Are You The Master Of Your Fate?

-J.B. Rotter (1966)Generalized Expectancies for Internal

Versus External Control of Reinforcement

Julian Rotter Behaviorist Individuals differ in how they interrupt situations

based on their responsibility for them External locus of control – belief that

consequences of behavior are controlled by luck, fate, or powerful others

Internal locus of control – belief consequences of behavior are controlled by own behavior

Examples of External and Internal Locus of Control

External – An external person scores an A on a test and concludes they got that grade because the teacher graded it wrong, someone switched the tests, it was just by chance, and/or it had nothing to do with them

Internal – An internal person scores an A on a test and concludes they got that grade because they studied all week for it, they are good in the subject, and/or it was earned because of their behavior

Social Learning Theory

Rotter felt children have different types of reinforcement, which result from actions

These learned generalized expectancies demonstrated internally or externally controlled behavior

Generalized expectancies result from different conditions in specific situations

Theoretical Propositions

Rotter predicted that tests could be developed to measure reliability of individuals internal or external locus of control outlooks on life

Secondly he hypothesized individuals will present their differences of the reinforcements in the same situations

Method

A scale was developed containing a series of pairs of statements – commonly called the I-E scale

Each pair contained an internal and external answer and participants were told to choose the one that applies to them, keeping in mind there are no right or wrong answers, and not allowing them to choose both or neither

Sample Items for I-E Scale

A. Many of the unhappy things in people’s lives are partly due to bad luck

B. Peoples misfortunes result from mistakes they made

A. Becoming a success is a matter of hard work

B. Getting a good job depends mainly on being at the right place at the right time

Method ( Count…)

Original tests consisted of 60 pairs of statements but now down to 23 items and 6 filler questions designed to hide the true purpose of the test

Next step is to apply these answers and results to every day life, that show correlations, including gambling, political activism, persuasion, smoking, achievement motivation, and conformity

Results

Gambling – Internal people placed bets on ‘sure things’ and

stayed away from long shots External people wagered more money and place

riskier bets – also engaged in gamblers fallacy – betting more on a number that hasn’t been up in a while, a number that’s due

Results (Count…)

Political activism- Rotter questioned African American college

students living in the south in the 1960’s Those who participated in marches and civil rights

groups were more internal locus of control oriented

More Results Persuasion – Rotter used the I-E Scale to chose 2 groups of students,

one very internal, the other very external Both shared similar attitudes about fraternities and

sororities (the ‘attitude’ wasn’t mentioned) Both groups were asked to persuade other students to

change their minds about these organizations, however, internals were more successful in changing other’s minds about these organizations

More Results…

Smoking- Externals are more likely smokers More internals quit smoking after the Surgeon

General’s warnings appeared on cigarette packages, even though both externals and internals believed it was true

More and More Results

Achievement motivation – Internals have more motivation to achieve goals

and success than externals who believe its just fate Study of 1000 high school students conducted –

positive relationship between internal scores on I-E scale and amount of motivation, including plans to attend college, time spent on homework, etc.

Last of the Results Conformity – Internals conform less than externals Subjects were exposed to a test showing how willing they

were to agree with incorrect judgments (Solomon Asch’s test)

Subjects betted on the correctness of their judgments with money provided for them

Internals bet more money on themselves when making judgments than the externals

DiscussionAre There Other Reasons for Internal

and External Orientation

Cultural differences? Socioeconomic differences? Variations on parenting styles?

Subsequent Research

Strickland (1977) wanted to see how locus of control effected health – found internals are healthier because they feel they have more control of it. They eat better, exercise more and practice avoiding accidents

Internals have lower stress levels also

More Research

Sims and Baumann (1972) applied Rotter’s theories to why more people die in tornados in Alabama than Illinois

After eliminating the obvious factors such as location, results from a questionnaire showed people from Illinois are more internal, feeling they have the power to save themselves in event of a tornado

More Research…

Yang and Clum (2000) stated Childhood stress from abuse and family issues promotes low self esteem

D’yakonova & Yurtaikin (2000) correlated authoritarian attitudes and internal locus of control in American students opposed to Russian students where no correlation was made

Recent Applications

Externals are more depressed due to their feelings of helplessness

Fate in god, according to Rotter would be external (Welton, Adkins, ingle, & Dixon, 1996)

Follow up studyParental antecedents of internal-external control of reinforcement

-Davis, William & Phares, E.

Psychological Reports

(1969)

Method

Conducted two studies – Children report parental behavior, Internal or external

attitudes, and their beliefs of the consequences of their behavior

Results

Internals believed their behaviors are separate from reinforcements Also it reports internal children felt parent’s showed

less rejection and positive involvement in their lives

Results

No direct relationship between parents and their children’s I-E scale

However, those who were similar expressed less discipline then those who didn’t share same I-E scale results

Conclusions and Thoughts

Locus of control is relatively stable in predicting behavior Internals may shift to external thinking in times of

stressExternals may become more internal when they gain

more responsibilities Internals are better off than externals

Conclusions and Thoughts

If someone tries to change situations that aren’t changeable, frustration and depression occurs

When outside forces are in control, its better to be an external

Conclusions and Thoughts

Are external or internal behaviors genetic/innate? How consistent is locus of control? Can an individual be external in one situation and

internal in another?