Relationship of Locus of Control to Self-Actualization

Bibliographic Data

ID13655726
AuthorsJoan Barrett Wall (corresponding author)
Year1970
Volume27
Issue2
Pages282-282
Publication date1970-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychological Reports (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-2941 • E-ISSN: 1558-691X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2466/pr0.1970.27.2.282
PMID5454111
OpenAlexW2036284051
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited2

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