Locus of control

What is locus of control?

Locus of control concerns whether people generally expect outcomes to depend on their own behavior or on factors such as chance and other people. Internal and external control describe expectations, not two fixed kinds of person.

Internal vs external locus of control

• An internal locus of control is the expectation that outcomes depend on one’s actions.
• An external locus of control is the expectation that outcomes depend on chance, circumstances, or other people.

Rotter’s 1966 report describes experiments about perceived control of reinforcement and develops a measure of generalized internal-external expectations. The distinction concerns perceived contingency between action and outcome; it is not simply confidence, optimism, or actual power.

Locus of control example and limits

The APA definition gives a concise overview. A person can recognize control over some outcomes while accurately identifying external constraints on others.

A poor performance review makes the distinction concrete. An employee might ask what they can improve, question whether the review was fair, or do both. A biased manager can be a real constraint. Believing you have control does not create it, and recognizing a constraint is not automatically an excuse.