based on three theoretically derived subscales assessing authorship/self-congruence,
interest-taking, and low susceptibility to control. Initial validation studies showed consistency
within and across subscales, and appropriate placement within a nomological network of
constructs. Diary studies demonstrated IAF relations with higher well-being, greater daily
satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and more autonomous engagement in daily activities.
Using an experimental approach, the IAF was shown to predict more positive interactions among
dyads. Please note that when using the subscales separately, the interest-taking subscale is still
in exploratory phase of validation.
Please use the following reference when using the IAF scale:
Weinstein, N., Przybylski, A. K., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). The index of autonomous functioning: Development of a
scale of human autonomy. Journal of Research in Personality, 46, 397-413. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2012.03.007
The Scale
Instructions: Below is a collection of statements about your general experiences. Please indicate
how true each statement is of your experiences on the whole. Remember that there are no right or
wrong answers. Please answer according to what really reflects your experience rather than what
you think your experience should be.
Items are usually paired with a Likert-type scale with 1 = ‘‘not at all true’’, 2 = ‘‘a bit true’’, 3 =
‘‘somewhat true’’, 4 = ‘‘mostly true’’, and 5 = ‘‘completely true.’’
    1. My decisions represent my most important values and feelings.
    2. I do things in order to avoid feeling badly about myself.
    3. I often reflect on why I react the way I do.
    4. I strongly identify with the things that I do.
    5. I am deeply curious when I react with fear or anxiety to events in my life.
    6. I do a lot of things to avoid feeling ashamed.
    7. I try to manipulate myself into doing certain things.
    8. My actions are congruent with who I really am.
    9. I am interested in understanding the reasons for my actions.
    10. My whole self stands behind the important decisions I make.
    11. I believe certain things so that others will like me.
    12. I am interested in why I act the way I do.
    13. I like to investigate my feelings.
    14. I often pressure myself.
    15. My decisions are steadily informed by things I want or care about.
Scoring Information for the IAF. First, items 2, 6, 7, 11, and 14 need to be reverse scored so
that higher scores on every item will indicate a higher level of autonomous functioning. To
reverse score an item, subtract the item response from 6 and use that as the item score. Calculate
total IAF by averaging the item scores for the 15 items in the scale. If interested in the subscales,
calculate the scores for the Authorship/Self-Congruence subscale, Susceptibility to control
subscale, and the Interest-taking subscale by averaging the item scores for the 5 items within
each subscale.
The subscales are:
Authorship/Self-Congruence: 1, 4, 8, 10, 15
Susceptibility to control: 2, 6, 7, 11, 14
Interest-taking: 3, 5, 9, 12, 13