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Locus of Control

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Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research

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Synonyms

Placement of causality

Definition

The locus of control is an individual generalized belief about where control over life events resides.

Description

Julian B. Rotter (1966) initially introduced the locus of control construct who defined locus of control as a generalized belief in internal versus external control of reinforcements that arises from individuals’ general expectations. Accordingly, people who generally perceive a causal relationship between their behavior and rewards are considered as having an internal locus of control and are labeled “internals.” Internals view reinforcement as a consequence of their actions. On the contrary, people who believe that consequences are unrelated to their behavior are considered as having an external locus of control and are labeled “externals.”

Locus of control is considered a relatively stable disposition, or trait, although partially modifiable through life experience. More specifically, people whose efforts are repeatedly and...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Patrizia Steca

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  1. Patrizia Steca
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Correspondence to Patrizia Steca .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Statistiche, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy

    Filomena Maggino

Section Editor information

  1. University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy

    Mariantonietta Fiore

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Steca, P. (2021). Locus of Control. In: Maggino, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69909-7_1688-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69909-7_1688-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69909-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69909-7

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