Introduction

Locus of control (LOC) is an individual's expectancy about the typical source (locus) of reinforcement. Does reinforcement originate within an individual (‘When something good happens to me, it is because I worked for it’) or from outside (‘I have no influence on what the government does’)? In the former case, we have an internal LOC, whereas in the latter case, we have an external LOC.

I provide a brief overview of the LOC construct and how it has been measured with self-report questionnaires. This task is daunting. LOC has been one of the most frequently investigated individual differences, and LOC measures have been used in thousands of empirical investigations. I have relied here on several earlier and more extensive reviews (Lefcourt, 1991; MacDonald, 1973).

In addition ...

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