Evaluating Sense of Coherence

Yesterday we began to look at Aaron Antonovsky’s concept of Sense of Coherence.

Here is one of the most widely used sets of questions to determine an individual’s Sense of Coherence, derived from Antonovsky’s The Sense of Coherence Quest.

The questions concern a number of aspects of our lives.

Each question has seven possible answers. The person doing the evaluation marks one number from 1 to 7 for whichever one most closely corresponds to their beliefs or feelings.

1. When you talk to people, do you have the feeling that they don’t understand you?
Never 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Always have this feeling

2 In the past, when you had to do something that depended upon cooperation with others, did you have the feeling that it:
Surely wouldn’t get done 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Surely would get done

3. Think of the people with whom you come into contact daily, aside from the ones to whom you feel closest. How well do you know most of them?
You feel that they’re strangers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 You know them very well

4. Do have the feeling that you don’t really care about what goes on around you?
Very seldom or never 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very often

5. Have you in the past ever been surprised by the behavior of people whom you thought you knew well?
Never happened 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Always happened

6. Have you ever had people that you counted on, ended up disappointing you?
Never happened 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Always happened

7. Life is:
Full of interest 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Completely routine

8. Until now your life has had:
No clear goals or purpose at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very clear goals and purpose

9. Do you have the feeling that you’re being treated unfairly?
Very often 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very seldom or never

10. In the past ten years your life has been:
Full of changes without your knowing what will happen next 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Completely consistent and clear

11. Most of the things you do in the future will probably be:
Completely fascinating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Deadly boring

12. Do you have the feeling that you are in an unfamiliar situation and don’t know what to do?
Very often 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very seldom or never

13. What best describes how you see life:
One can always find a solution to painful things in life 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 There is no solution to painful things in life

14. When you think about your life, you very often:
Feel how good it is to be alive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ask yourself why you exist at all

15. When you face a difficult problem, the choice of a solution is:
Always confusing and hard to find 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Always completely clear

16. Doing the things you do every day is:
A source of deep pleasure and satisfaction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A source of pain and boredom

17. Your life in the future will probably be:
Full of changes without your knowing what will happen next 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Completely consistent and clear

18. When something unpleasant happened in the past your tendency was:
“To beat yourself up” about it 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 to say, “Ok that’s that, I have to live with it ” and go on

19. Do you have very mixed-up feelings and ideas?
Very often 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very seldom or never

20. When you do something that gives you a good feeling:
It’s certain that you’ll go on feeling good 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 It’s certain that something will happen to spoil the feeling

21. Does you have feelings inside you would rather not feel?
Very often 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very seldom or never

22. You anticipate that your personal life in the future will be:
Totally without meaning or purpose 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Full of meaning and purpose

23. Do you think that there will always be people whom you’ll be able to count on in the future?
You’re certain there will be 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 You doubt there will be

24. Does it happen that you have the feeling that you don’t know exactly what’s about to happen?
Very often 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very seldom or never

25. Many people – even those with a strong character – sometimes feel like sad sacks (losers) in certain situations. How often have you felt this way in the past?
Never 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very often

26. When something happened, have you generally found that:
You overestimated or underestimated its importance 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 You saw things in the right proportion

27. When you think of the difficulties you are likely to face in important aspects of your life, do you have the feeling that:
You will always succeed in overcoming the difficulties 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 You won’t succeed in overcoming the difficulties

28. How often do you have the feeling that there’s little meaning in the things you do in your daily life?
Very often 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very seldom or never

29. How often do you have feelings that you’re not sure you can keep under control?
Very often 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very seldom or never

There are no right or wrong answers, but the overall pattern of your scores will give you some useful insights. There is a large research literature in which scores on this scale have been related to everything from career choices to the risk of getting PTSD.