The locus of control is a psychological factor that determines the type of personality depending on the views on the causes of events occurring in a person's life. The concept of a locus of control was introduced in 1954 by Julian Rotter. It implies the property of a person to connect all life events taking place with the causes of their occurrence. The locus of control in psychology is also called localization of control of volitional effort.
Diagnosis of the locus of control
The concept of diagnostics of the locus of control is based on the concept of J. Rotter. He created a scale that is widely used in American psychology to this day. Rotter and his staff proceeded from the fact that the locus of control may vary depending on the spheres of life of the individual. A survey was prepared with a locus of control, including 29 items corresponding to several areas: affective situations, academic recognition, social respect, socio-political activity, domination and general outlook. In the domestic practice in this area worked Bazhin, Golynkina and Etkind. They also prepared a test and called it "questionnaire level of subjective control." It includes 44 questions and as a result, a generalized indicator of the individual level of subjective control can be derived, as well as four situation-specific indicators. They characterize the level of subjective control in the family, interpersonal, production spheres and in relation to the person to health and illnesses. As a result of the diagnosis and application of these techniques, two main types of the control locus were identified.
Types of the locus of control
We attribute responsibility for the results of activities either to one's own abilities and efforts, or to external factors. On this classification is based and two types of personality are distinguished with an external and internal locus of control.
The external locus of control is an external locus, based on the search for causes beyond oneself. It is characteristic of people who are insecure in their abilities, unbalanced, anxious, suspicious and aggressive. Externals argue that the power of circumstances, facts and external conditions is stronger than himself. Usually they go to school badly, accusing them of bad grades of the teacher who unfairly treats him, they can not get a job - all because of unemployment and crisis, it's hard for people to get together, again the reason is in the people around him, not himself. Individuals with an external locus of control act on the basis of authoritarianism and dogmatism. They often have psychological problems, because they are too much exposed to social impact from the internals.
The internal locus of control is the tendency of a person to attribute the results of an activity to internal factors: the efforts, skills, skills, positive and negative qualities of the person himself. Internals feel themselves masters of fate. They are good
Studies in the field of locus of control showed that there are no pure types in nature. In each person there is a share of confidence in their abilities and strengths, and the proportion of psychological dependence on circumstances.