LOCUS OF CONTROL AND RELATED THEORIES

The Roman Poet Virgil once said: “They are able who think they are able”. This paper endeavours to analyse, from a psychological perspective, the kind of personalities in humans that ask the question of whether or not individuals are in control of their own destiny. What is locus of control? What are its categories and what information is available to determine which category is more practical? How can psychology improve the category that is most practical? How are other theories related to locus of control? Locus of control is defined as the individual’s beliefs about whether the outcomes of their actions depend on what they do (internal control) or on events outside their personal control (external control). This definition was coined in 1966 by the pioneer of this field: Julian Rotter. To develop his ideas, Rotter conceived two kinds of individuals. On one end of the spectrum lie the externals, these are individuals who perceive the events surrounding them as created by external forces such as fate, luck or even a divine entity such as a god. On the other end lie the internals, they are so called internals as they perceive the outcomes of their life as created by themselves. They feel in control of the situations that surround them. A research conducted by P.E Spector (2002) revealed that internals enjoy higher motivation, greater well-being and better salaries than externals. Internals trust their hard work will result in good outcomes (Spector, 1982). A study conducted by Amel Loza-Fanous from Carleton University (2003), concluded that locus of control appeared to be a better predictor of success of offender treatment participation. These are just two examples of the wealth of studies that support the idea that internal locus of control is an optimal approach of life, but how can psychology help externals become internals? A case study conducted by John Masters in 1970 developed one of the first approaches to increasing internal locus of control. A youth who had been struggling with his family and having continuous arguments with his father was determined as being high in external locus of control. His father was seen by the youth as the “almighty controller, while the youth interpreted commands (which actually might have been requests) to do household chores as infringements on his personal freedom.” The teen felt that the chores were degrading, but according to Masters they were perceived as degrading because the youth was to “follow them blindly and supposed to play the game without following the rules”. It was devised by Masters that the youth should pursue a “contingent” approach so he could start doing chores that he anticipated were going to be asked by his father. This is how the youth was to feel in “control” of the situation and subsequently reduce tension between him and his father. Step by step, Masters demonstrated to the youth that he could create positive outcomes if he set about to do them, thus increasing his internal locus of control. Similar theories include the self-efficacy theory. Self-efficacy, developed by the Canadian Albert Bandura (1997), is defined as the belief that one can master a situation and produce positive outcomes, in other words, having an internal locus of control. Bandura and others have spent considerable time in demonstrating that self-efficacy is related to positive outcomes of life such as following a diet, quitting smoking or even becoming more sociable (Bandura, 1997). Here are some strategies are suggested by Watson and Tharp (2003): • “Individuals should pay close attention to their successes and avoid putting too much emphasis on their failures” • “Individuals should make a list of the situations in which they expect to have the most difficulty and the least difficulty. They should begin with easier tasks and cope with the harder ones after they have experienced some success” • “Individuals should keep journals so they will be certainly aware of their success. A smoker who avoids smoking for four days and then fails to keep his abstinence on the fifth day should not think, ‘I’m a failure, I can’t do this.’ This statement undermines the fact that the smoker was successful 80 percent of the time (avoiding smoking four out of five days).
Another theory in the vein of locus of control is Positive Psychology (Positivism). This factor is often related to positive functioning and adjustment. Martin Seligman is one of the major exponents of this field. He has found on his research with animals that these could become helpless (passive and unresponsive) after they experienced uncontrollable negative events. Seligman (1975) concluded that pessimism is similar to learned helplessness and belief in external locus of control. Optimism is similar to belief in self-efficacy and internal locus of control. There have been studies to demonstrate that approaching life in a positive manner is important in promoting heath. One specific research conducted concluded that older men and women who demonstrated a negative outlook on life were more likely to suffer heart attacks than those who demonstrated a positive outlook (Ostir & Others 2001). According to Linda Siegman, Positivism can be fostered through cognitive therapy. This type of therapy asks the client to think positively and talk back to negative thoughts in an optimistic way that does not allow self-blame and negative generalizations (Seligman 2006). Another way to develop positivism is through a “Positive Self-Illusion” which involves having falsely high opinions of oneself (Taylor & Others, 2000). This paper has shed some light on the work of locus of control and the relating theories. In conclusion, having a high internal locus of control is the optimal approach to life. Although this statement might seem obvious there are two central reasons for repeating it. First, some individuals might not even think about the benefits of having an internal locus of control because they never posed the question itself: “Is humankind a puppet to fate or is mankind is able to control its outcomes”? Second, if these individuals did realize that having an internal locus of control is good there might still be some predisposition about adhering to ancestral beliefs to keep an external locus of control. For example, a religious individual who feels she is committing a sin when she thinks God does not control destiny. This paper has addressed the first steps in which psychology is helping to increase internal locus of control among individuals.