Locus of control is a term in psychology which refers to a person's belief about what causes the good or bad results in his or her life, either in general or in a specific area such as health or academics. Understanding of the concept was developed by Julian B. Rotter in 1954, and has since become an important aspect of personality studies. One's "locus" (Latin for "place" or "location") can either be internal, meaning the person believes that they control their life or external when they believe that their environment, some higher power, or other people control their decisions and their life. In other words, Locus of Control refers to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them.
Individuals with a high internal locus of control believe that events result primarily from their own behavior and actions. They have better control of their behaviour and tend to exhibit political behaviours. They are more likely to attempt to influence other people; to assume that their efforts will be successful; to be active in seeking information and knowledge concerning their situation. The propensity to engage in political behavior is fairly strong amongst individuals who have a high internal locus of control.
On the other hand, individuals with a high external locus of control believe that powerful others, fate, or chance primarily determine events. For example, college students with a strong internal locus of control may believe that their grades were achieved through their own abilities and efforts, whereas those with a strong external locus of control may believe that their grades are the result of good or bad luck, or to a professor who designs bad tests or grades capriciously; hence, they are less likely to expect that their own efforts will result in success and are therefore less likely to work hard for high grades. Due to their locating control outside themselves, externals tend to feel they have less control over their fate. Consequently, they tend to be more susceptible to get stressed out and prone to clinical depression or obesity.
The development of locus of control is associated with family style and resources, cultural stability and experiences with effort leading to reward. Many internals have grown up with families that modeled typical internal beliefs. These families emphasized effort, education, responsibility and thinking. Parents typically gave their children rewards they had promised them. In contrast, externals are typically associated with lower socioeconomic status, because poor people frequently believe to have less control over their lives. Societies experiencing social unrest increase the expectancy of being out-of-control, so people in such societies become more external.
It is sometimes assumed that as people age, they tend to become less internal and more external, but data here have been ambiguous. This might probably due to the fact that people have an innate fear of the Grim Ripper.
Locus of control has been a concept which has certainly generated much research in psychology, in a variety of areas. Usefulness of the construct can be seen in its applicability to fields such as educational psychology, health psychology or clinical psychology. There will probably continue to be debate about whether specific or more global measures of locus of control will prove to be more useful.
Locus of Control Scale (Rotter)
1. a. Children get into trouble because their parents punish them too much. b. The trouble with most children nowadays is that their parents are too easy with them.
2. a. Many of the unhappy things in people's lives are partly due to bad luck. b. People's misfortunes result from the mistakes they make.
3. a. One of the major reasons why we have wars is because people don't take enough interest in politics. b. There will always be wars, no matter how hard people try to prevent them.
4. a. In the long run people get the respect they deserve in this world. b. Unfortunately, an individual's worth often passes unrecognized no matter how hard he tries.
5. a. The idea that teachers are unfair to students is nonsense. b. Most students don't realize the extent to which their grades are influenced by accidental happenings.
6. a. Without the right breaks one cannot be an effective leader. b. Capable people who fail to become leaders have not taken advantage of their opportunities.
7. a. No matter how hard you try some people just don't like you. b. People who can't get others to like them don't understand how to get along with others.
8. a. Heredity plays the major role in determining one's personality. b. It is one's experiences in life which determine what they're like.
9. a. I have often found that what is going to happen will happen. b. Trusting to fate has never turned out as well for me as making a decision to take a definite course of action.
10. a. In the case of the well prepared student there is rarely if ever such a thing as an unfair test. b. Many times exam questions tend to be so unrelated to course work that studying in really useless.
11. a. Becoming a success is a matter of hard work; luck has little or nothing to do with it. b. Getting a good job depends mainly on being in the right place at the right time.
12. a. The average citizen can have an influence in government decisions. b. This world is run by the few people in power, and there is not much the little guy can do about it.
13. a. When I make plans, I am almost certain that I can make them work. b. It is not always wise to plan too far ahead because many things turn out to be a matter of good or bad
fortune anyhow.
14. a. There are certain people who are just no good. b. There is some good in everybody.
15. a. In my case getting what I want has little or nothing to do with luck. b. Many times we might just as well decide what to do by flipping a coin.
16. a. Who gets to be the boss often depends on who was lucky enough to be in the right place first. b. Getting people to do the right thing depends upon ability; luck has little or nothing to do with it.
17. a. As far as world affairs are concerned, most of us are the victims of forces we can neither understand, nor
control. b. By taking an active part in political and social affairs the people can control world events.
18. a. Most people don't realize the extent to which their lives are controlled by accidental happenings. b. There really is no such thing as "luck."
19. a. One should always be willing to admit mistakes. b. It is usually best to cover up one's mistakes.
20. a. It is hard to know whether or not a person really likes you. b. How many friends you have depends upon how nice a person you are.
21. a. In the long run the bad things that happen to us are balanced by the good ones. b. Most misfortunes are the result of lack of ability, ignorance, laziness, or all three.
22. a. With enough effort we can wipe out political corruption. b. It is difficult for people to have much control over the things politicians do in office.
23. a. Sometimes I can't understand how teachers arrive at the grades they give. b. There is a direct connection between how hard 1 study and the grades I get.
24. a. A good leader expects people to decide for themselves what they should do. b. A good leader makes it clear to everybody what their jobs are.
25. a. Many times I feel that I have little influence over the things that happen to me. b. It is impossible for me to believe that chance or luck plays an important role in my life.
26. a. People are lonely because they don't try to be friendly. b. There's not much use in trying too hard to please people, if they like you, they like you.
27. a. There is too much emphasis on athletics in high school. b. Team sports are an excellent way to build character.
28. a. What happens to me is my own doing. b. Sometimes I feel that I don't have enough control over the direction my life is taking.
29. a. Most of the time I can't understand why politicians behave the way they do. b. In the long run the people are responsible for bad government on a national as well as on a local level.
Locus of Control Scale (Rotter) - Scoring
Note there are 6 filler items (1, 8, 14, 19, 24, 27) and 23 scoring items.
Score 1 point for each of the following:
2b
3a
4a
5a
6b
7b
9b
10a
11a
12a
13a
15a
16b
17b
18b
20b
21b
22a
23b
25b
26a
28a
29b
External = low score; Internal = high score (note that this is reverse-scored from the original Rotter scale).
Using information embedded in the text try to complete the following table:
Individuals with strong Internal Locus of Control? Traits? B. Individuals with strong External Locus of Control? Traits?
Can you think of any other attributes/traits/characteristics describing those 2 different groups of people?
Individuals with strong Internal Locus of Control? Traits? B. Individuals with strong External Locus of Control? Traits?
Using an online dictionary, try to say which of the following lexis would suit:
Pessimism Optimism Gloominess Despair Despondency Dejection Empowered person Affected person Random chance Incompetent Endowed Misfortunate Irremediable calamity Severe adversity
Individuals with strong Internal Locus of Control B. Individuals with strong External Locus of Control
Using an On-line Dictionary/Thesaurus, can you add any other lexis?
Individuals with strong Internal Locus of Control B. Individuals with strong External Locus of Control
Which of the following excerpts are to describe:
Individuals with strong Internal Locus of Control?
Individuals with strong External Locus of Control?
OPTIONAL
With the assistance of your teacher, decide on a course of action to be followed so that you become more motivated in the future and strengthen your internal locus of control.
Course of action 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Alexander Makarios©2009
Realize that you always have choice to change your situation. Even if you don’t like the choices available at the moment, even if the only change you can make is in your attitude, you always have some choices.
When you feel trapped, make a list of all possible courses of action. Just brainstorm and write things down without evaluating them first.
If you always see the brighter side of things, you may feel that you experience more positive events in your life than others, find yourself less stressed, and even enjoy greater health benefits.
You often phase out phrases like, ‘I have no choice’, and, ‘I can’t…” You replace them with, ‘I choose not to,’ or, ‘I don’t like my choices, but I will…’
Realizing and acknowledging that you always have choice (even if the choices aren’t ideal) can help you change your situation, or accept it more easily if it really is the best of all available options.
You evaluate each option and decide on the best course of action for you. Sometimes, you ask your friends’ help to get even more ideas that you may not have initially considered.