Locus of Control

Maria failed her science quiz and felt extremely disappointed. She blamed herself, thinking she should have studied more. Jack also did poorly, and at lunch, he complained that the teacher created an unfair quiz that covered more material than she said to study. To prepare for the next quiz, Maria made more flashcards, asked for help, and practiced every single night. When Maria got the next quiz back, she improved because she took control over her actions and recognized the mistake she made. Jack did not improve and continued to blame outside factors instead of changing his own habits. 

This scenario is an example of the psychological concept of locus of control. Locus of control was coined by the psychologist Julian B. Rotter in 1954. Locus of control assesses  whether a person’s own actions or outside factors have the most control over something bad happening in their life.

Maria displays an internal locus of control because she believes their own actions, studying harder, can change the outcome. She has a form of autonomy over her choices. Jack displays an external locus of control because he blames the teacher and the quiz itself for his results, instead of focusing on what he can do differently for the next quiz. 

Understanding the concept of locus of control is important because it helps us recognize whether we are taking responsibility for our actions or blaming outside factors too much and avoiding accountability. It takes courage to believe that our actions matter, especially when something goes wrong or we make a mistake. Taking responsibility to learn from our mistakes instead of blaming others is a kind of personal and moral courage that we can practice every day.