Locus Of Control

The locus of control is the main aspect of Julian Rotter’s theory which falls under the social-cognitive perspective. The locus control basically consists in one’s general experiences about whether one’s efforts can accomplish desired results or reinforcements. People that have an internal locus of control believe that they are able to accomplish their goals or reinforcements through their work and effort. Contrarily, people with an external locus of control believe that their accomplishments and failures are governed and controlled by external forces such as luck or fate.

I took the locus of control questionnaire and I got a 7 out 13. This means that I neither tend to have an external nor an internal locus of control or that I tend to have a locus of control that is in between internal and external. I think that the score fully captures my personality. Indeed, I believe that people are able to control their lives up to a certain point, as fate and luck play an important role as well. I’m not that kind of person that

I think that this makes sense, as people with an external focus of control tend to behave as passive spectators in their lives since they think that outcomes in life are controlled by something out of their reach. Contrarily, people with an internal focus tend to be active protagonists of their lives since they believe their own efforts determine their future. The same trend would also apply to health. For example, a person with an internal locus of control who is diagnosed with cancer is more likely to fight through his or her disease, while a person with an external locus of control is more likely to give up since he or she thinks that his or fate is decided by outside