Individual Differences in Attributions: Locus of Control

Some people’s sense of personal control is great, whereas other people seem not to see a connection between their behavior and what happens to them. The propensity to explain events in terms of oneself versus the environment is termed locus of control. Developed by Rotter (1966), the theory argues that people differ in the expectations they hold about the sources of good and bad things that happen to them. “Internal” credit themselves with the ability to control the occurrence of reinforcing events, both positive and negative. Other people, termed “externals,” perceive reinforcing events as under the control of luck, chance, or powerful other individuals—factor external to themselves.

Locus of control influences both how people perceive the events that befall them and how they interpret the experiences of others. For example, in one study (Phares, Wilson, & Klyver, 1971), college student participants were made to fail on an intellectual task that they had performed under either distracting or nondistracting conditions. Under the distracting conditions, both internals and externals blamed the distraction forr their failure. However, when there was no distraction and accordingly no obvious existing attribution for failure, internals blamed themselves for the poor performance, whereas externals were more likely to blame external factors. Thus, locus of control represents a chronic way of explaining one’s own successes, failures, or other experiences when environmental conditions do not provide an obvious explanation.

                Locus of control is assessed through a scale that includes items like those in Table 3—6. If you answer option a for all or most of the items, then you are a high internal locus of control person, whereas more option b answers push you toward the external extreme.

TABLE 3—6 Assessment of Locus of Control
(Choose one option for each question.)
1.	a. Promotions are earned through hard work and persistence.
	b. Making a lot of money is largely a matter of getting the right breaks.
2.	a. In my experience, I have noticed that there is usually a direct connection between how hard I study and the grades I get.
	b. Many times the reactions of teachers seem haphazard to me.
3.	a. When I am right I can convince others.
	b. It is silly to think that one can really change another person’s basic attitudes.
4.	a. In our society, a man’s future earning power is dependent upon his ability
	b. Getting promoted is really a matter of being little luckier than the next guy.
5.	a. If one knows how to deal with people, they are really quite easily lead.
	b. I have little influence over the way other people behave.
Source: Reprinted with permission from Psychology Today Magazine. Copyright © 1971 (Sussex Publishers, Inc.).

(Source: Taylor, S. E., Peplau, L. A., Sears, D. O. 1997. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. 9th Ed. United States of America: Prentice-Hall, Inc. pg. 77-78.)

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