Internal-External Control as a Determinant of Academic Achievement

The aim of the present investigation was to examine the relationship between Rotter's (1966) internal-external control dimension (I-E) and academic achievement. Although no previous investigators have reported significant associations between these two variables (Eisenman & Platt, 1968), it seems a logical extension of the perceived locus of control dimension that internals would manifest more achievement-striving behavior than externals, who feel they have little control over their environment. Accordingly, it was predicted that internally controlled college students would obtain significantly higher quality point averages than their externally controlled counterparts. The I-E scale was administered to several sections of introductory psychology at Villanova University. From the total pool of Ss who responded to this questionnaire (N = 483), 31 males and 10 females who scored on the internal end of the scale (18 to 23) and 76 males and 22 females who scored on the external end (0 to 9) were selected. The measure of S's academic achievement was taken to be cumulative quality point average (QPA), retrieved for each S from the university's computer science center. Insofar as the over-all OPA means for males (2.48) and females (2.41) did not . . differ significantly, data were analyzed for sexes combined. Internals and externals were separately assigned to one of three a prior; QPA categories (3.00 to 4.00; 2.00 to 2.99; 1.00 to 1.99) and the resulting frequency data (I-E X QPA) yielded a x2 of 2.98 (df = 2, p < .250) indicating only marginal support for the prediction. Two distinct possibilities may account for the lack of relationship berween the I-E and academic achievement variables. First, and along the same lines as suggested by Rotter (1966), there may be an overabundance of college Ss who have arrived at an external view of the world as a defense against failure but who were initially highly competitive. Thus, externals would still maintain comparatively strong achievement motivauon in clearly structured competitive situations but defensively account for failure by externally controlled attitudes. Second, the I-E dimension is probably not generalizable across situations, and in the highly structured academic achievement situation there is probably more specificity determining QPA than in other kinds of competitive situations. In either event, subsequent research should attempt to clarify the interaction of personality factors and academic achievement

Academic achievement · Control (management · Developmental psychology · Dimension (graph theory · Locus of control · Management · Scale (ratio · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Demography · Mathematics · Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

• Locus of control and competence 1

  Open Access•Murray P Naditch, Thomas DeMaio•Journal of Personality•1975

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• Study Habits as a Factor in the Locus of Control-Academic Achievement Relationship

  Open Access•Barry A Bass, Thomas Ollendick et al.•Psychological Reports•1974

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• Defensive externality and its relation to academic performance

  Terry J Prociuk, Lawrence J Breen•Journal of Personality and Social…•1975

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• Locus of Control, Interpersonal Trust and Academic Achievement

  Open Access•David J Massari, Dianne C Rosenblum•Psychological Reports•1972

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• Internal-External Control, Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement

  Open Access•Terry J Prociuk, Lawrence J Breen•Psychological Reports•1973

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• Internal external control of reinforcement as a determinant of study habits and academic attitudes

  Open Access•Nerella V Ramanaiah, Fred D Ribich et al.•Journal of Research in Personality•1975

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• The Interaction Between The Internal—External Locus of Control and Two Methods of College Instruction

  Open Access•Richard L Daniels, James P Stevens•American Educational Research…•1976

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• Correlational Findings, Educational Implications, and Criticisms of Locus of Control Research

  Open Access•Carl H Reynolds•Journal of Black Studies•1976

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• Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.

  Julian B Rotter•The Psychological Monographs•1966

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• Birth Order and Sex Differences in Academic Achievement and Internal-External Control

  Russell Eisenman, Jerome J Platt•The Journal of General Psychology•1968

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