Introduction
The term Control locus refers to the degree to which people feel they have control over what happens in their lives, from a routine event to a dangerous situation. People attribute the “control of our destiny” either to our own decisions or abilities (internal locus of control) or to external forces, such as God, luck or karma.
Of course, the way we face everything that happens to us greatly influences our motivation to act in certain circumstances, since it is about placing ourselves in one of two positions:
- Feeling that we have the keys to our destiny, in which case we feel more capable and free to act and make the necessary changes.
- Feeling that we are in the hands of something or someone else, that they decide for us without our consent and that can make our life become a swamp of misfortunes. This, of course, will make it much less likely that we will work to make changes to our current circumstances or ourselves.
Background of Control locus
The origin of the term locus of control was introduced by Julian Rotter in 1966 as part of his. Rotter also developed a method to determine whether a person has an internal or external locus of control.
Initially, Rotter proposed that there could be separate loci of control for different goals (e.g., one for love and another for social recognition). However, this idea failed when trying to create a measurement tool that separated these objectives into independent factors. Rotter then changed his approach and integrated all the objectives into a single figure, the global concept of locus of control.
The concept of locus of control did not catch on from the beginning, largely because contemporaries and scholars who followed Rotter downplayed the importance of locus of control within the various theories of learning and motivation. It was not until 1978 that Wallston and DeVellis published Development of the multidimensional health locus of control scales that a solid understanding was reached of what the locus of control was and how it influenced important life decisions.
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The way Wallston and DeVellis raised this importance was by referring to how expectations about people’s health behaviors could determine how they acted in health-related situations. That is, if an individual had an internal locus of control, he acted with greater awareness and took the appropriate measures to care for her well-being; If, instead, he believed that responsibility for his state of health lay with an external force, he was less likely to eradicate harmful habits and opt for healthier ones.
Other psychologists such as Philip Zimbardo would later contribute to simplify and clarify the concept proposed by Rotter, pointing out that the locus of control is “a belief about whether the results of our actions depend on what we do or whether they depend on other things outside our personal control”.
The scale designed by Rotter has been widely used since its creation, however, it should be noted that it has also been the subject of multiple criticisms by those who think that the locus of control cannot be measured in such a deliberate way.
This is because the scale designed by Rotter only allows people to choose one of two possibilities for each item, something that its critics consider too limiting in the case of a property that is assumed to be such a complex part of human personality.
Features of the internal locus of control
The measurement scale proposed by Rotter detects differences in the personal characteristics of individuals with internal locus of control. Thus, people with this belief are distinguished because:
- They are more likely to take responsibility for their actions
- They tend to be less influenced by other people’s opinions
- They often perform better on tasks when they are allowed to work at their own pace
- Typically has a strong sense of self-efficacy
- They tend to work hard to achieve the things they want
- They feel confident in the face of challenges
- They tend to be physically healthier
- They report being happier and more independent
- Often achieve greater success in the workplace
Features of the external locus of control
According to the scale proposed by Rotter, people with external locus of control are markedly distinguished from subjects with internal locus of control. Some of the most representative characteristics of this group would be:
- They blame outside forces for their circumstances
- Any chance of success is based on luck
- They do not believe that they can change their situation through their own efforts
- They feel hopeless or unable to cope with difficult situations
- They are more likely to experience learned helplessness
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