Question:
What is meant by locus of control and why is it important?
Answer:
Do you think you are in control of your life at school, at home, or on the job?
Do you think your difficulties stem from outside forces?
Do you think there is nothing you can do about changing your life?
The Locus of Control, as explained by Julian Rotter, is a measure of the degree to which an individual takes responsibility for his or her life.
How often are you automatically moved by external forces in the environment when you make decisions?
Realistically, it is a matter of degree, not an either-or scale.
While we can argue endlessly about the relationship of freedom and determinism, it does ring true that when individuals underplay their own role in determining their future, they perpetuate an attitude of passivity and dependence upon the environment. They may not develop a strong sense of self-reliance, which is regarded by many to be crucial for school, career and personal relationships. Taken to an extreme, this might result in "victim" consciousness.
A study showed that female college freshman who identified female role models increased their internal loci of control by the end of the year, in contrast with those who didn't identify role models.
For more information on locus of control, plus links to a whole bunch of interesting stuff from the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, click here. The intended audience is probably educators, but the material is accessible to students as who would like to learn more.
Click here to read about becoming an "Internalizer".
Send your questions and/or answers in so they can become part of this series. All you have to do is click on my name to send an email: Gerry Lewin. Thanks!