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Locus of Control

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging

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Synonyms

Control beliefs; Learned helplessness; Perceived constraints; Perceived control; Primary and secondary control; Sense of control; Sense of mastery

Definition

Expectancies about the degree of influence one has on outcomes and events in their life (Rotter 1966). The locus of control is operationalized with self-assessments using items or statements that rate the degree one expects to be able to bring about desired outcomes or overcome external constraints in order to reach goals, in general or within specific domains and situations (Lachman et al. 2015).

Overview

The locus of control was first conceptualized by Julian Rotter (1966) in his social learning theory, where he described the locus of control as either internal (e.g., abilities, effort) or external (e.g., chance, fate, powerful others). While this line of work was prolific, there were limitations with its initial distinction between internal and external control. Internal and external control were described as two...

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations Advanced Fellowship Program in Health Services Research, the Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), and Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Department of Veterans Affairs, Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA, USA

    Stephanie A. Robinson

  2. Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA

    Margie E. Lachman

Authors
  1. Stephanie A. Robinson
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  2. Margie E. Lachman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephanie A. Robinson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Population Division, UN Dept of Economic Social Affairs Population Division, New York, NY, USA

    Danan Gu

  2. Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA

    Matthew E. Dupre

Section Editor information

  1. Institute of Psychogerontology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Nürnberg, Germany

    Susanne Wurm

  2. Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

    Anna E. Kornadt

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Robinson, S.A., Lachman, M.E. (2019). Locus of Control. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_103-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_103-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69892-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69892-2

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