Locus of Control by Julian Rotter

Aim: to measure if the locus of control is internal or external

Introduction:
Locus of control is the degree to which individuals feel that they have power over the
outcome of events in their lives, as opposed to external forces (beyond their influence). The
theory was developed in 1954 by Julian B. Rotter and has since become a component of the
psychology of personality.

The "locus" of an entity is conceptualised as internal (a conviction that one can regulate one's
own life) or external (a belief that life is controlled by outside factors which the person
cannot influence, or that chance or fate controls their lives).

Individuals with a strong internal control locus feel that events in their lives are
predominantly the result of their own actions: for instance, individuals with an internal
control locus prefer to praise or blame themselves and their skills after receiving test results.
Individuals with a high external control locus prefer to compliment or criticise external
variables such as the instructor or the test.

Individuals with an internal locus of influence assume that the consequences of their actions
are the results of their own abilities. Internals expect that their hard work would lead them to
achieve good results. They also accept that any action has its impact, which makes them
understand the reality that things happen, and whether or not they want to have power over it
depends on them.
Externals assign event effects to external conditions. People with an external place of control
tend to assume that the things that happen in their lives are out of their control, and also that
their own actions are the product of external influences, such as fate, chance, the influence of
powerful others, and/or the assumption that the universe is too complicated for one to foresee
or controvert effectively.

People with an external control locus appear to be more depressed and vulnerable to
psychiatric depression. Rotter (1966) claimed that internal people show two important
features: high desire for success and low outer-directedness. This was the basis of Rotter's
proposed locus-of-control scale in 1966, although it was based on Rotter's assumption that a
single construct was the locus of control.

Rotter's presumption of uni-dimensionality has been questioned since 1970, with Levenson
(for example) arguing that it is important to distinguish different dimensions of locus of
control (such as assumptions that events in one's life are self-determined, or arranged and
chance-based by powerful others).

There is another form of control with respect to the locus of control, which requires a
combination between internal and external types. Individuals with the combination of the two
forms of control locus are often referred to as Bi-locals.
People with bi-local characteristics are known to deal with stress and cope more effectively
with their diseases by possessing the internal and external control locus mixture.
People with this combination of control loci will take personal responsibility for their
decisions and their effects while remaining capable of relying on and trusting in external
resources; these features relate, respectively, to the internal and external control loci.

Review of literature:

Findley, Cooper (2000) did a literature review on the relationship between control locus
(LOC) and academic achievement which revealed that more internal beliefs are correlated
with higher academic achievement and that the magnitude of this relationship is small to
medium. The characteristics of the participants in the studies examined were investigated as
mediators of the relationship, as well as the essence of the LOC and academic achievement
tests. For teenagers, the relationship appears to be greater than for adults or infants. Among
males, the relationship was more important than among women. Specific LOC assessments
and standardised achievement or intellect tests were correlated with stronger results than with
teacher grades.

Marton, Pizolli, (2019) did a study on Patients’ health locus of control and preferences about
the role that they want to play in the medical decision-making process. The aim of the
research was to explore the relationships between HLOC and the control preferences of
people about medical decision-making. The self-administered variant of the Control
Preference Scale and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale-form C was filled
out by a total of 153 individuals. HLOC clarified variability in people's control preferences: a
greater preference for the active and collaborative position was correlated with lower scores
in external HLOC. From the perspective of personalised medicine, an accurate assessment of
the HLOC of the patient will help tailor the decision-making process within the clinical
context.

Kesavayuth, Zikos, (2019), did a research study on Locus of control, health and healthcare
utilization. The study shows that people with an internal locus of control have improved self-
assessed emotional and mental health as well as physical health. They are less reliant on
medical treatment, both curative and preventive. The control locus predicts health across
multiple mechanisms, including social capital and smoking, drinking and physical activity-
related health behaviours. The relation between the control locus and curative treatment, but
not necessarily preventive care, can be explained by similar pathways. Interventions that take
into account not only the direct but also indirect impacts of the control locus are promising
ways to encourage better health.

Description of the test:

The Locus of Control Scale (LCS) is a 29-item questionnaire that measures an individual’s
level of internal-external control, in other words, the degree to which the individual interprets
events as being a result of their own actions or external factors. Locus of control is a
psychological concept referring to the degree to which an individual perceives that a reward
follows from, or is contingent upon, their own behaviour or attributes, versus the degree to
which they feel the reward is controlled by forces outside of him/herself, occurring
independently of his/her actions. Those with an 'internal locus of control' believe they can
exercise control over events in their life, and that outcomes are determined because of their
own effort and abilities. Those with an 'external locus of control' do not believe their
behaviour or decision making to have much impact, but rather that things are decided by
external forces such as fate, chance, or powerful others.

The LCS is a forced choice questionnaire in that respondents must select a response choice
that provides a specific answer to each item. For each item, the respondent much select the
statement they agree with the most from an 'a' or 'b' option, for example, (a) 'Children get into
trouble because their parents punish them too much.' or '(b) 'The trouble with most children
nowadays is that their parents are too easy with them'. The 29-item version contains six filler
items to make ambiguous the purpose of the test. Scores range from 0 to 13, with lower
scores indicating internal control and higher scores indicating external control. The LCS is
widely used and has been translated into over 40 languages.

Materials required: pencil, paper and locus of control questionnaire.

Subject’s profile:
Name: xyz
Age: 18
Sex: Female
Education: Bachelors

Procedure and Administration:

Preparation- The materials required for conduction for test questionnaire pencil, paper
stopwatch and answer sheet.
Rapport- A good rapport was formed with the subject and she was informed about the test as
per her own interest. She was comfortable and confident.
Instructions- instruction were given out to the subject as follows:
Answer true or false based on your own perception and whatever you feel to be true.
Precautions- Following were the precautions taken during the experiment:
- The environment was made comfortable for the subject by keeping good lighting and
good ventilation in the room.
- There was no pressure on the subject for the test.
- The subject was seated comfortably and the subject was informed about the test, and
carefully given the instructions for the same.

Introspective report: “Initially I was little scared about the test but later when I the
instruction were explained to me then I feel quite confident about it. I really enjoyed the
process and looking forward to see the results”
Scoring and Interpretation:

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

RESULT:

Sno. Marks obtained Interpretation

1. 65 Internal locus of control

By which we can make out

that subject has a control
over the situation and doesn’t
believe on external variable.

Discussion:

Locus of control is the degree to which individuals feel that they have power over the
outcome of events in their lives, as opposed to external forces (beyond their influence). The
theory was developed in 1954 by Julian B. Rotter and has since become a component of the
psychology of personality.

The "locus" of an entity is conceptualised as internal (a conviction that one can regulate one's
own life) or external (a belief that life is controlled by outside factors which the person
cannot influence, or that chance or fate controls their lives).
Individuals with a strong internal control locus feel that events in their lives are
predominantly the result of their own actions: for instance, individuals with an internal
control locus prefer to praise or blame themselves and their skills after receiving test results.
Individuals with a high external control locus prefer to compliment or criticise external
variables such as the instructor or the test.

I have conducted this experiment on 19 years old graduate female. Initially the rapport was
built with the subject. All the instructions and the procedure were explained to her. After
completing she seems to be very curious about her result.
After calculating her scores, I can conclude that my subject has strong Internal locus of
control through which we can make out that subject has a control over the situation and
doesn’t believe on external variable is a very reserved and creative thinker.

Conclusion:

The term 'locus of control' relates to a person's perception of control over their own conduct.
An internal locus of control or an external locus of control might exist in a person. People
with a high internal locus of control perceives themselves as having a great deal of personal
control over their behavior and are therefore more likely to take responsibility for the way
they behave.

People with an internal locus of control accept occasions in their day-to-day existence as
controllable. To be more specific, this means that they are capable of recognizing those
instances where destiny is controllable: for instance, let's say an individual is taking a test for
a driver's license.

A person with an internal locus of control will attribute whether they pass or fail the exam
due to their own capabilities. This individual would praise their own abilities if they passed
the test and would also recognize the need to improve their own driving if they had instead
failed the exam. The subject has internal locus of control which means the subject does not
give external variable more importance as much as she reflects within.
Reference:

Marton, G., Pizzoli, S. F. M., Vergani, L., Mazzocco, K., Monzani, D., Bailo, L., ... &

Pravettoni, G. (2020). Patients’ health locus of control and preferences about the role

that they want to play in the medical decision-making process. Psychology, health &

medicine, 1-7.

Kesavayuth, D., Poyago-Theotoky, J., & Zikos, V. (2020). Locus of control, health

and healthcare utilization. Economic Modelling, 86, 227-238.

Cooper, H. M. (1983). Locus of control and academic achievement: A literature

review. Journal of personality and social psychology, 44(2), 419-427.