Inventory and expressive measures of locus control and academic performance: a 5-year outcome study

Inventory and expressive measures of locus of control were used in a effort to assess their long term potential for predicting academic performance. Thus 45 male graduate students from three diverse major areas and 45 male high ability undergraduates were initially administered Rotter locus of control and Autobiography locus of control scales. Academic data regarding grade point average and baccalaureal or doctoral degree attainment were gathered five years later. The hypotheses were supported to the extent that low to moderate significant correlations were found between the two locus of control scales and subsequent academic performance. The strongest relationships were found between locus of control and graduate degree attainment, with graduate student internals significantly more likely to earn the doctorate within 5-year period than externals. It was speculated that the externals might be a more persistent group, but the internals were more likely to either attain the degree within 5 years, or drop out. And within this study's restricted ability ranges, locus of control personality measures proved to be better predictors of degree attainment than conventional ability scales.     

Defensive externality and its relation to academic performance.

This study examined the relationship between locus of control and academic performance by evaluating the academic achievement of defensive externals, which has been considered a confounding factor in previous research. A further objective was an examination of the effect of two mediating variables in their relation to locus of control and academic performance. One hundred sixty college students were administered the Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance scales, the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale, and the Achievement via Independence/via Conformance scales. Obtained results demonstrated that internals were academically superior to both defensive and congruent externals. Defensive externals were shown to have higher grade point averages than congruent externals, and female defensive externals achieved greater academic success than their male counterparts. Further results suggested that the relationship between locus of control and academic performance may not be a direct one but may be modified by specific mediating variables.     

Locus of control and behavior in treatment groups.

Studied the Rotter Locus of Control scale for effective prediction of behavior in small groups. Subjects were 205 male VA Hospital patients participating in self-directed groups who completed the AGCT, Psychological and Somatic Symptom Scales, and Rotter's I-E measure of locus of control. Group behavior was measured through sociometry and a Group Member Evaluation form. Three hypotheses were not supported: (a) Persons scoring high in the direction of internal control (internals) will be more likely to act to influence their social environment; (b) internals will be more active than externals in gathering and processing information in group discussions, and (c) internals will be more self-directed and less susceptible to being influenced by others. Two hypotheses were supported: (a) externals will express more somatic and psychological complaints than internals, and (b) externals will be perceived as behaving more defensively than internals. In contrast, intelligence was correlated with a large number of group process measures. Locus of control and intelligence measures predict different kinds of behavior in groups.     

Effect of locus of control,expectancy confirmation-disconfirmation,and type of goal on causal attributions of failure

Two experiments demonstrated interactive effects between locus of control and expectancy confirmation-disconfirmation in determining attribution of failure. Experiencing an expected versus an unexpected failure significantly influenced the performance attributions of internals but not externals. The first experiment also demonstrated an interaction between locus of control and type of performance goal (self-determined versus other-determined) in determining failure attribution. When the performance goal was other-determined, there were significant differences between internals and externals in their attributions of failure, but these differences did not materialize when the performance goals were selfdetermined, in the absence of any externally defined standard. Interpretation of results focused on the differences between internals and externals in regard to information processing and certain cognitive characteristics as they are related to the attribution of outcomes.     

Competition-cooperation as a mediator of locus of control and achievement

To test the hypothesis that internals will achieve more than externals in situations where competition is preeminent but not where cooperation is required, 300 children completed a digit-symbol task and a locus of control scale. Children were divided into internals and externals, placed in situations varying in competition and cooperation, and readministered the digit-symbol task. While the general hypothesis was supported, it was found that externals increased from their significantly low performance in the competitive situation to equal performance with internals in the cooperative situation. These findings are discussed in terms of their meaning for social learning theory and their relevance for the potential development of classroom teaching methods for increasing achievement behavior.     

Intrinsic motivation as a function of extrinsic financial rewards and subjects'locus of control

Two studies investigating the effects of pay on the intrinsic motivation of subjects varying along the dimension of locus of control were conducted. It was hypothesized that internals, who should assign greater weight to the competency aspect of rewards they receive, would manifest increasing intrinsic motivation as pay increased. Externals, who should be more likely to focus on the controlling aspects of rewards, were expected to show decreases in intrinsic motivation as rewards increased. In Study 1, where both the controlling and competency aspects of the rewards offered were deliberately kept vague, the hypotheses were supported. In Study 2, where the controlling aspect of the pay offered was made salient by making pay contingent upon performance, high pay undermined the intrinsic motivation of both internals and externals. It was suggested that only when the controlling aspect of pay is not salient will the intrinsic motivation of externals and internals be differentially affected. Support for the hypothesis that internals and externals differentially weight available information when making causal attributions was also noted.     

Effects of personality and situational variation in locus of control on cheating: determinants of the "congruence effect"

Thirty-two male and 32 female introductory psychology students were given the opportunity to falsely report success (i.e., to cheat) on a series of objectively unsolvable achievement tasks. Consistent with previous evidence, a Personality X Situational Locus of Control interaction effect, accounting for 24% of the variance, was found whereby persons classified as having generalized internal locus of control beliefs (internals) cheated more when the task was described as requiring skill while those with external control beliefs (externals) cheated more when chance presumably determined performance outcomes. Differing rates of task persistence, postperformance belief and affect ratings. and stated reasons for cheating (or not) were consistent with both affective and cognitive theories in explaining the cheating to conform to their status on the internal stable dimension of ability, externals were concerned with maintaining a belief in their status as fortunate individuals, also conceived as an internal stable attributional determinant. No sex differences in cheating or persistence behavior were found.     

Locus of Control and Implicit Memory

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of locus of control on implicit and explicit memory. We hypothesized that internals would rely on semantic processing, externals on perceptual processing. In Experiment 1, 80 college students studied 36 words and completed an implicit memory test in either a consistent or cross-modality condition. The results revealed that externals had higher priming scores than did internals, regardless of modality. In Experiment 2, 80 college students took either an implicit or explicit test. The results again revealed that externals showed higher priming scores than internals. The higher priming scores exhibited by the externals do not necessarily mean that they are more perceptually oriented than the internals are.     

Locus of control and attribution of responsibility for academic performance

This study tested Phares, Wilson, and Klyver's (1971) hypothesis that locus of control differences are unimportant in a situation which provides very explicit cues arousing specific expectancies regarding the locus of blame for poor performance. Two hundred and seventeen undergraduate students (134 men and 83 women) completed Rotter's I-E Scale as part of classwork in midsemester. During the last week of the semester they were routinely administered a questionnaire containing items on course evaluation, instructor evaluation, and expected grade. Expected grade was significantly correlated with ratings on several course evaluation and instructor evaluation items for internals and externals in the male, female, and total samples. However, these correlations were not significantly different for internals and externals in each sample. These results provided strong empirical support for the tested hypothesis.     

Locus of control and the learning of an artificial language

An experiment was conducted to explore the cognitive processes associated with locus of control beliefs. Internal and external subjects were instructed to remember as much as they can from an array of 21 letter strings generated from a finite state grammar. Although internals and externals did not significantly differ in their ability to recall these items, internals were better able to discriminate grammaticality and nongrammaticality in a new set of letter strings. Thus, although both groups attended to the exemplars, internals extracted more invariance and hence learned more about the underlying structure than externals. These results were discussed in relation to those of Wolk and DuCette (1974) on I-E and incidental learning.     

Learned helplessness and learned effectiveness: effects of explicit response cues on individuals differing in personal control expectancies

Female undergraduates (n = 62) who scored as extreme internals or externals on the Mirels Personal Fate Control Scale participated in a partial replication of Hiroto's learned helplessness experiment. Lights were added to the treatment apparatus, which made explicit to subjects the contingency or noncontingency between their responses and the termination of an aversive tone. As predicted, the performance of internals was significantly impaired by uncontrollability (learned helplessness), while that of externals was facilitated by controllability (learned effectiveness). Externals performed as well as internals in the "escapable" condition, but their performance was inferior to that of internals in the control condition. Following "inescapable" treatment, internals performed worse than externals. These results are supportive of Lefcourt's theory of cue explication. Implications for locus of control and learned helplessness research are discussed.     

Internal external control of reinforcement as a determinant of study habits and academic attitudes

This study tested Rotter's hypothesis that internals would show more achievement-striving behaviors than externals using a direct measure of such behavior. Rotter's I-E scale and the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes (SSHA) were administered to 123 male and 130 female undergraduate subjects. Significant sex differences were found on the SSHA scales but not on the I-E scale. Results indicated significant differences between internals and externals within each sex in terms of the average SSHA profiles and the individual SSHA scales. Using H. L. Mirels' (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1970, 34, 226–228) I-E subscales, similar results were obtained with the personal-control scale but not the political-control scale. Results provide additional evidence supporting the multidimensional interpretation of the I-E scale.     

Change over training sessions of relationship between locus of control and voluntary heart-rate control.

The present study investigated the effects of locus of control on learning to accelerate and decelerate heart over a number of training sessions. 15 Ss who scored internal in locus of control and 15 who scored external were trained to change their heart rates. Ss were given two training sessions in speeding heart rate and two in slowing heart rate. Results indicated that during the initial training sessions, internals were better able to increase their heart rates than externals; the externals were better able to decrease their heart rates than internals. However, this association diminished to nonsignificance when additional training sessions were provided. These results argue for routinely conducting a number of training sessions to avoid any premature statement of a relationship between personaltiy measures and learned control of heart rate.     

Effects of amount of helplessness training and internal-external locus of control on mood and performance.

Based on Wortman and Brehm's integration of reactance theory with Seligman's model of learned helplessness, an investigation was conducted to examine the effects of amount of helplessness training and internal--external locus of control on subsequent task performance and on self-ratings of mood. Subjects were divided into "internal" and "external" groups and were then given either high, low, or no helplessness training on a series of concept-formation problems. After completing a mood checklist, all subjects worked on an anagram task presented as a second experiment by a second experimenter. The results revealed that internals exhibited greater performance decrements and reported greater depression under high helplessness than did externals. In the low helplessness conditions, internals tended to perform better than control subjects, while externals tended to perform worse than control subjects; low helplessness subjects also reported the highest levels of hostility. The results are discussed within the context of Wortman and Brehm's integration of reactance and learned helplessness theories.     

Reactions to threat by defensive and congruent internals and externals: A self-esteem analysis

The hypothesis that vulnerable self-esteem internals and externals would react more defensively to negative intellectual and personality feedback than congruent (more secure self-esteem) internals and externals was investigated in two experiments. The defensive (DE)-congruent (CE) external distinction was strongly confirmed in both cases. In Experiment 1, DEs assumed less personal responsibility for failure than for success, while CEs assumed little personal responsibility for either outcome. Defensive externals performed more poorly than CEs on a task described as an IQ test, suggesting greater anxiety in the face of possible failure. In Experiment 2, DEs rated themselves more favorably and derogated evaluator's competence more than CEs following receipt of negative information regarding their interpersonal skills. Congruent internals (CI) performed more poorly than defensive internals (DI) on the “IQ” task, while male DIs attributed responsibility for outcomes more defensively. It was suggested that a consistently internal view of causation may increase stress in evaluative situations. Implications of these findings for better understanding the relationship between locus of control and maladjustment were discussed, and suggestions for future research were presented.     

Excuse-making and blaming as a function of internal—external locus of control

Two studies examined differences in excuse-maktg and blaming by subjects with internal or external locus of control. In Study I, 39 internals and 30 externals judged acceptability of various excuses in three situations and also assigned blame for cheating and lying in other situations. Externals were uniformly more prone to use excuses than internals, both for other actors and for themselves. Also, externals tended to assign less blame for cheating and lying. In Study II, 24 internals and 32 externals divided blame among themselves, another person, and ‘no one to blame’ in 10 joint-responsible situations. Externals assigned more blame to the other person and less to themselves, but approximately the same blame to ‘no one’ Externals also had higher tendencies to blame others and were more sensitive to being blamed. These results point to a ‘missing dimension’ of interpersonal relations in studies of excuse-making and blame.     

Biculturalism,Locus of Control,and Leader Behavior in Ethnically Mixed Small Groups1

The study examined the interactive effects of degree of biculturalism and locus of control on leader behavior in supportive and nonsupportive ethnically mixed small groups. Subjects were 36 male Chicano college students who participated in a small group discussion composed of four members: a naive subject who invariably served as group leader, and three confederates representing distinct ethnic groups (Anglo, Black, and Chicano). Behavioral observations revealed several interesting interactions involving group support. High biculturals, in comparison to low biculturals, adopted a more active leader role in nonsupportive than in supportive groups, asking for more opinions and evaluations, and making more clarification statements. Furthermore, while low bicultural externals and high bicultural internals tended to be more interpersonally assertive and to make more clarification statements under supportive conditions, it was low bicultural internals and high bicultural externals who exhibited the most active leader roles in nonsupportive groups. Additional findings revealed that statements made by the Anglo confederate were clarified more often in the supportive condition, while statements made by either the Black or the Chicano confederate were clarified more often in the nonsupportive condition. The results are discussed in relation to previous literature and the need to develop a more responsive social psychology of interethnic dynamics.     

Locus of control and the effects of success and failure in young and community-residing aged women1

A study was conducted to examine reactions to success and failure in young and elderly subjects. Young and aged women, previously classified as internals or externals according to scores on a version of Rotter's (1966) Locus of Control Scale, were asked to work on cognitive problems while listening to bursts of noise. Two experimental conditions were created. One group (perceived success) was led to believe they were successfully avoiding bursts of noise by correctly solving the problems. A second group (perceived failure) believed they were unsuccessful at the problems and not avoiding noises. To test the generality of the effects of the treatments, subsequent performance was assessed on first, a similar task administered by the original experimenter, and secondly, on a dissimilar task given by a different experimenter in another setting. Results on a similar task indicated that subjects showed poor performance following failure regardless of age or locus of control classification. However, internals performed better than externals after both success and failure treatments. Testing the generality of these effects with a dissimilar task, results indicated that externals tended to perform somewhat more poorly after failure and internals somewhat better after failure. However, these I-E differences in reactions to success and failure were largely due to the elderly group, and old-externals showed the poorest performance after failure. The results were interpreted in terms of the particular importance of locus of control as a determinant of adaptability to stress in the elderly.     

A Method Facilitating the Application of the χ2 Test to Certain Problems Arising in Social Psychology

Abstract

The relationship of generalized locus of control expectancies to the judgment of emotion from facial expressions by male and female American college students in the context of anticipating and not anticipating an interaction with a stranger was examined. Subjects were randomly assigned to either anticipatory or nonanticipatory conditions. As hypothesized, internals were more accurate than externals in overall judgment of emotion from standardized slide photographs of facial expressions. Male, but not female, externals responded poorly to the anticipated interaction with a stranger. Females were significantly more accurate than males at identifying fear expressions and tended to be more accurate overall.     

Locus of Control and Voluntary Heart-Rate Change

Summary: Investigated the effects of locus of control on voluntary control of heart-rate change. The 32 subjects were randomly assigned to one of two heart-rate change groups: Increase or decrease. The groups were counterbalanced for locus of control and sex. No heart-rate feedback was provided to subjects, and all subjects performed the appropriate task for two sessions. Results indicated that during the initial session, internals were better able to increase their heart-rates than externals; the externals were better able to decrease their heart-rates than internals. This association, however, diminished to nonsignificance in the second session.