The Life Effectiveness Questionnaire was developed by James Neill and Garry Richards of Outward Bound Australia in the 1980's. Since that time, it has become one of the leading tools to measure growth and outcomes in outdoor adventure education programs. Outward Bound Australia uses LEQ to measure the growth in student self-perceptions on its programs. A number of versions of this tool exist and are adapted to specific client groups.

The LEQ can be used to research and evaluate the outcomes of programs which aim to enhance student's personal and social development.  The LEQ focuses on general personal effectiveness skills which tend to be aims of programs such as outdoor education, camps, and community-based interventions. Participants complete a 16-item self-report evaluation of their "personal life effectiveness" at the beginning and end of the Outward Bound Course. This questionnaire has been widely used to test the effects of outdoor education programs (Neill, Marsh & Richards, 2003).

What is Life Effectiveness?

The notion of "life effectiveness" is that there are some personal skills that are important components how effective a person will be in achieving his/her desires/wishes in life.  Typically a person's life effectiveness includes how well he/she is functioning at work/school, as well as in personal and social life.  Underlying someone's capacity to effective in the various aspects of life there are some core personal effectiveness skills.

Steven Covey is probably best known for this type of approach -- he conceived of the well-known "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Life effectiveness is closely related, if not synonymous with "personal skills", "life fitness" and "personal competence".  Many typically targeted goals of many psychosocial intervention programs are measured by the LEQ (e.g., self-confidence, leadership, emotional control).  Self-concept and self-efficacy theory also informed the design of the LEQ scales.

he LEQ has a unique focus away from measuring a person's thoughts or self-beliefs, and focused on the extent to a person's actions/behaviour/feelings are effective in managing and succeeding at life.

Time Management is an example life effectiveness domain.  It refers to the extent to which a person successfully manages his/her time to get tasks completed.  Time Management is also a skill which can be developed and improved through structured intervention. 

The nine domains of life effectiveness are:

• Time Management
• Social Competence
• Achievement Motivation
• Intellectual Flexibility
• Task Leadership
• Emotional Control
• Active Initiative
• Self Confidence
• Locus of Control

These are key aims of many personal development programs.  Whether positive growth occurs depends on the quality of programming, particularly program philosophy and program design, not to mention the actual implementation of the program and the individuals involved.

By using the LEQ you can get a deeper level of analysis into the effects of different courses on course participants.  It is an excellent tool for monitoring program effectiveness and is an efficient way to develop a long-term database documenting program quality.  When analysed and interpreted, the results can be informative for program coordinators and instructors to help improve program quality.

The LEQ has been used in numerous and diverse research studies to date, including several graduate theses, and has gained increasing attention as a tool.

Descriptions of the Life Effectiveness Questionnaire Dimensions

LEQ Dimensions and Descriptions

• Time Management - the extent that an individual perceives that he/she makes optimum use of time.
• Social Competence - the degree of personal confidence and self-perceived ability in social interactions.
• Achievement Motivation - the extent to which the individual is motivated to achieve excellence and put the required effort into action to attain it.
• Intellectual Flexibility - the extent to which the individual perceives he/she can adapt his/her thinking and accommodate new information from changing conditions and different perspectives.
• Task Leadership - the extent to which the individual perceives he/she can lead other people effectively when a task needs to be done and productivity is the primary requirement.
• Emotional Control - the extent to which the individual perceives he/she maintains emotional control when he/she is faced with potentially stressful situations.
• Active Initiative - the extent to which the individual likes to initiate action in new situations.
• Self Confidence - the degree of confidence the individual has in his/her abilities and the success of their actions.
• Locus of Control - the extent to which the individual perceives that he/she has personal control of his/her life.

For more information on LEQ and how to use this tool, visit the Wilderdom website.