locus of control

• Internals place control with themselves and externals place control outside themselves
• Internals believe things that happen to them are controlled by themselves. For example, doing well or badly in an exam depends on how hard you worked.
• Externals believe things happen outside their control. For example, if they fail an exam they say it was because they had a bad teacher.
• LOC is not just being internal or external. There is a scale from one to the other and people differ in their position on it.
• People with an internal LOC are more likely to resist pressures to conform/obey
• If someone takes personal responsibility for their actions they are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs
• People with high internal LOC are more confident, more achievement-orientated and have higher intelligence