Skill and Luck Questionnaire (SNLQ)

Description

The Skill and Luck Questionnaire, developed by Herman, Gupta, and Derevensky in 1997, is designed to assess individuals’ perceptions of the roles of skill and luck in achieving success across a variety of activities. It prompts respondents to evaluate how much skill and luck they believe are required in different contexts, ranging from sports and games to academic success and life achievements. This tool is particularly relevant in understanding cognitive biases regarding the nature of success and the perceived influence of personal agency versus chance.

Authors and Contact Email

Herman, Gupta, & Derevensky, 1997
Email: information not available

Purpose

The purpose of the Skill and Luck Questionnaire is to explore and measure individual beliefs about the contributions of skill and luck in various activities, ultimately providing insights into how these perceptions impact behavior and decision-making, particularly in contexts related to risk-taking and gambling.

Test Year

1997

Administration Method and Scoring

The questionnaire is administered as a self-report tool, where participants respond to items regarding their views on different activities. Each item typically uses a scale rating from 1 (None) to 7 (A lot) for both skill and luck. The scoring reflects the participants’ subjective assessment of how much of each element they believe contributes to performance in the specified domain.

Reliability and Validity

Information not available.

Factors and Subscales

Information not available.

Keywords

Skill, Luck, Questionnaire, Perception, Success, Assessment

Items of ‘Skill and Luck Questionnaire’

1) How much skill and luck are needed to be good at baseball?
2) How much skill and luck are needed to be good at bingo?
3) How much skill and luck are needed to be a good video game player?
4) How much skill and luck are needed to be good at blackjack or poker?
5) How much skill and luck are needed to do well at school?
6) How much skill and luck are needed to be good at playing the lottery?
7) How much skill and luck are needed to become a success in life?

References

This instrument can be found on page 40 of Life Skills, Mathematical Reasoning and Critical Thinking: Curriculum for the Prevention of Problem Gambling. Available online at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18095146
Turner, N.E. & Liu, E. (1999, Aug). The naïve human concept of random events. Paper presented at the 1999 conference of the American Psychological Association, Boston.
Macdonald, J. & Turner, N.E. (2000, Oct) The prevention of problem gambling using education, modeling and drama. Paper presented at the conference of the National Council on Problem Gambling, Pennsylvania, Oct.
Macdonald, J. & Turner, N.E. (2001, April). The development and testing of an experimental approach to preventing problem gambling. Paper presented at the 2001 conference of the Canadian Foundation on Compulsive Gambling.
Macdonald, J. & Turner, N.E. (2002, Oct). The prevention of problem gambling using education, modeling and drama. Paper presented to the 14th National Conference on Problem Gambling. Philadelphia, PA.
Turner, N., Littman-Sharp, N., Zengeneh, M. & Spence, W. (2002). Winners: Why do some develop gambling problems while others do not? Available at www.gamblingresearch.org
Macdonald, John, Turner, Nigel, Somerset, Matthew (2008). Life Skills, Mathematical Reasoning and Critical Thinking: Curriculum for the Prevention of Problem Gambling. Final Report to the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/skill-and-luck-questionnaire/