TEST -2

LOCUS OF CONTROL

AIM: To find the Locus of control using Rotter’s Locus of control scale developed by Dr.
Anand Kumar and Dr. S.N.Srivastava.

INTRODUCTION:

PERSONALITY:

Personality, a characteristic way of thinking , feeling, and behaving. Personality

embraces moods, attitudes, and opinions and is most clearly expressed in interactions
with other people. It includes behavioral characteristics, both inherent and acquired, that
distinguish one person from another and that can be observed in people’s relations to
the environment and to the social group.The term personality has been defined in many
ways, but as a psychological concept two main meanings have evolved. The first pertains
to the consistent differences that exist between people: in this sense, the study of
personality focuses on classifying and explaining relatively stable human psychological
characteristics. The second meaning emphasizes those qualities that make all people alike
and that distinguish psychological man from other species; it directs the personality
theorist to search for those regularities among all people that define the nature of man as
well as the factors that influence the course of lives.This duality may help explain the two
directions that personality studies have taken: on the one hand, the study of ever more
specific qualities in people, and, on the other, the search for the organized totality of
psychological functions that emphasizes the interplay between organic and psychological
events within people and those social and biological events that surround them.

LOCUS OF CONTROL:

Locus of control is an individual’s belief system regarding the causes of his or her
experiences and the factors to which that person attributes success or failure.This concept
is usually divided into two categories: internal and external. If a person has an internal
locus of control, that person attributes success to his or her own efforts and abilities. A
person who expects to succeed will be more motivated and more likely to learn. A person
with an external locus of control, who attributes his or her success to luck or fate, will be
less likely to make the effort needed to learn. People with an external locus of control are
also more likely to experience anxiety since they believe that they are not in control of
their lives. This is not to say, however, that an internal locus of control is “good” and an
external locus of control is “bad.” There are other variables to be considered, however,
psychological research has found that people with a more internal locus of control seem
to be better off, e.g. they tend to be more achievement oriented and get better paying
jobs.Locus of control is often viewed as an inborn personality component. However,
there is also evidence that it is shaped by childhood experiences—including children’s
interactions with their parents.

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY BY ROTTER:

Julian B. Rotter was exposed to social injustice and became interested in the situation and
environment’s effects on the individual. In school, he developed an interest in psychology
and studied and worked extensively to earn his PhD, and to work as a clinician and in the
military.At the time of Mr. Rotter’s development, Freudian theory of human motivation
was the dominant theory, which focused on deep seated, instinctual and natural
motivations, combined with individual unawareness of those motives as the driving
forces for all human behavior. In order to understand the behavior, extensive research
into the childhood, assuming that the adult cannot figure out their own experiences and
how they drive their behavior, is the only way to understand or treat problems. In other
words, people are subject to their instinctive and unconscious drives, and not to the
environment or their ability to change.Mr. Rotter valued the driving force, but changed
the conception of the driving force: with the Empirical Law Of Effect and the driving
force in human behavior. In studying behaviorism and personality, he focused on the
desire for positive stimulation and the desire to avoid unpleasant situations rather than
physiological drives and instincts as the driving force in determining matters.In social
learning theory, the personality is not independent of the environment or external factors,
and is not merely a construct that is internal to the individual and independent of the
environment. When the individual personality is viewed as a construct of both life
experience and stimuli in combination with ways in which the individual seeks the
positive while avoiding the negative.A major component of social learning theory,
behavior potential, is that the individual personality is capable of maintaining relative
stability in potential ways of reacting to stimuli, but as always capable of change as
response to changing external factors. Although capacity for change may become reduced
and fixed as individuals age, there is no fixed point in which change capacity diminishes
or goes away. The traditional theories considered the personality as fixed and
unchangeable.

Finally, Rotter viewed the desire to seek positive results as far greater than the desire to
merely avoid the negative. This is critical to the human capacity to establish and meet
goals where the desired reward may be difficult to obtain or a long time in coming.The
component of expectancy is a behavioral construct that is based on the expectation that a
positive outcome is likely to come from adoption of behaviors that lead to the desired
outcome. Expectancy can be high, low, or a choice between the outcome that is more
likely to pay off. Expectancy is dependent upon the next component of social learning
theory, reinforcement value.

Reinforcement value is assigned to the desirability of the outcome that drives our
behavior. Positive things have a high reinforcement value while negative outcomes have
a low reinforcement value. Reinforcement that is a driving force, but which is considered
to have minimal value is called a minimal goal. The same situation applies in choosing
between goals with similar values: the one with the most likelihood of positive value is
chosen. In some cases, negative reinforcement is chosen by neglected children because
the lack of attention is worse than any punishment, which is some attention.The final
component of social learning theory is a formula where Behavior potential is a function
of the combination of expectancy value and reinforcement value.

ROTTER’S INTERNAL - EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL SCALE:

In an effort to explain how personal characteristics interact with the environment to

predict behavior, the psychologist Julian Rotter (b. 1916) proposed a social learning
theory in 1954. Although Rotter emphasized both personal and environmental factors in
behavioral prediction, much of the research generated by his theory focused on the role of
people’s expectancies or their subjective estimates of how likely it is that a given
behavior will lead to a desired outcome.According to Rotter, there are two types of
expectancies. Specific expectancies apply to single situations, such as whether a student
expects to do well on an exam. Over time people learn to apply their expectancies to a
variety of related experiences, resulting in generalized expectancies. A generalized
expectancy might refer to how well a student expects to do on exams in all of his or her
courses. Rotter proposed that one of the most important generalized expectancies is a
person’s locus of control.In 1966 Rotter published the Internal-External Locus of Control
Scale. Respondents were asked to choose between pairs of internal and external items
relating to everyday situations. For example, on one item respondents must choose
whether people’s misfortunes are due to their own mistakes (internal) or to bad luck
(external). Since its formulation, LOC has been one of the most frequently researched
personality variables in the social sciences. Scores on the LOC Scale have been
correlated with scores on nearly every social and personality characteristic imaginable.
Among the areas that most commonly have used the LOC Scale are personality and
social, educational, political, clinical, and health psychology. For example, research
shows that whereas high externality scores are associated with high depression scores,
internality is associated with more positive adjustment to a physical disability. In addition
discrimination based on race or sex has been associated with differences in LOC.
Researchers have shown that such group-level internality-externality differences have
implications for mental and physical health outcomes.Researchers have focused a great
deal of attention on the psychometric properties and factor structure of the LOC Scale. In
Rotter’s original conception, LOC was a unitary construct along the internality-
externality dimension. However, researchers soon began uncovering several other
dimensions related to LOC. Initial analyses revealed a personal control factor and a
system (or political) control factor. Other researchers proposed independent dimensions
of internality, chance, and powerful others. Based in part on dissatisfaction with the
properties of the original scale, researchers have developed new content-specific,
multidimensional LOC measures. One of the most popular is a measure of health LOC
(Wallston, Wallston, and DeVellis 1978). Although interest in Rotter’s original LOC
scale has waned, the development of new measures ensures that LOC will continue to be
a topic of interest to social scientists for years to come.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
Evin S. ,Deliberta , et.all (2020); The aim of this study was to examine how academic
procrastination, academic locus of control, and academic perfectionism predicts the
tendency of university students' academic risk taking. Also, this study focused on
understanding how academic procrastination, academic locus of control, and academic
perfectionism of university students had power to predict the students' tendency of
academic risk taking. Research Methods: The study group of this research consisted of
507 (351 female and 154 male) undergraduate students studying at a state university in
Turkey during the 2018-2019 academic year fall semester. The study group was identified
using convenient sampling. In this study, the "Personal Information Form", "Academic
Risk Taking Scale", "Academic Procrastination Scale", "Perceived Social Self-efficacy
Scale", "Academic Locus of Control Scale", and "Academic Perfectionism Scale" were
used to collect data. The Pearson Moments Multiplication Correlation Coefficient (r) and
stepwise multiple regression analysis were used in the analysis of the data. The upper
margin of error is assumed to be 0.05. Findings: According to the findings obtained,
academic procrastination, academic locus of control, and academic perfectionism
respectively predicted the academic risk-taking behaviors of university students
significantly. Accordingly, as the academic procrastination, academic external locus of
control, and academic perfectionism decreased, academic internal locus of control
increased, and academic risk-taking behavior increased as well. Implications for Research
and Practice: Research can be done by using other variables to understand academic risk-
taking behavior. In addition, various activities can be planned for students to take more
risks in academic life, to show less procrastination behavior and to have more internal
locus of control.

Johnson et.al(2018)demonstrated that locus of control was a key predictor of various

work‐related outcomes, ranging from job attitudes and affect to motivation and behavior.
Despite this evidence, the majority of contemporary organizational research has moved
away from examining locus of control as an independent construct. Instead, locus of
control is now commonly examined as a component of core self‐evaluation. However,
recent research suggests that locus of control is in fact an independent, distinct concept
and that core self‐evaluation research should continue without incorporating locus of
control in future work. This presents an opportunity to theoretically review locus of
control as a distinct construct and explicate its salient characteristics. Accordingly, this
review aims to further clarify the construct of locus of control, provide a foundation upon
which research may build, and elucidate fruitful avenues for future research

Llamas, J. D., Morgan Consoli, M. L., et.all(2018);The transition to college can be

difficult for many students; however, Latina/o students can face unique cultural stressors,
impacting psychological health. Intragroup marginalization, or feeling marginalized by
members within one’s cultural community, is one such stressor that can impact Latina/o
students’ college experiences. Despite the challenges many Latina/o students face,
Latina/os also demonstrate resilience and the ability to succeed. This study expands
existing research on intragroup marginalization, using a cross-sectional design to test a
mediational model of intragroup marginalization from friends and psychological distress,
with locus of control and peer social support in a sample of 137 Latina/o college
freshmen from a large public university in the western United States. Intragroup
marginalization from friends predicted psychological distress. In addition, locus of
control and social support from friends were identified as mediating variables. This
research demonstrates the negative impact of intragroup marginalization from friends for
Latina/o students, as well as the protective role of having an internal locus of control and
peer social support on experiences of psychological distress. Results also highlight
unique factors related to Latina/o freshmen college experiences as a means for improving
Latina/o students’ success in college.

Sujadi E, Yusuf A.M. , Marjohan M. (2016);problem focused coping need to be possessed

by every individual. The purposes of this research were to described locus of control, the
effectiveness of interpersonal communication, problem focused coping,the correlation
between locus of control with problem focused coping, and the correlation between the
effectiveness of interpersonal communication with problem focused coping.This research
was descriptive & correlation research by using quantitative approach. Data were
collected through a Likert scale questionaire and locus of control by using inventory
Rotters Internal-External Locus of Control (I-E Scale), which was the validity and
reliability has been tested. The data were analyzed by percentage technique and product
moment correlation. The finding of research are:  1)locus of control were in the middle
range between internal locus of control and external locus of control with an average as
big as 11.46, 2) the general level of effectiveness of interpersonal communication is
in high category, 3) the general level of problem focused coping is in high category, 4)
there is correlation between locus of control with problem focused coping, and 5) there
is correlation between effectiveness of interpersonal communication with problem
focused coping.

DESCRIPTION OF TEST:

The Internal-External Locus of Control Scale was developed by Julian rotter in 1966
which is a 29-item forced-choice test including six filler items, that sampled widely from
different life situations .Each item has given equal weightage . this is a forced choice
instrument which consists of 29 pair of statements, 23 of which scored , each alternative
keypad as to belief in either internal or external control of reinforcing event .

RELIABILITY OF TEST:

Hindi version of Rotter’s locus of control scale was administered on randomly selected
sample of 500 under-graduate students (250 males and 250 females). The age range of the
subjects was form 18 to 25 years with a mean age of 21-24 yrs. In order to obtain test -
retest reliability , it was re-administered to the same groups after an interval of 4 weeks .
However , only 345 subjects were available for the purpose. It may be evident from table-
1 that hindi version of rotter’s locus of control scale is highly reliable both by spilt half
and test-retest methods.

TABLE -1 ( Reliability of the hindi version of rotter’s locus of control scale)

Method N R Index of reliability

Split- half 500 0.78 o.88

Test- retest 345 0.73 o.85

With a view to ascertaining the relationship between the english and hindi version of the
Rotter’s locus of control scale , both versions were adminstered on 60 post-graduate
students of psychology (30 male and 30 females) between the ages of 20 to 23 years with
a mean age of 21.22yrs. Scores obtained by the subjects on the hindi and english versions
of the scale were correlated and correlation was found to be .89 which was significant at
or beyond .01 level of confidence. Hence , the results approve of the fact that the Hindi
version of the Rotters locus of control scale is an adequate parallel form.

VALIDITY OF TEST:

Rotter (1996) reported good discriminant validity for the scale indicated by low
correlations with such variables as intelligence , social desirability and political affiliation
. Similarly Hersch and scheibe (1967) found non-significant correlations between I-E
total scores and three different measures of intelligence . Strickland (1965), Tolor(1967)
and Tolor and Jalowiec (1968) found non- significnat correlations between Rotter’s locus
of control scale and Marlowcrowne social desirability scale.

APPLICATION OF TEST:

•Locus of control has generated much research in a variety of areas in psychology. The
construct is applicable to such fields as educational psychology, health psychology, and
clinical psychology. It has immediate relevance for social workers as a conceptual tool in
understanding the nature of clients dysfunction and the reason clients differ in their
ability to utilize helping intervention.

•The scale may be successfully used by psychiatrists , psychologist, counsellors, teachers

and social workers as a screening device to identify individuals who may be in need of
psychological assistance
•I-E scale provides a useful means for measuring individual difference in the extent to
which reinforcement is viewed as a consequence of one’s own behavior or a
consequence of such forces such as “chance”, “fate” or powerful others .

•Locus of control can be applied to all aspects of life and how a person approaches
various tasks, as well as how successful a person is at particular tasks. Locus of control
can be a great determinate of peoples abilities in various areas of their lives.

•Understanding locus of control can help people recognize what aspects of themselves
they need to change or work on in order to become better in a particular life
circumstance. As shown below, for example, a person trying to quit smoking may
recognize that he or she should try and exhibit more internal locus of control in order to
have the greatest chance of quitting.

•Employers may be able to determine how successful an applicant may be based on their
locus of controlThey also argue that health locus of control is better at predicting health-
related behavior if studied in conjunction with health value (the value people attach to
their health)

METHOD:

SUBJECT PRELIMINARY:

NAME: XYZ

GENDER: MALE

AGE: 17

EDUCATION QUALIFICATION: STUDENT

MATERIAL REQUIRED:

 Rotter’s manual

 Rotter’s questionnaire

 Pencil

 Eraser

 blank sheet

RAPPORT FORMATION: The subject was made sit comfortably in the room with no
disturbance. He was made sit calmly and and a proper introduction was done . He was
even introduce about what will be done in the test conduction , he does not need to feel
hesitate and if facing any problem he can ask it freely.

INSTRUCTIONS:

The following instructions were given to the subject-

The test contains 29 items , and each item has two options A and B. Subjects are expected
to read choice carefully in every items and mark yes (✔) in box either A or B.there is no
correct answer , you have to mark the choice you find the most appropriate.

PRECAUTIONS:

1. Make sure that the room where the conduction will take place is well - maintain , well -
lighted room , with no disturbance.

2. Make sure that you use a well sharped pencil .

3. Make sure that subject is well informed about what he have to do in test.

ADMINISTRATION OF TEST:

Rotter’s Locus of control scale is a self-administering test and can be administered

individually or in a groups . The instruction given on the test form are sufficient to take
care of the statements that are given . Individually and oral adminstration , however , are
effective for non-readers , for visually impaired , and for other handicapped clients who
can not respond to stimulus items without help. They should have the items without help .
They should have the items read aloud to them individually , and the examiner should
record responses in the appropriate manner. Written or oral adminstration of the Rotter’s
locus of control generally takes from 20-30 minutes. However no time limit should be
given for the test .When subjects are working independently they should be instructed to
read and follow directions printed on the form . When the examiner is reading and
recording the subjects responses , the examiner should read the directions to the examinee
, and -again-ask if there are any questions about what is to be done.

INTROSPECTIVE REPORT:

I was made sit comfortably in the room and there was a proper introduction made
between us and a proper rapport was made . I was told very well about the test and what
all I have to do . I was really excited for this conduction .

OBSERVATIONAL REPORT:

It was observed subject clearly understood about the conduction part . He was excited to
do it . When he was doing the test he was confident while answering the questions.
SCORING:

This scale is a forced choice instruments , which consists of 29 pairs of statements , 23 of

which are scored .There are 6 filler items (item no. 1,8,14,19,24,27) which are not
scored . High scores indicates external locus of control on internal -external dimensions
of the scale . In scoring , only external alternatives are endorsed . The maximum possible
score on Rotter’s locus of control scale is 23 and minimum being 0 . For each time ,
external alternatives to be endorsed as score 1 are given below:

Item no. External alternative Item no. External alternative

1 Filler 15 B

2 A 16 A

3 B 17 A

4 B 18 A

5 B 19 Filler

6 A 20 A

7 A 21 A

8 Filler 22 B

9 A 23 A

10 B 24 Filler

11 B 25 A

12 B 26 B

13 B 27 Filler

14 Filler 28 B

29 A

Internal control refers to the perception of positive and or negative events as being a
consequence of one’s own actions and thereby under personal control . Internally
controlled person feels that reinforcement which he recieves occur primarily because of
his own purposeful behaviour . Internally controlled person feels that reinforcement
which he receives occur primarily because of his own purposeful behavior. Internally
oriented people should be more active in their attempts to master and change their
environment and they should believe that they can change their environment and they
should also be more interested in doing so if the environment does not seem responsive to
their needs.

External control refers to the perception of positive and or negative events as being
unrelated to ones own behaviors in certain situations and therefore beyond personal
control . Externally controlled person belives that reinforcement are under the control of
powerful others , luck , chance , fate etc. External believes that their life is ruled by
factors beyond their control. Since an external feels that factors beyond his control
determine what happens to him, he should be more easily influenced by others than an
internal , externally oriented people should be more fatalistic.

RESULT:

RESULT TABLE 1.:

Item no. Response Score Item no. Response Score

1. a NTS 16 b 0

2 b 0 17 a 1

3 b 1 18 a 1

4 a 0 19 a NTTS

5 a 0 20 a 1

6 a 1 21 b 0

7 a 1 22 b 1

8 b NTS 23 b 0

9 b 0 24 b NTS

10 a 0 25 a 1

11 a 0 26 b 1

12 b 1 27 b NTS

13 b 1 28 a 0

14 b NTS 29 b 0
 15 b 1

TOTAL SCORE: 12

According to the conduction , the subject scored 12 which means he have internal locus
of control as it is below 15( which the maximum score to assign the internality and
externality locus of control) . Internal control refers to the perception of positive and or
negative events as being a consequence of one’s own actions and thereby under personal
control . Internally controlled person feels that reinforcement which he recieves occur
primarily because of his own purposeful behaviour . Internally controlled person feels
that reinforcement which he receives occur primarily because of his own purposeful
behavior. Internally oriented people should be more active in their attempts to master and
change their environment and they should believe that they can change their environment
and they should also be more interested in doing so if the environment does not seem
responsive to their needs.

DISCUSSION:

According to the result table subject answered option ‘a’ for question number
1,4,5,6,7,10,11,17,18,19,20,25,28 and opted for ‘b’ for question number
2,3,8,9,12,13,14,15,16,21,22,23,24,26,27,29. Filler items in the questionnaire are
1,8,14,19,24,27 which are not to be scored. For each item , external alternatives to be
endorsed as score 1 . Subject scored 1 for the following items
3,6,7,12,13,15,17,18,20,22,25,26. The total score are 12 which are below 15 which mean
subject have internal locus of control . Internal locus of control means subject considered
perception of positive and negative events as being a consequence of one’s own actions
and thereby under personal control. Internally controlled person feels that reinforcement
which he receives occur primarily because of his own purposeful behaviour . Internally
controlled person should be more active in their attempts to master and change their
environment and they should believe that they can change their environment and they
should be more interested in doing so if the environment does not seem responsive to
their needs.

CONCLUSION:

Personality, a characteristic way of thinking , feeling, and behaving. Personality

embraces moods, attitudes, and opinions and is most clearly expressed in interactions
with other people. It includes behavioral characteristics, both inherent and acquired, that
distinguish one person from another and that can be observed in people’s relations to
the environment and to the social group. Locus of control is an individual’s belief system
regarding the causes of his or her experiences and the factors to which that person
attributes success or failure.This concept is usually divided into two categories: internal
and external. If a person has an internal locus of control, that person attributes success to
his or her own efforts and abilities. A person who expects to succeed will be more
motivated and more likely to learn. A person with an external locus of control, who
attributes his or her success to luck or fate, will be less likely to make the effort needed to
learn. People with an external locus of control are also more likely to
experience anxiety since they believe that they are not in control of their lives.Rotter’s
locus of control scale has immediate relevnace for social workers as a conceptual tool in
understanding the nature of a clients dysfunction and the reason clients differ in their
ability to utilize helping intervention . The scale may be successfully used by
psychiatrist , psychologists , counselors, teachers and social workers as a screening
device to identify individuals who may be in need of psychological assistance .Rotter’s
Locus of control scale is a self-administering test and can be administered individually or
in a groups . The instruction given on the test form are sufficient to take care of the
statements that are given .

REFRENCES:

Akbay, Sinem Evin; Delibalta, Ayca.(2020).Academic Risk Taking Behavior in

University Students: Academic Procrastination, Academic Locus of Control, and
Academic Perfectionism.Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, n89 p159-177 .

Benjamin, M., Randel,E., Brian ,J. Johnson,C.(2018). Locus of control—a fundamental

individual difference variable , The JOB Annual Review, Volume 39, Issue 7, Pages:
817-910.

Eko Sujadi , A Muri Yusuf, Marjohan Marjohan .(2016) Hubungan antara Locus Of
Control dan Efektivitas Komunikasi antar Pribadi dengan Problem Focused
Coping.Indonesian Counselor Association (IKI). Volume 5 Issue3.
Llamas, J. D., Morgan Consoli, M. L., Hendricks, K., & Nguyen, K. (2018). Latino/a
freshman struggles: Effects of locus of control and social support on intragroup
marginalization and distress. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 6(2), 131–
148. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000089