When you are dealing with a challenge in your life, do you believe that you have control over the outcome or that you are controlled by the outside forces?
In 1954, psychologist Julian Rotter suggested that our behavior’s controlled by rewards and punishments (reinforcements) and that it was the consequences of our actions that determined our beliefs about the causes of these actions. So, in 1966, he published a scale, which utilizes a forced – choice between two alternatives, requiring respondents to choose just one of two possibilities for each item. The scale is designed to measure and assess external and internal locus of control.
Now what is a Locus of Control ?
Psychologist Philip Zimbardo in his 1985 book Psychology and Life explained that “A locus of control orientation is a belief about whether the outcomes of our actions are contingent on what we do (internal control orientation) or on events outside our personal control (external control orientation)”.
Locus of control is a psychological concept that determines how strongly people believe that they have control over the situations and experiences that affect their lives.
Many people believe that locus of control is something that you’re born with as a personality trait. However, evidence shows that parents can play a major role in how their child develops locus of control. Encouraging a child’s independence and teaching them to associate their actions with the consequences can result in a better – developed internal locus of control.
Someone with an internal locus of control believe that the things happening to them are greatly influenced by their own abilities, actions, or mistakes. Whereas, a person with an external locus of control believe that other forces—such as random chance, environmental factors, or the actions of others—are more responsible for the events that occur in their life.
Internal locus of control is often also called “self – determination” or “personal agency“. Research suggests that men tend to have a higher internal locus of control than women and that tends to become more internal as people grow older.
Benefits of an internal locus of control
- Believing that we have control over our lives
- Improved information assimilation and accommodation
- Increased decision-making processes
- Helps in gaining self-efficacy, job effectiveness, and higher achievement
- People have less risk of burnout
- Increased happiness and relaxation
- Increased leadership adaptability
Locus of control is related to a variety of psychological concepts theories and findings.
Locus of Control and Learned Helplessness
Learned helplessness refers to when a person has learned to act as if they are helpless even when they actually have control over the situation or they have the power to manipulate it. Some psychologists believe that people with external locus of control are more likely to develop learned helplessness.
Locus of Control and Self–Efficacy
According to Albert Bandura, self – efficacy refers to one’s belief that they are able (or not able) to accomplish tasks and achieve their goals.
Though people with high self-efficacy have a more internal locus of control as they question on their ability of doing the task, the two measures are not perfectly correlated. For example, someone may feel like they have the power to influence their own health while simultaneously knowing that they lack certain skills such as cooking healthy meals that would improve their health (high internal locus of control, but low self-efficacy).
Locus of Control and COVID – 19
The COVID – 19 pandemic have caused stress to countless millions of people all around the world. Everyone in the world is experiencing “loss of control” over their health, their finances and their daily activities. This, and the thought of the unknown has affected our mental health in serious ways. This has caused anxiety and despair in people’s lives.
So, the concept of locus of control can help shape attitudes and behaviors that influence health and mental health. While we cannot control the circumstances that we are facing right now, and we cannot predict the future, we do have the ability to lessen the anxiety and despair by changing our internal narratives.
Since, locus of control refers to the degree to which people “believe” that they – as opposed to external circumstances – have control over events that affect their lives, we all can develop strong internal locus of control as it may fare better than those with external locus of control. Having internal locus of control gives us independence over our choices as maintaining safe social distance, wearing face masks, frequent hand washing, believing that their actions would have cease the pandemic. Hence, a strong internal locus of control might enhance resilience and result in mindful and optimistic behavior and attitudes.
How can we develop Internal Locus of Control?
Observe your cognition. Notice when you’re self victimizing or blaming other people for your negative feelings. Even if it is true, try not to go deep in self – pity. Focus on the parts of the problem that are within your control. Let go of the rest. Let go of the thinking what other people would say about you.
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