LOCUS OF CONTROL: INTERNAL, EXTERNAL, STRESS AND SELF-ESTEEM - ARTE - 2025

The locus of control is an element of human psychology that determines to what extent we believe that we have control over the results that we obtain in our lives. In this way, the locus can vary on a spectrum that goes from "internal" (if we think we are responsible for absolutely everything that happens) to "external" (if we attribute our results to external causes).

The locus of control has been associated with a large number of different psychological phenomena, and individual differences in this area have a great influence on our lives. For example, people with an internal locus of control tend to have higher motivation, self-esteem, and problem-solving skills.

The discovery of the locus of control and its implications has generated a great deal of research, since it has been proven that believing that we have control over our own life is very useful in many areas. Thus, studies have been carried out on this phenomenon in fields such as educational, clinical or health psychology.

Today the locus of control is considered to be one of the four dimensions of basic self-assessments; that is, one of the main elements by which we judge ourselves. This phenomenon is usually related to others such as job satisfaction, good self-esteem, or the presence of mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety.

Internal locus of control

The term "internal locus of control" refers to the belief of some individuals that what happens in their life is under their control or influence. At first glance this may seem trivial, but in reality it causes a series of effects that will almost completely change the life experience of the person.

For example, today we know that people with an internal locus of control tend to take responsibility for their actions, in such a way that if the results they are achieving are not what they want, they generally change their way of acting. Similarly, they also have a greater sense of self-efficacy, and are more confident in their own abilities.

Normally, individuals with an internal locus of control are less influenced by the opinions of others, and make decisions based on their own beliefs and ways of thinking. This makes them work better alone, and they feel more confident when they have to face some kind of challenge.

Results

On the other hand, a person with an internal locus of control will not look for excuses to explain why he has not managed to achieve the results he wants, but will be aware of what his failures have been and will try to correct them. As a consequence, these individuals typically work harder to achieve their goals, and tend to go further than the rest.

All these characteristics make people with a fundamentally internal locus of control achieve better results than others in many different areas of life.

Studies indicate that they have stronger physical and mental health, tend to be happier and more independent, and achieve greater success in areas such as work, intimate relationships or personal satisfaction.

External locus of control

On the other side of the spectrum, we can find people with an external locus of control. Their main characteristic is that they believe that what happens to them in life is caused by external factors that are beyond their control, which brings them a series of very negative and limiting consequences.

Regardless of whether what happens to them is positive or negative, people with an external locus of control will tend to attribute their results to external and uncontrollable forces such as luck, the universe, oppression by others, or circumstances such as their ethnicity or ethnicity. place of birth.

Self esteem

These individuals generally have quite poor self-esteem, as even when they achieve some type of success they think that it is simply due to luck or the help of others. As a consequence, they think that they have no power to change the situation they are in, which leads them to not push themselves and often get stuck.

Among other things, the external locus of control causes phenomena such as lack of motivation, bad attitude, difficulty concentrating or even learned helplessness. Externally, people who fall into this category tend to have poorer physical and mental health in addition to experiencing difficulties in practically all areas of their lives.

Finally, one of the most serious consequences of having an external locus of control is the difficulty that this entails in managing to change unwanted situations in one's life.

Locus of control assessment

The locus of control is a well-known phenomenon in modern psychology, and its effects are of great importance in different fields. For this reason, there are many tools that are used to determine what style of locus of control a person has.

Generally, this aspect of individual psychology is evaluated through the use of specially designed tests and questionnaires. Some of the most famous are Rotter's 13-item forced choice scale, and Bialer's 23-item scale. However, a person's locus of control can also be determined clinically.

Thus, in a therapy context, it can be discovered whether an individual's locus of control is internal or external depending on their way of acting, their beliefs, their thoughts and their emotions. Fortunately, different forms of therapy also allow modifying it if this is necessary.

Locus of control and self-esteem

The latest research on this topic has found that the nature of an individual's locus of control is closely related to the strength of their self-esteem. Thus, those who believe that what happens to them depends on themselves tend to see themselves with better eyes than those who think that they cannot control what happens to them.

Why is this happening? It has been found that those with a primarily external locus of control tend to value absolutely all their experiences negatively.

When something happens to them that they did not want, they believe they are incapable of preventing it from happening again in the future; And when they do get something good, they think it just happened to them by chance or luck.

On the contrary, people with an external locus of control tend to take responsibility for everything that happens to them. Thus, if they make a mistake, they look for a way to prevent the same thing from happening again in the future; and when they achieve a positive result in their own life they are able to congratulate themselves for it, in such a way that their self-esteem is reinforced.

Locus of control and stress

There is some controversy about the relationship between a person's locus of control and their stress levels. Some researchers think that believing that we do not have control over what happens in our lives increases this type of discomfort significantly, while others think the opposite.

The first hypothesis is based on the idea that stress occurs when we feel that we cannot do anything to modify the circumstances in which we find ourselves and these are negative. If this were true, people with an external locus of control should experience higher levels of stress than those who think that changing their situation is entirely in their power.

On the other hand, some researchers believe that taking responsibility for everything that happens in our lives could also generate higher levels of stress. This is because not everything that happens to us is easily modifiable, but people with an internal locus of control would blame themselves when they were not able to get exactly what they want.

Currently, the consensus is that the lowest levels of stress are achieved when the person is aware that they have a great capacity to modify the circumstances in which they find themselves, but at the same time they know that their power in this regard has certain limits. In this way, the individual is able to take action and raise his self-esteem without having to torture himself when something does not go well.

Locus of control and depression

Depression is a phenomenon deeply related to the external locus of control. Believing that we do not have control over what happens in our own life can lead to what is known as "learned helplessness", a state in which the person stops trying to change their situation and resigns themselves to living with discomfort in a way permanent.

Learned helplessness is one of the most important causes of depression, and solving it is one of the first goals that therapists propose when treating a patient with this pathology. In practice, this implies encouraging a change in beliefs and encouraging the individual to take action to modify what depends on him.

References

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