He Control locus Affects our point of view and the way we have to act with our environment. This concept was introduced in the Psychology by Rotter in 1966 as a feature of the relatively stable personality, within his Theory of Social Learning.
According to Rotter (1966): "If the person perceives that the event is contingent on his behavior or his own relatively permanent characteristics, it has been said that it is a belief in internal control."
Instead,"when a reinforcement is perceived as following some personal action, but not being entirely contingent With it, is typically perceived in our culture as the result of luck, and in this sense it has been said that it is one that has been said to be a Belief in external control." - Rotter, 1966.
Differences between internal and external control locus
With this theory, Rotter defined behavior based on the interaction of cognitive, behavioral and environmental factors. The author maintains as main ideas that the personality represents an interaction of the individual with his environment and that one can not speak of the personality of an individual independently of his environment.
Life experiences allow us to build beliefs about why the consequences occur and about the possibility of meaningful intervention. Favorable in the occurrences and build our own future the most favorable for us.
There are two ends within the locus: the internal control locus and the external control locus. I will go on to define each one of them so that it You can understand better
Internal locus of control
In the locus of internal control, the cause of success or failure is located or perceived by the person as something internal to him, such as his Skills and effort dedicated to each task.
Thus, people rely on their skills, effort and persistence in a task to reach a Desired result, so you think that the results can be controllable, that it is possible to do something such as learning, practicing to achieve
the success. You control the results yourself . You positively value effort, skill and personal responsibility.
For example, when studying a test, if I as a student think that studying and striving I will pass the exam, I am having a locus
Of internal control by attributing the consequence of the approved to my own conduct of study.
At the time of obtaining the results of an examination, to be benefited regardless of the result, if we have obtained a suspense say"I have Suspended"(we use an external locus of control) and in case of obtaining an approved we will usually say"I have approved"(internal locus of control).
These people value the effort and skill set in each task and are usually individuals with a tendency to experience greater satisfactions Personal qualities in their lives, thus achieving a better self-image by attributing successes to themselves.
External control locus
At the other end we find The external control locus . When we apply the external locus of control, we have the perception of That events occur by causes or external factors such as chance, difficulty of the task, luck, fate, or by the power and decisions of the the rest.
It is assumed that the result does not depend on us but on something external. An expected result is expected, hoping that something will happen But without security of obtaining it.
People who often use an external locus of control tend to feel victimized by fate, they usually think that they can do nothing to Change their lives because they attribute merits and responsibilities mainly to other people.
You can imagine that this can lead to cause you Great uncertainty, a feeling of helplessness, and hopelessness to think that you do not have the reins of your own life. Having an external locus of control We prefer to delegate the existential responsibility, the commitment of life.
Among people with external locus of control, according to Rotter's Theory of Social Learning, there are two types: people Outdoor , Who believe that the world is disordered and neither they nor anyone else can do anything to change it, so they depend on the Luck, chance or fate. On the other hand, External"other" , Who believe that the world is orderly, but other people, to the Which they consider more powerful, are those that have control over their actions.
Let's look at an example of an external locus application. For example, a superstitious person. If you are a superstitious person or do you know some In the latter case, they often attribute both successes and failures to external causes.
Much in relation to the locus of external control we find the definition introduced by Martin Seligman of learned indifference. Seligman Defenselessness learned as the conviction that you do what you do the consequences will be the same, that is, your behavior has no relation whatsoever With the consequences. This ends up by developing passivity and frustration in this type of situations.
There are a series of Behavioral disorders, the most common of which are States of anxiety and depression (Emotional deficit), which are making a dent to the point that the affected person is unable to see solutions to the problem that plagues him (cognitive deficit) Having to go to the help of a professional. So having an external, generalized and stable locus of control before various circumstances Can lead to a state of depression.
That we use one or the other will essentially influence how we are going to see ourselves able to control our life. There are many benefits to People who often use the locus of internal control: it gives us control over our life, makes us responsible for our own life feeling Trained to fight for what we want and feeling a sense of accomplishment when we achieve our goals increasing our self-esteem, and We feel the obligation to take responsibility for our mistakes and thus have the ability to learn from them.
How can we have an external or internal control locus?
If you are a person who usually has locus of internal control you should know that you are within the group of people who generally have a better performance In their work, greater success and greater satisfaction. They look for more information before making a decision about their work and are more motivated by achievement.
If, on the other hand, you are within people who tend to the locus of external control you are probably more inclined to think that External factors control you and, because of this, you adopt more often attitudes of conformism such as apathy, disinterest and Submission.
Following the first locus of control locus introduced by Rotter in his Theory of Social Learning, Delroy L. Paulhus will treat the locus of Control as a one-dimensional personality trait, taking it into account in three areas of life: the socio-political world, personal achievements and relationships.
In addition, some research has found that people with an Internal Control Locus perform better academically, are more independent, And feel less depressed than people with an External Control Locus (Lachman and Weaver, 1998; Presson and Benassi 1996).
Other studies have also found that they are better at delaying Gratification and coping with the stress produced by some situations, including conjugal problems (Miller, Lefcourt, Holmes & Ware, 1986).
Disadvantages of the internal control locus
But not all are advantages when we tend to generalize and extreme the use of the locus of internal control to all the circumstances that happen to us (Like the saying of"all extremes are bad"). Below I will detail some cases in which to make use of an internal locus of control could To be harmful:
It would cause us extreme perfectionism
People with an internal locus of control are convinced that they are the owners of their destination. Being convinced that you are the only one Responsible for the outcome of any situation leads to a strong desire to do anything and everything that is necessary to ensure Positive.
This makes people with an internal locus of control go to great lengths so that there is no room for error and in Situations in which we do not have the power of what happens to us, can cause us frustration. When others are involved in the A task, these people lead them too much towards perfection. This makes others perceive them as unreasonable.
Causing excessive anxiety
When you have an internal locus of control you think your efforts determine your life experiences. According to David A. Gershaw, Ph.D, professor of psychology, when these people face failure, they experience a great deal of guilt.
They attribute the existence of something wrong, even refuse to consider that there may have been some external factor that has influenced. The next time you encounter a similar situation, these people become anxious to fail again and will do everything they can to make sure they succeed.
Low self-esteem
Although effort and ability are important, there are often factors beyond the control of the individual that determine success. For example, if your boss criticizes the way you did a job quickly, it is possible that the time you have been assigned was reduced to the last minute, making the rush necessary.
If you have a strong locus of internal control, you will refuse to accept that it was a factor beyond your control, and instead, you will reprimand yourself for not being prepared with a shorter version of the work.
When these situations are constantly repeated, your self-esteem decreases and if these irrational ideas are given repeatedly in time, they can lead to a depressive state.
Emotional vulnerability
According to family and marriage therapist Dr. Jennifer B. Lagrotte, it is not healthy for us to feel excessively responsible for the happiness of others. People with an internal locus of control do it and blame themselves when things do not turn out well. When there is a discussion, they usually attribute the blame for this to happen.
If your children suffer the consequences by making a mistake, these people believe they could have done something to prevent it. We can not continually attribute what happens to those around us because we do not have control of everything around us, and we do not have to, because we are not responsible for everything that happens.
Not everything is in our control
Therefore, certain facts that happen to us and those around us that in a certain way also affect us in our day to day life, do not It is in our hands to modify them, or to control them and to try it would be an error on our part since, either we do not have that power, or Correspond to other people acting. To try it by all means, as we have said, would cause us excessive self-criticism and guilt would appear.
What we can decide (in cases of, for example, a disease) is how to deal with them based on the perception that we have. An example How the circumstances of life are not irrevocably coupled to a particular mood but depends In the face of whatever situations is the example of Randy Paush, affected by cancer, but an example to follow attitude to life. Here the I leave a video of you so that you know your example closely:
We have no control over any of the events that happen to us in life, but we do have the power to deal with them, how we are going to Affect our life.
CONCLUSIONS
For all that I have explained in this article, it is desirable to have a balance between internal and external control locus since both extremes Continued over time and widespread would be detrimental to our lives.
It is good to know that we have the ability to strive And achieve our goals, but at the same time we have to be aware that not all responsibility lies before us since there are External events that are beyond our control. The most common is to act with an internal or external control locus according to each circumstance.
Thus, by moving to an intermediate degree we obtain a functional belief system to adapt as favorably as possible to each situation.
I would like to end this article with a phrase to reflect on :"No one is wrong for a long time without being himself." Montaigne
References
Myers, D. (2006), Psychology 7th edition. Pan American Medical Publishing: Madrid.
Bermúdez Moreno, José; Pérez García, Ana María; Rueda Laffond, Beatriz; Ruíz Caballero, José, Antonio; Sanjuán, Pilar. Editorial UNED.