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How Does The Locus of Control Affect Your Life
Are you wondering as to how does the locus of control affects your life?
Well, for that you have to first understand the meaning of the word ‘Locus’ and then the factors that determine it…and that’s exactly what we are here for you today.
The locus of control is the degree to which people believe they can control events in their lives.
Those with an internal locus of control believe that they can control their own destiny, while those with an external locus of control believe that they are at the mercy of events beyond their control.
While there are advantages and disadvantages to having either an internal or external locus of control, research has shown that those with an internal locus of control tend to be more successful in life.
They’re more likely to take initiative and be proactive, which often leads to them achieving their goals. They’re also more resilient in the face of setbacks and more likely to bounce back from failure.
On the other hand, those with an external locus of control are more likely to be passive and to give up easily in the face of adversity. They’re also more likely to blame others for their failures and to feel like victims.
So how does the locus of control affect your life? If you have an internal locus of control, you’re more likely to be successful in achieving your goals.
You’re also more likely to be resilient and bounce back from setbacks. If you have an external locus of control, you may find it harder to achieve your goals and you may be more likely to give up in the face of adversity.
No matter what your locus of control is, you can always choose to take control of your life and steer it in the direction you want it to go. Remember, it’s up to you to make your life what you want it to be!
Understanding The Meaning of Locus
Locus means a particular position or place where something occurs or is situated.
So, in reference to the human working locus, the locus of control can be defined as the place of action where thinking occurs.
What Is Locus of Control?
Locus of control is one of the primary four dimensions of core values of… self-evaluations – one’s primary appraisal of oneself – simultaneously with neuroticism, self-efficacy, and self-esteem.
The concept of Locus of control was evolved in 1954 by Julian B. Rotter and has since enhanced as a perspective of personality psychology.
Are you letting external forces define your life, or is your life defined by the internal forces that work upon you?
There are two factors of locus of control that affect the way with think, our attitude, the style of living, and how we communicate with each other.
They are defined by External Locus of Control and Internal Locus of Control.
Here we are going to mention the peculiarities and the unique features of both internal locus of control as well as external locus of control
Internal Locus of Control
The belief that events in one’s life, whether good or bad, are caused by controllable factors such as one’s attitude, preparation, and effort.
Common things that you get to hear when you are affected by Internal locus of control
- I can determine my future.
- My passion and hard work help me achieve my goal.
- I am in control of my life and its direction.
- I take responsibility for my actions and the consequences thereof.
- I have faith in my work.
- I have faith in the quality of my work, and I know that it will produce good results.
External Locus of Control
The belief is that events in one’s life, whether good or bad, are caused by uncontrollable factors such as the environment, other people, or a higher power.
Some common dialogues that you will be hearing from people who are affected by External locus of control
- There is nothing I can do about my future.
- Why should I even bother to try?
- Whatever is meant to happen will happen if there is no point in crying.
- I will go with the flow. Luck, faith, and religion control my future, so there is no point in trying to work hard.
- Why does everything always happen to me?
Self-pity, Sobbing, crying, cribbing about everything that’s happening but not happening in your life, and blaming others for it.
Locus of control depends on your attitude or belief in yourself, how self-motivated you are, and how motivated you are by your personal growth.
Remember that medicines can help you get better physically, but they cannot help you feel better, mentally, and emotionally. For that, you need a positive internal locus of control.
People are mostly blaming governments for never doing enough—the religions for being a part of the minority or being a schedule caste or of a general category.
In short, everybody has an excuse ready all the time where you blame others for your incompetency and for not being able to perform.
A person from the minority group is always blaming the government and the people of the majority group of community and takes the excuse of being oppressed by them.
Instead of working hard, they choose the easy way out of blaming others for their laziness of not getting up and going out to improve their life.
On the other hand, the others who are from the majority group start by blaming the scheduled castes, Dalits, or the minority religious groups by saying that there are not enough jobs for them to work; hence they are left with no option but to just sit home and do nothing.
Now, these are all excuses for not doing a thing.
There are fine examples that an auto-rickshaw driver’s daughter has made it to the IAS while a businessman’s son is as good at nothing because he did not want to study and had enough money from his father to waste on alcohol and friends.
Hence businessman’s son learned nothing while somebody who had nothing is now heading the bureaucracy, so all these factors are determined by your internal and external locus of control and how you allowed them to control your life and take you ahead from there.
Mostly our actions are governed by what we want rather than what we have. This is constantly leading to dissatisfaction, which in turn leads us into depression and devaluation of ourselves.
Since we don’t have any vision for the future, we never have more today than what we want tomorrow.
Only having a vision for the future defines who you are today and why people should remember you tomorrow.
Effect of Locus Of Control On Students
Stop blaming everything on luck. Luck is only a small factor when it comes to determining the meaning of your future.
Personalities with a strong internal locus of control consider events in their lives primarily due to their own actions: for example when accepting exam results. They tend to glorify or condemn themselves and their capabilities.
On the contrary, individuals with a strong external locus of control favor glorifying or condemning external factors such as the teacher, paper setter, parents, siblings, or the exam.
Locus of control has created a substantial study in various areas of psychology such as educational psychology, health psychology, and clinical psychology.
Common excuses like…
- Remember it’s all luck.
- you are very lucky to be here
- you were very lucky to be born into a rich family
if you are born into a low-income family or if you are unlucky, then you get to hear… you have my sympathies you are born into such a horrible family but you are still lucky that you found me
…so everything has been now blamed on luck
You have first to understand that you can’t take full credit for your success, nor can you truly blame others for their failures.
Once you understand this concept, it will make you humble and a more compassionate person to be around.
This is a complete new word for me but I know the concept. Its more of self control and controlling your life the way you want. At the end, if you’re happy and successful too then nothing like it ❤️
It was new for me too. The first time I heard so I had to google the meaning of ‘locus.’ Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed reading this.
Ranjeeta I admire you for the quality of content you share with us. They are just not informative but equally interesting.it opens up new avenues in front of us to think wider and better. I want more such content from you for my personal knowledge value addition
Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed reading this.
I learnt about Locus of control when I was studying NLP. I believe that there are so many areas for our personal growth that remain untapped. Only when we realize it’s power, we start seeing their effects. Internal locus of control is one such area.
Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed reading this.
This provides a very interesting perspective of the inner workings of the mind. Yes all of us are either having an internal or external Locus of control, and that determines to a great extent our reactions to challenges and how we cope with failure. But I think that it is more like a band with an internal and external locus on either extremity.
Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed reading this.
I had completely forgotten this word Lucas. This not only makes you a humble person but you also take the responsibility of your actions and life.
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This is really a very enlightening blog I completely agree to the facts you have mentioned and this really a knowledgable blog, I am very much impressed!
Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed reading this.
Locus of control is such an amazing topic and so well explained
Thank you for sharing this
Locus? I’m hearing this first time. I absolutely learnt so much from this post. A complete guide formate you have presented about locus. Thank you for the share.
Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed reading this.
Indeed an interesting read. I really enjoyed reading this one and heard the word locus with a new perspective this time. Thank you for sharing your views on this important topic.
Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed reading this
I have never thought about this and the meaning of locus. Thank you for the elaborate details, loved reading the blog😍
Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed reading this
This was a completely new concept for me. After reading your post, I thought more deeply about what you shared. It was a learning for me and I took this platform to ask the query I had in mind – there is always a grey area, for some things we may have an internal locus while for others an external how does it affect one?
When it comes to our daily routine, an internal locus of control can have a positive effect. This is because individuals with an internal locus tend to take more initiative and be more proactive in their approach to tasks. They are also more likely to persist in the face of setbacks and believe that they have the power to influence their own destiny. On the other hand, an external locus of control can lead to a feeling of helplessness and resignation. Individuals with an external locus may be more likely to give up in the face of adversity and believe that their fate is out of their hands. While an internal locus of control is generally considered to be more beneficial, it is important to remember that everyone experiences a mix of both internal and external loci of control. What matters most is how we deal with the grey areas in between. Accepting that there are some things we cannot control can help us to let go of unnecessary stress and focus on what is within our power.
As a Self-Care advocate and having read much about aspects of Self-Care, this is the first time I’ve learned about this concept and I’m LOVING IT! Losing control over what we perceive our life is all about always comes down to our mindset. Having control over our mind can be easily said but very difficult to do. I’ve learned a lot from this and would surely be adding some key points to how I share my learnings about Self-Care to other moms.Appreciate this so much!
Thank you so much for your feedback. It makes me really happy that you could take away something from this article.