Locus of Control

Locus of control is a personality construct describing an individual's perceived source of control over his or her behavior. Those with an internal locus of control believe that what happens to them results primarily from their own actions and behavior. They believe that they control their own destiny. Those with an external locus of control believe that sources outside themselves—fate, chance, luck or others in authority over them—determine what happens to them. Internal persons accept responsibility for their own behavior and see themselves as deserving praise for their successes and blame for their failures. Externals see circumstances beyond their control or the decisions and actions of others as responsible for their behavior.

The locus of control construct was formulated by Julian Rotter in the 1960s. Rotter developed the internal-external locus of control scale (I-E), an inventory of forced-choice items that, among a variety of other themes, focused primarily on belief in luck. The following are typical items:

• 1.
  • 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.
• 2.
  • a.
    In my case getting what I want has little to do with luck.
  • b.
    Many times we might just as well decide what to do by flipping a coin.
• 3.
  • a.
    What happens to me is my own doing.
  • b.
    Sometimes I feel that I don't have enough control over the direction of my life.

Item-to-total correlations of Rotter's scale showed that the average correlation of a belief in luck item was 0.300 compared with 0.214 for the average of the other themes' items.

Research studies on locus of control indicate that both adult and children internals assume responsibility for their decisions, are not easily swayed by the perspectives of others, and tend to perform better at tasks when they can work at their own speed. Externals, on the other hand, are easily influenced by the views of others and are more likely to attend to the position of the opinion holder. Elementary- and middle-grade internals find it easier to delay gratification, and elementary-grade internals earn higher grades. As children mature, individual development tends to proceed toward an internal locus of control. Some evidence exists that a greater sense of internality can be developed.