Locus of Control, originally conceptualized by Julian Rotter (1966), has been found to be critical to numerous studies. Within psychology, it is considered to be a generalized expectancy regarding the forces that determine reinforcement. Individuals with internal orientation perceive rewards as contingent based on personal behavior, whereas those with external orientation attribute reinforcement received to external factors such as chance and powerful others (Levenson 1981). This essay examines the nature and significance of this psychological construct, especially in academic achievement and health domains. Additionally, it has been argued that high internality is positively associated with leadership while high scores of powerful others have detrimental impacts. Finally comes the argument that higher internality is beneficial for career and leadership.
The nature and the importance of the ‘Locus of Control’ construct
Theoretically derived from Rotter’s I-E Scale, the Levenson scale is extensively used because of its sufficient reliability and validity. Compared with overly simplistic I-E scale, this multidimensional approach is more convincible as it lessens ambiguous wording and almost deters social desirability bias which might arouse a loss of reality (Krampen 1981). In contrast, it may be argued that the I-E Scale is more widely applied. Central construct as it is, I-E scale is surrounded by other development of Locus of Control construct and may be more dominant in some domains. Riordan (1981) administered those two scales to South African students. Effectively, Rotter’s scale was found high reliability, together with the result that Black participants scored significantly less towards internality than White respondent...
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So when at work or at a party you have to ultimately make a choice. At work, you can choose to do poorly because you think your work will be overlooked resulting in an external locus of control or work hard because you think you determine the results of your work, which is an internal locus of control. Same situation different scenario, with your personal life. For example, you can choose to be quiet and talk to no one at a party because they choose to be alone. They make a difference by sparking up a conversation with someone they know or someone
Expectancy Theory suggests that human actions are guided by the expected results of those actions (Expectancy Theory). It proposes that humans act in a certain way only if they believe that that the action is going to result in a certain desired outcome. Therefore, this theory acknowledges that humans exercise choice on their actions. This choice is exercised in three different ways, which are classified as expectancy, Instrumentality, and valence (Expectancy Theory). Expectancy refers to the knowledge and belief that one can effectively do a particular action; instrumentality refers to the belief that one will be rewarded upon effectively executing a particular action, and valence refers to the level of value a person places on the rewards being offered after properly executing a particular action (Expectancy
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Nearly everyone in the modern world has heard of the term self-control, a seemingly non-important or uninteresting topic of interest. However, self-control has been related to having one of the most significant impacts on a person. Even some have gone as far to say that self-control is the “biggest predictor of a successful and satisfying life” (Pinker 1), which are bold words for a topic that many merely disregard. The idea of self-control is a concept coined in the Victorian era, and appears immensely throughout the novel, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, written by R.F. Baumeister & J. Tierney. Essentially a self-help book, ‘Willpower’ provides explanations for why humans are doing the things that they do, and why people aren’t always as virtuous as they may be expected to be. Self-control affects many facets of a person’s life, and by looking at how it is presented in psychology, and in Baumeister and Tierney’s novel, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, one will see the correlations and differences between modern research and historical perspectives on the idea of self-control, and ultimately decide if the idea of self-control is an inherent trait or a learned condition.
How Self-Efficacy and Locus of Control Influence Personal Behavior, Personal Perceptions, and Society in General
People’ self-regulation differs by individual and its development depends on different styles of parenting during childhood. According to Higgins and Silberman (1998), there are parents who consistently focus on encouraging children to behave desirably to achieve positive outcomes, rewarding children when they reach a goal and those who primarily focus on preventing children from creating negative outcomes by teaching children how to avoid potential dangers and punishing them when they behave undesirably. The former parenting style makes children think more about the ideal things they would and would not do whereas the latter parenting style makes children think more about things they ought and ought not to do. The consequences of these parenting styles are the differences in children’ desired goals and in their favorable means to attain those goals (Higgins & Silberman, 1998). On the basis of these parenting styles, Higgins (1996) presents the regulatory focus theory which proposes two separate self-regulatory orientations of individuals: prevention and promotion. Individuals with stronger promotion focus in their goal pursuits concentrate on accomplishment, advancement and aspiration. They are sensitive to attainment so they prefer an eager strategy as it can ensure they could gain and ensure against the presence
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B. F. Skinner concluded that people could mentally have control over all of their responses. He believed that a reinforcement and/or consequence given after a behavior would influence future behavior (Roblyer,2003, p.57). In other words, reinforcements and/or punishments can shape human behavior. For example, if a child eats all of his vegetables at dinner and his parent’s reward him with positive words and a cookie, then the child will probably eat his vegetables at the next dinner.
Different scholarly articles and books have taken an approach in tackling the topic of health. They each help the reader determine whether or not an individual controls their bodies and their health. Throughout researching the topic, I 've come to the conclusion that individuals tend to not have control of their bodies and health more-so than having control.
Reinforcement theory of motivation was proposed by BF Skinner and his associates. It states that individual’s behavior is a function of its consequences. It is based on “law of effect”, i.e., individual’s behavior with positive consequences tends to be repeated, but individual’s behavior with negative consequences tends not to be repeated.
He articulated that the principle of reinforcement is highly used among many looking to guide the behaviors of others. These principles are widely used by parents, employers, judicial systems, sports teams, to name a few in attempts to change one’s own behavior as well as the behavior of others. He introduced radical behaviorism to the psychological community. His numerous accomplishments will be recycled throughout psychological history as very pertinent information to the field.