Do you believe that you are in charge of your life?
Do you believe things happen because of your own actions or because of forces beyond your control?
Are people’s lives determined by luck, destiny, choice, or effort?
In Fullmetal Alchemist, the two brothers, Edward and Alphonse, are able to shape their destinies with their mastery of alchemy. In Steins, Gate, Rintarou Okabe uses his time-traveling abilities in an attempt to alter the future.
With their incredible abilities, these anime characters seem to have a grip on their own realities.
But what about the ordinary folks? Can we also influence the outcomes of our lives in some way?
What is Locus of Control?
Julian B. Rotter developed the psychological concept of locus of control, where individuals assign responsibility for what happens to them. Simply put, it refers to whether a person perceives what happens to him or her as due to his or her own behavior and decisions (internal factors) or to the external environment and the behavior of others (external factors).
Internal locus of control: when individuals perceive consequences as contingent on their own behaviors and personality, attributing responsibility to internal factors. For example, if a person with an internal locus of control were to take a driver’s test, they would attribute the result of passing the test to their own abilities and effort. By the same token, if they fail, they would feel personally responsible for the failure and attempt to put in more effort the next time.
External locus of control: when individuals interpret the outcomes of events as controlled by luck, chances, or fate, they place the responsibility for what happens on external factors. For instance, if an external individual fails the same driver’s test, they tend to blame the failure on luck or other outside factors such as the test being unfair or the weather conditions being unfavorable.
Rotter based the construct of locus of control on the social learning theory perspective. In this regard, a person develops from childhood an understanding of the relationship between behavior and reinforcement.
For instance, as a child grows, some understand behavior as directly related to reinforcement from experiences in which reinforcement follows their behavior.
As for other children, reinforcement appears as a result of factors outside of their control.
As such, research demonstrates that parents of internals tend to have consistent discipline while parents of externals tend to be more authoritarian and restrict their children’s control.
Why it matters?
External or internal interpretations of outcomes carry a unique prominence.
Rotter proposes that locus of control is a consistent part of an individual’s personality that will exert influence in future decisions in almost every situation.
That is, it can be used as a metric to predict how a person might react in specific situations as well as foresee potential life outcomes with respect to health, academic performance, life achievement, psychological well-being, etc.
Smoking
Studies found:
Individuals with an internal locus of control tend to have higher self-control (Bothan and Dahman).
“Smokers tended to be significantly more external than nonsmokers.”
A study involving 369 adult working males discovered a significant correlation between smoking behavior and the type of locus of control.
The results showed that external locus of control (ELC) was significantly and positively associated with the odds of smoking on a daily basis.
Specifically, for every unit increase in the external locus of control, the odds of smoking increased by 13% (Lee et al.). That is, the higher the tendency of external control the more likely one is to smoke on a daily basis.
This implies that individuals who believe that external factors determine many events in their lives are more likely to cope with these external pressures by resorting to smoking.
In contrast, the association between internal locus of control (ILOC) and smoking is much weaker.
Studies have found that an increase in internal locus of control only increases the odds of smoking by 4%, and this increase is not statistically significant (Johnson & Lee, 2019). That is, while people with a strong sense of internal locus of control may also smoke, this tendency is not as pronounced.
Persuasion
A study cited by Rotter engaged two groups of students, each shared a similar view on sororities and fraternities and was asked to persuade other students to change their opinions about the fraternity and sorority system on campus.
The internals were found to be more successful in persuading students to change their opinions as compared to the externals.
Additionally, the internals were also indicated to be more resistant to manipulation of their attitudes by others, indicating that internals tend to engage in critical thinking and place less trust in authority.
This finding coincides with another study examining the level of conformity, which concluded that internals are less likely to conform to the majority and place more trust in their own judgment.
Motivation Achievement and Academic Performance
If one believes that their own action is responsible for success, they tend to have more motivation to pursue success and make a sustained commitment of effort. For instance, a study of 1,000 high school students found that a higher internal score corresponds positively to plans to attend college, the amount of time spent on homework, and the parent’s level of interest in the student’s school work. Accordingly, students with internal locus of control perform better academically than those with external locus of control.
In another study, 100 male and female students of the University of Faisalabad (Sahiwal Campus) were included in the sample (Kutanis et al.). The results of the study indicated a strong relationship between locus of control and academic performance.
Specifically, the research model showed that the correlation between the locus of control and academic performance was very strong (R = 0.977) and that 95.5% of the variance in academic performance could be explained by changes in the locus of control. In addition, students with a high sense of internal control typically showed better academic performance than students with a high sense of external control.
This study suggests that students with a stronger sense of internal control are more confident that their actions can influence outcomes, and therefore they perform better academically. They believe that their efforts and decisions can directly impact their academic performance and thus invest more energy and time in their studies.
Psychological Well-being
A higher level of internal locus of control is shown to be positively related to self-esteem and life satisfaction. A higher level of external locus of control, on the other hand, is shown to directly predict lower self-esteem and high depression and stress (Griffin) (Kesavayuth et al.).
Locus of control has since Rotter's publication become recognized as a stable component of human personality. While the assumption that internal locus of control is related to more positive effects has been confirmed by many studies, it is important to be aware that as internal and external locus of control exist on a spectrum, they are malleable.
People who are internally oriented might shift more externally when they are confronted by life’s uncertainty and stress. People who lean more externally can also change to internals when they are placed in places with more authority and autonomy.
Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate a situation accordingly and to adjust one’s responses to different circumstances so as to make sure one does not set unrealistic expectations for oneself.
-Quiz
After learning about the theory of locus of control, have you begun to think about the way you live your life and the way you make decisions? Do you think you exhibit more internal or external locus of control in your life? Here is a simple test to assess what your locus of control is:
Indicate for each statement whether it is T (true) or F (false) for you. There are no right or wrong answers. This survey will give you a general idea of where you stand on the locus of control personality dimension.
1. I usually get what I want in life.
2. I need to be kept informed about news events,
3. I never know where I stand with other people.
4. I do not really believe in luck or chance.
5. I think that I could easily win the lottery.
6. If I do not succeed on a task, I tend to give up.
7. I usually convince others to do things my way.
8. People make a difference in controlling crime.
9. The success I have is largely a matter of chance.
10. Marriage is largely a gamble for most people.
11. People must be the master of their own fate.
12. It is not important for me to vote.
13. My life seems like a series of random events.
14. I never try anything that I am not sure of.
15. I earn the respect and honors I receive.
16. A person can get rich by taking risks.
17. Leaders are successful when they work hard.
18. Persistence and hard work usually lead to success.
19. It is difficult to know who my real friends are.
20. Other people usually control my life.
SCORING:
Give yourself 5 points for each question if you indicated False on questions
Give yourself 0 points for each question if you indicated True on questions
RESULTS:
0-15 Very strong external locus of control
20-35 External locus of control
40-60 Both external and internal locus of control
65-80 Internal locus of control
85-100 Very strong internal locus of control
Now, after reading the article, have you gained a deeper insight into your personality and what experiences shape your mindset? Have you ever changed the course of your life because of your own decisions and efforts? Or have you ever changed your plans because of external influences?
Feel free to share your views and experiences in the comments section!
Reference
Botha, Ferdi, and Sarah C. Dahmann. “Locus of Control, Self-Control, and Health Outcomes.” SSM - Population Health, vol. 25, 2023, p. 101566. SSM - Population Health, doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101566.
Griffin, Dustin P. “Locus of Control and Psychological Well-Being: Separating the Measurement of Internal and External Constructs -- A Pilot Study.” EKU Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates, 2014, http://encompass.eku.edu/ugra/2014/2014/2.
Hock, Roger R. Forty Studies That Changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of Psychological Research. 7th ed., Pearson, 2020.
Kesavayuth, D., Binh Tran, D., and Vasilis Zikos. “Locus of Control and Subjective Well-Being: Panel Evidence from Australia.” PLoS ONE, vol. 17, no. 8, 2022, e0272714. PLoS ONE, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0272714.
Kutanis, Özen, and Muammer Mesci. “The Effects of Locus of Control on Learning Performance: A Case of an Academic Organization.” Journal of Economic and Social Studies, vol. 1, 2011, pp. [page numbers]. Journal of Economic and Social Studies, doi:10.14706/JECOSS11125.
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