Locus of Control

Locus of Control

Locus of control is a theory by Julian Rotter that discusses the magnitude of control that a person believes that they have over things that will affect them in life. According to Rotter, people fall into one of two categories. One category is internal locus control, which includes people who believe they control what happens in their life. The second category is external locus control, which includes people who blame what happens in their life on outside forces. “Those with an internal LOC expect the important things in their lives to occur because of their own effort, skills, or abilities. People with an external LOC expect these things to occur because of outside forces (such as luck, fate, chance, or powerful others)” (Darity, 2008). According to a dissertation written by Mercy Nunez in 1999, another perspective of locus control is that it is an indicator of self-esteem. “The literature states that people with an internal locus of control have higher self-esteem than those with an external orientation” (Nunez, 1999). When I took the locus of control assessment, my scores indicate that I exhibit internal locus control. So, if I take into account what is documented by Nunez, this means that I have high self-esteem.

The positive outcome of internal locus of control is that the people who fall under this category do not blame others for their shortcomings. They take full responsibility of things that happen in their life. On the other hand the negative outcome is that a people who have big egos fall into this category as well. This person will take full responsibility for accomplishments that happen in their life even when they received help to achieve those accomplishments. They would not give credit where credit is due. A positive outcome of external locus of control is that the people who fall under this category will share their glory with others especially when they have received help. However when it comes to their...