Importance Of Locus Of Control

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The locus of control construct closely examines personality studies in order to achieve thorough insight into self- evaluation and its link to leadership qualities.
The nature and the importance of the ‘Locus of Control’ construct

The locus of control construct can be interpreted in various ways in order to reveal how personal ideologies can influence choice and reason. The locus of control in its nature can be deciphered in varying manners according to theoretical approaches. Julian Rotter’s internal- external scale (1966) introduced a one-dimensional approach to understanding the perception of individuals to situational outcomes in the real world (Levenson 1981, Pg 16-18). This construct originally proved successful for the managerial sector of business in order to allow smooth leader- member exchanges. Conversely, it has also been widely criticised due to the strength of variable relationships in the external scale. Individuals often reside to an internal mindset whereby they believe that they can produce an outcome with hard work and perseverance. Alternatively, other individuals possess an external mindset, with a causation effect of whether goals are achieved relating more directly to outside forces being powerful others and chance. As a result of the external scale linking powerful others and chance so cohesively, Rotter’s construct gained criticism for its uni-dimensional manner (Levenson 1981). Hersch and Schiebe (1967) (as cited in Levenson pg 16) ‘suggested that a theoretical and empirical differentiation of externality would be helpful in understanding the relationship between personality and adjustment.’ As a result of this, it may be concluded that Levenson’s multidimensional IPC scale approach has higher conceptua...

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...e theory but draws upon “five sources; intrinsic process, instrumental, self- concept external, self- concept internal and goal internalisation.” (Barbuto et al, 2010). Self- concept internal motivation is pivotal to leadership as it provides an extensive basis for self- evaluation whereby an individual’s ability to complete tasks at hand produce confidence and satisfaction, reflecting an internal locus of control. This form of motivation provides the capacity for leaders to appreciate each trait that is beneficial of employees for the firm, and allows for consistent results in the workplace. In addition, goal internalisation motivation allows employees to gain insight into the significance of tasks in order to find desire to succeed internally and in collaboration with fellow colleagues, subsequently the ability to express goal internalisation is key to leadership.

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