1. ARE YOU THE MASTER OF YOUR FATE? J. B. ROTTER 1966
Chapter 7: PERSONALITY
ARE YOU THE MASTER OF YOUR FATE? J. B. ROTTER 1966

2. MAIN QUESTION
Do you believe that there is a causal relationship between your behaviors and its consequences?
If something good happens to you, do you take credit for it or do you think how lucky you were?
When something negative occurs, is it usually your responsibility or do you just chalk it up to fate?
THE MAIN QUESTION ADDRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE IS WEATHER OR NOT AN INDIVIDUAL BELIEVES THE CONSEQUENCES BROUGHT UPON BY THERE BEHAVIOR ARE UNDER THEIR PERSONAL CONTROL OR ARE THEY DETERMINED BY FORCES OUTSIDE ONESELF.

3. THE LOCUS OF CONTROL
Rotter proposed that individual’s differ a great deal in where they place responsibility for what happens to them.
External locus of control: When people interpret the consequences of their behavior to be controlled by luck, fate, or powerful others.
Internal locus of control: When people interpret their own behavior and personality characteristics as responsible for behavioral consequences.
ROTTER’S CONCEPT OF THE LOCUS OF CONTROL PROPOSED THE DIFFERENCES IN WHERE INDIVIDUALS PLACED RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT HAPPENES TO THEM.
COMES IN BOTH THE EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FORMS.
ROTTER EXPLAINED THAT A PERSON’S TEDENCY TO VIEW EVENTS FROM AN INTERNAL VERSUS AN EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL CAN BE EXPLAINED FROM A SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY PERSPECTIVE.

4. IMPORTANCE OF LOCUS ESTABLISHMENT
Development of an internal or external locus of control will influence your future behavior in almost all situations.
Rotter wanted to study differences among people on this dimension.
He developed a test that measures a person’s locus of control.
ROTTER BELIEVED THAT YOUR LOCUS OF CONTROL, WHETHER INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF WHO YOU ARE, A PART OF YOUR PERSONALITY.

5. Rotter’s research
He predicted that a test could be developed to measure reliably the extent to which individuals possess an internal or an external locus-of-control orientation towards life.
He hypothesized that people will display stable individual differences in their interpretations of the causes of reinforcement in the same situations.
ROTTERS PROPOSED TO DEMONSTRATE 2 POINTS IN HIS REASEARCH
ROTTER PROPOSED TO DEMONSTRATE HIS HYPOTHESIS BY PRESENTING RESEARCH COMPARING BEHAVIOR OR INTERNALS WITH THAT OF EXTERNALS IN VARIOUS CONTEXTS.

6. Rotter’s research
ROTTER PROPOSED TO DEMONSTRATE HIS HYPOTHESIS BY PRESENTING RESEARCH COMPARING BEHAVIOR OF INTERNALS WITH THAT OF EXTERNALS IN VARIOUS CONTEXTS.
ROTTERS PROPOSED TO DEMONSTRATE 2 POINTS IN HIS REASEARCH
ROTTER PROPOSED TO DEMONSTRATE HIS HYPOTHESIS BY PRESENTING RESEARCH COMPARING BEHAVIOR OR INTERNALS WITH THAT OF EXTERNALS IN VARIOUS CONTEXTS.

7. TESTING METHODS
Rotter designed a scale containing a series of many pairs of statements.
Each pair consisted of one statement reflecting an internal locus of control and one reflecting an external locus of control.
Those taking the test were instructed to choose the one statement which they strongly believed to be true. Not the statement they would like to be true.
TEST WAS DESIGNED SO THAT SUBJECTS WERE FORCED TO CHOOSE ONE STATEMENT FOR EACH PAIR AND COULD NOT DESIGNATE NEITHER OR BOTH.
THIS TEST WAS A MEASURE OF PERSONAL BELIEF, THERE WAS NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWER.

8. TESTING METHODS Originally contained 60 pairs of statements.
Eventually refined and streamlined down to 23 items.
Added to these items were 6 filler items, which were designed to disguise the true purpose of the test.
ROTTER’S MEASURING DEVICE ENDURED MANY REVISIONS AND ALTERATIONS, ORIGINALLY BEGAN WITH 60 STATEMENTS, AND WAS CUT DOWN TO 23 WITH 6 FILLER ITEMS.
FILLER ITEMS WERE USED BECAUSE IF SUBJECTS WERE ABLE TO GUESS WHAT THE TEST IS TRYING TO MEASURE, THEY MIGHT ALTER THEIR ANSWERS IN SOME WAY AS AN ATTEMPT TO PREFORM BETTER.

9. I-E SCALE
ROTTER’S CALLED HIS TEST THE I-E SCALE, WHICH IS THE NAME IT IS KNOWN BY TODAY.
ROTTER CONTENDED THAT HIS TEST WAS A MEASURE OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH A PERSONV POSESSES THEIR PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTIC OF INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL

10. I-E SCALE
I-E SCALE SCORES WERE EXAMINED IN RELATION TO INDIVIDUALS’ INTERACTIONS WITH VARIOUS EVENTS IN THEIR LIVES.
STUDIES FOUND SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION BETWEEN THE I-E SCORES AND SITUATIONS SUCH AS THOSE INVOLVING GAMBLING, POLITICAL ACTIVISM, PERSUASION, SMOKING, ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION, AND CONFORMITY.
ROTTER BELIEVED HE COULD DEMONSTRATE THAT THE EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL COULD ACTUALLY BE USED TO PREDICT PEOPLE’E BEHAVIOR IN SPECIFIC SITUATIONS.

11. RESULTS
GAMBLING:
Individuals identified as internals tended to prefer betting on sure things and liked intermediate odds over the long shots.
Externals would wager more money on risky bets.
ROTTER REPORTED ON STUDIES THAT LOOKED AT BETTING BEHAVIOR IN RELATION TO LOCUS OF CONTROL.

12. Results Political Activism:
1960’s study of African American’s in the Southern United States.
Those who participated in marches and joined civil rights groups were significantly more oriented towards an internal locus of control.
QUESTIONED THEIR ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

13. results
Persuasion:
Use of I-E Scale to select two groups of students, one highly internal and the other highly external.
Both groups were asked to persuade other students to change their attitudes about the fraternity and sorority systems on campus.
INTERNALS: were found to be significantly more successful in altering the attitudes of others.
SELECTION OF 2 GROUPS BOTH SHARED SIMILAR ATTITUDES, ON AVERAGE, ABOUT FRATERNITY AND SORORITY SYSTEMS ON THE CAMPUS.

14. results
Smoking:
Smokers tend to be significantly more external than nonsmokers
Individuals who quit smoking after the original Surgeon General’s warning appeared on cigarette packs were more internally oriented.
*Both internals and externals believed the warning was true
ROTTER DISCUSSED TWO STUDIES

15. results Achievement Motivation: Study of 1,000 high school students.
Students with an internal locus of control were more likely to be achievement-oriented.
Achievement oriented= plans to attend college, amount of time spent on homework, and how interested the parents were in the students school work.

16. results
Conformity:
Subjects were allowed to bet on the correctness of their judgments.
Internals conformed significantly less to the majority and bet more money on themselves when making judgments.

17. Sources for development of orientations.
Rotter believed there were three potential sources for the development of an internal or external orientation.
Cultural Differences: Study the ethnic differences in locus of control.
Socioeconomical Differences: Findings suggested that a lower socioeconomical position predicts greater externality.
Parenting Styles: Were believed to be an obvious source for learning to be internal or external.
ROTTER REFERRED TO SEVERAL STUDIES THAT ADDRESSED THE ISSUE OF POSSIBLE CAUSES. 3 POTENTIAL SOURCES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL ORIENTATION WERE SUGGESTED: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES, SOCIOECONOMIC DIFFERENCES, AND VARIATIONS IN STYLES OF PARENTING.

18. Rotter’s hypothesis
Rotter hypothesized those with an internal locus of control are more likely that externals to:
Gain information from the situations in their life in order to improve future behavior in those situations or similar ones.
Take the initiative to change and improve their conditions in life.
Place greater value on inner skill and achievement of goals.
Be more able to resist manipulation by others.

19. CONCLUSION
The dimension of internal-external locus of control has been generally accepted as a relatively stable aspect of human personality that has meaningful implications for predicting behavior across a wide variety of situations.

20. Subsequent research
Rotter’s study has been cited numerous times in research articles related to:
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Childbirth methods
Child molestation
Contraceptive use
HIV & AIDS prevention research
And many others….
THERE HAVE BEEN 100’S OF STUDIES SINCE ROTTER DEVELOPED HIS I-E SCALE THAT HAVE EXAMINED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOCUS OF CONTROL AND VARIOUS BEHAVIORS.

21. Yang & Clum (2000) SUBSEQUENT RESEARCH
Research demonstrated how childhood stress from abuse, family instability, or a generally negative family environment appear to promote low self esteem, an external locus of control, and higher levels of depression and suicidal tendencies in adulthood.
This study confirmed and expanded the connection between the locus of control and depression