Relationship of Locus of Control to Self-Actualization

The Internal vs External Control Scale (Rotter, 1966) was developed as a measure of generalized expectancy which distinguishes between those individuals who view reinforcement as being contingent on their own skills and abilities (internals) and those who feel what happens to them is a result of chance or forces outside their control (externals). The Personal Orientation Inventory (Shostrom, 1966) purports to measure various aspects of self-actualization. According to Maslow (1962), the self-actualized person can be characrerized as autonomous or relatively independent of adverse external circumstances. It was, therefore, predicted that individuals scoring higher on internal control would also be higher on a self-acrualization measure. Both the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) and the Internal-External Scale (I-E) were admin~stered to a sample of 113 introductory psychology students at San Fernando Valley State College. Pearson product-moment correlations between the I-E Scale, scored in the internal direction, and the 12 scales of the POI yielded 3 significant correlations, with the range of all correlations being between -.004 and .26. The significant correlations were Selfregard (f = .26, p < .01), Self-actualizing Value (r = .25, p < .01), and Nature of Man as Constructive (r = .21, p < .05). Values of this size on only 3 of 12 scales suggest that the POI and I-E scales are measuring conceptually different variables. Lack of correlation between the Inner-directed scale of the POI and the I-E Scale (+ = .07) is consistent with Rotter's (1966) view that the I-E variable constitutes an aspect of functioning separate from the inner-other directed dimension of Reisman, Glazer, and Denney (1950), on which the POI Inner-directed scale was based. Since the Inner-directed scale was also found to be the one showing the largest intercorrelations with all other POI scales (fi ranged from .40 to .78), it may be that self-acrualization, as measured by the POI, depends to a considerable extent on that component and is, therefore, relatively independent of locus of control as conceptualized by Rotter (1966). Further studies wouid be necessary to indicate the validity of this hypothesis

Constructive · Expectancy theory · Locus of control · Maslow's hierarchy of needs · Process (computing · Scale (ratio · Self-Actualization · Behavioral and Psychological Studies · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Psychology · Social Psychology

• Locus of Control and Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Chinese-Americans

  Open Access•Wen H Kuo, Robert M Gray et al.•International Journal of Social…•1979

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• Interviewer's Locus of Control and Conditioning of Interviewee's Self-Reference Statements

  Open Access•David G Weight•Psychological Reports•1974

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• The relationship between the Hardiness Test and the Personal Orientation Inventory

  Open Access•Jane Campbell, Jane M Campbell et al.•Journal of Research in Personality•1989

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• Perceived aversiveness of recommended solution and locus of control as determinants of response to danger

  Open Access•Gary S Stern, Daniel P Blyth et al.•Journal of Research in Personality•1975

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• Interal locus of control as a value

  Open Access•Gary S Stern, Beverly Manifold•Journal of Research in Personality•1977

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• Toward a psychology of being.

  Abraham H Maslow, Abraham Maslow•1962

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• Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.

  Julian B Rotter•The Psychological Monographs•1966

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