“It’s out of my hands”
“I made the decision, and now I have to pay the consequences”
“There’s nothing I could do”
“I did my best”
All of the above statements relate to how a person views the
cause of the events around them. The
psychological term that describes this perception is called locus of
control. In its most basic form, the
locus of control differentiates if a person primarily believes that they have
the ability to control their environment (internal) or if they believe what
happens is predetermined by fate, luck, or powerful others (external).
For example, if a person with an internal locus of control got a
95% on an exam, he or she would likely attribute the success to personal
factors such as studying or being smart.
If someone with an external locus of control received the same grade,
they would credit environmental factors such as the test being easy or the
professor needing to bell curve the grades.
Based on the previous example, it would seem that an internal
locus of control is great. You see
yourself as competent, and overall, you are just fantastic! However, this is
not always the case. In the face of a
negative situation, for example, if the mark on the test was a 55%, the
external locus of control would be much more beneficial to a person’s
self-esteem because they would perceive the test as really hard instead of
viewing him or herself as unintelligent.
So now that you understand what locus of control is and how it can
effect a person, let’s consider how this concept relates to a person’s quality
of life, such as their perceptions of meaning in life and well-being.
A study by Singh and Choudhri (2014) considers how these
quality of life factors are experienced by young adults (aged 20-23) based on
their individual differences in the previously discussed concept of locus of
control. They surveyed 120 university
students, and their results demonstrate that an internal locus of control (“I
did it!”) is related to a greater sense of achievement and self-acceptance,
stronger interpersonal relationships, and a more avid belief in fair
treatment. This way of thinking was also
related to a general positive appraisal of life, greater expectations for
success, and the ability to be more supportive in times of crisis.
All of this information has implications and is interesting,
however, it is important to remember that having an internal locus of control
has been associated with these quality of life factors. In other words, this
study does not tell us that viewing yourself as the controlling factor for
events will increase your quality of life, but rather that the two have been
seen as related in research settings.
The important message from all of this is that the way that you frame
situations in your mind is related to how you experience the events in your
life, and just remember, YOU CAN DO IT!
Primary Source:
Singh, T., & Choudhri, N. (2014). Early adulthood: The role of locus of control, meaning of life, and subjective well-being. Journal of Psychsocial Research, 9, 131-139. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1562147181?accountid=15115
Secondary Source:
Shojaee, M., & French, C. (2014). The relationship between mental health components
and locus of control in youth. Psychology, 5, 966-978. doi: 10.4236/psych.2014.58107.
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