This scale measures our sense of control over self and life events.
Locus of control can be defined as the perception or belief regarding one’s own control over his/her fate.
As the environment around you changes, you can either attribute success and failure to things you have control over, or to forces outside your influence. Which orientation you choose has a bearing on your long-term success.
This orientation is known as your "locus of control." Its study dates back to the 1960s, with Julian Rotter's investigation into how people's behaviors and attitudes affected the outcomes of their lives.
People with an Internal Locus Of Control tend to be future oriented, set goals, and develop plans to accomplish them. Leaders with an internal locus of control take responsibility for who they are, for their actions and performance, and for the performance of their department or organization. People who internalize locus of control believe that their fate is in their hands and that their actions directly affect their performance. They are self-confident, and learn from their mistakes rather than
blame others or bad luck.
People with an External Locus Of Control believe that they have little or no control over their destiny, their actions have little to do with their performance, and they are generally poor performers in the workplace.
Higher scores suggest individual empowerment, whereas lower scores tend to suggest a tendency toward feelings of helplessness, or at the extreme, victimisation.
This is a 29 question quick, "forced choice" scale. Often there are shades of agreement. Choose one or the other, in terms of which one would be generally most true for you.
