LOCUS OF CONTROL

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Where is your Control . . . LOC Locus means Place Control means You all know LOC = Where is your control
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Lets check LOC

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What is Locus of Control?

Locus of Control is considered to be an important aspect of personality within Psychology.

The concept was developed originally Julian Rotter in the 1950s (Rotter, 1966).

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Internal

External

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What is Locus of Control?

Locus of Control refers to an individual's perception about the underlying main causes of events in his/her life. Or, more simply:

Do you believe that your destiny is controlled by yourself or by external forces (such as fate, god, or powerful others)?
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Thus, locus of control is conceptualized as referring to a

LOC & Motivation

Internal LOC People accept responsibility for events (Davis and Davis, 1972) External LOC Individuals blame their environment for failures (Phares et al. 1971)

Internals believe that the probability of goal attainment is directly proportional to their efforts and their ability to learn from repeated experiences (Lefcourt, 1982) . Set more difficult goals for themselves (Yukl and Latham, 1978)

Externals do not see the relationship between their efforts and the ultimate results of these efforts
(Lefcourt, 1982).

Externals attribute a high probability to luck as a determinant for significant events (Friedland, 1992).

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Age, Gender & LOC

Numerous studies have examined the relationship between LOC & Gender
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Women are more external in their locus of control than men (Jones and Page, 1986;

Linder, 1986; Doherty and Baldwin, 1985; Dollette, Steese, Philips, Mathew, 2004).

Differences in LOC and in Age are correlate:

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Infants & young children display external charactersitics. Adolescent &young adults displays more internal LOC. As one enters the later middle years, the LOC shifts back towards a ore external view.

(Rotter 1966; Chubb, Fertman & Rose 1997)

Other studies suggest that the relationship between LOC, gender , age can 6/4/12

LOC & Self Efficacy

LOC has an effect on an individuals level of Self Efficacy
(Phillips & Gully ,997).

Persons with higher internal LOC will have a higher Self- Efficacy
& Gully ,1997; Wood & Bandura,1989).

(Phillips

Individual with higher level of Self- Efficacy & Internal LOC are more likely to persist in their performance of a task for longer period of time than individual with low SE & LOC (Strauser, Waldrop, Hamsley & Jekins,1998)

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LOC & Stress

When an individual perceives that they are in control of the situation, the probability is that he will be less likely to view the situation as threatening or stress inducing. (Chan, 1977) The type of Loc and adaptation to stress is interrelated. (Ivancevich & Matteson) Externality (i.e fate, luck chance etc) is positively related to general life stress and job stress. (DiMatteo et al. 1993, Evans and Coman, 1993) Since Internality leads to lower anxiety experience, internal LOC may act as a stress buffer. (Daniels & Guppy, 1992). Individuals with internal Loc are challenged by stressors while externals are likely to be threatened by these stressors. (Vitalino et al 1987)
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LOC & Stress

Internal Loc individuals make use of solution oriented coping while external Loc individuals tend to either ignore or give in to problems. (Rees and Cooper, 1992; Schill and Beyler, 1992; Wells-Parker et al. 1990)

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Internal Locus of Control

Benefits : People with an Internal LOC

Engage in activities that will improve their situation. Emphasize striving for achievement. Work hard to develop their knowledge, skills & abilities. Are inquisitive and try to figure out why

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Internal Locus of Control

Have a more Participative Management Style and use persuasive power often. Sensitive to new information. More attentive to ques that aid in reducing uncertainties. Prone to intentional and incidental learning. Take more risks.

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Managing the Drawbacks of a Strong Internal Locus of Control

1.

People with an Internal LOC are generally more successful. Tend to be very Achievement Oriented. This can leave the people around them feeling Trampled or Bruised and with a very strong Internal Locus of Control.

2.

3.

There is also a tendency to want to control everything. This can lead to 6/4/12 difficulties in taking direction.

External Locus of Control

Benefits : People with an External LOC

Believe that outcomes are results of chances or external factors. Events not in individual control and dictated by issues like fate, luck etc. Tend to attribute reasons to others rather than self. More fatalistic in approach.

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I succeeded because I tried / I failed because I did not try hard enough. Everything is going my way this semester. Thats why I am doing well / I got a bad grade because the teacher didnt like me.

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Shall we follow the theory

LOC vs Performance rating LOC vs Longetivity in the company LOC vs Operational effectiveness

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