Locus of control a3

Locus of Control (LOC)

Where you associate control as being internal or external

Who proposed loc concept

Julian Rotter (1966)

What is internal loc

They believe they can control what happens to them, often feel in control of their emotions, actions and what they need to do for their health

What is external loc

They believe things happen due to factors out of their control - luck, circumstance, bad weather, etc. often feel dependent of conditions and can victimise circumstances

How does loc relate to health

Internal loc are less likely to develop things like addiction in comparison to those with external loc and internal loc are more in control of their actions making them want to avoid risk factors unlike external loc who might blame any risk factors that might occur to luck

What is locus of control measured by

Internal-External scale; Rotter's locus of control questionnaire

Gale et al 2008 objective

to examine the relationship between locus of control at age 10 and self-reported health outcomes (overweight, obesity) and health behaviours (smoking and physical activity) at age 30, controlling for sex, childhood IQ, educational attainment, earnings and socioeconomic position.

Gale et al 2008 method

Participants were members of the 1970 British cohort study, a national birth cohort, at age 10, 11,563 children took tests to measure locus of control and IQ. At age 30, 7551 men and women (65%) were interviewed about their health and completed a questionnaire about psychiatric morbidity

Gale et al 2008 results

Men and women with more internal locus of control score in childhood had a reduced risk of obesity (odds ratio 95% CL, for SD increase in locus of control, 0.86, 0.78-.95) overweight (0.86, 0.76-0.95). Women with a more internal locus of control had a reduced risk of high blood pressure (0.84, 0.76-0.92). Associations between childhood IQ and risk of obesity and overweight were weakened by adjustment for internal locus of control

Gale et al 2008 conclusion

Having a stronger sense of control over ones life in childhood seems to be a protective factor for some aspects of health in adult life. Sense of control provides predictive power beyond contemporaneously assessed IQ and may partially mediate the association between higher IQ in childhood and later risk of obesity and overweight

Abouserie (1994) abstract

Investigated the sources and levels of stress in relation to locus of control and self esters in 675 undergraduates (473 females). Ss completed questionnaires assessing academic stress, life stress, locus of control and self esteem. Examinations and their results were the highest causes of stress, followed by studying for exams, too much to do, and the amount to learn. 77.6% and 1-.4% of the ss fell into moderate and serious stress categories, respectively. There were significant differences between female and male ss in both types of stress, which females ss more stressed than males. Results also indicated a significant positive correlation between LOC and academic stress, suggesting that students with external beliefs are more stressed than those with internal. A significant negative correlation between SE and both types of stress emerged, indicating that students with high SE are less stressed than those with low SE

What is attribution

The process of explaining someone's behaviour

What does rotter ague about the relationship between locus of control and health

That it may be exaggerated as locus of control may precise your behaviour but in a familiar situation you are more likely to be influenced by past experience