Historically, theories of personality development assigned prominence to the construct of autonomy, which often represented a developmental endpoint. To develop and validate an observer measure of autonomy and to further describe the dynamics underlying the personality and behavior of autonomous individuals, a 10-item scale (Auto CQ) was developed based on correlational and item anlysis of California Q-set descriptions for 314 adults. In a second study using 142 college sophomores, validation of the Auto CQ was suggested by correlational anlayses of the scale with other measures of autonomy, both observer and self-report. Additional analyses with the California Psychological Inventory and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory indicated that autonomy was related with poise, ascendancy, self-assurance, interpersonal adequacy, personal maturity, and psychological health. Descriptions indicated that both positive and negative personality attributes were associated with the concept of autonomy. (Author/JAC)