Locus of Control and Self-Efficacy.

Locus of Control and Self-Efficacy. One concept that is central to attribution thee is locus of control (Rotter, 1954). The word locus means location. A person with internal locus of control is one who believes that success or failure is due to his her own efforts or abilities. Someone with an external locus of control is more likely believe that other factors, such as luck, task difficulty, or other people’s actions, cai success or failure. Internal locus of control is often called self-efficacy, the belief tl one’s behavior makes a difference (Bandura, 1997; Pajares, 1996; Schunk & Pajar 2004; Zimmerman, 1998). Locus of control or self-efficacy can be very import; in explaining a student’s school performance. For example, several researchers h; found that students who are high in internal locus of control have better grades a test scores than do students of the same intelligence who are low in internal locus control (Capella & Weinstein, 2001; Pajares & Graham, 1999; Zimmerman, 200 Studies have found locus of control to be the second most important predictor (af ability) of a student’s academic achievement (e.g., Bong, 2001; Pajares & Mill
1994; Pietsch, Walker, & Chapman, 2003; Zimmerman g, Bandura, 1994). The reason is easy to comprehend. Students who believe that success in school is due to luck, the teacher’s whims, or other external factors are unlikely to work hard. In contrast, students who believe that success and failure are due primarily to their own efforts can be expected to work hard (Pressley et ah, 2003). In reality, success in a particular class is a product of bodi students’ efforts and abilities (internal factors) and luck, task difficulty, and teacher behaviors (external factors). But the most successful students will tend to overestimate the degree to which their own behavior produces success and failure. Some experiments have shown that even in situations in which success and failure are completely due to luck, students who are high in internal locus of control will believe that it was their efforts that made them succeed or fail (see Weiner, 1992). (See Figure 10.2.)
It is important to note that locus of control can change and depends somewhat on the specific activity or situation. One difficulty in studying the effects of locus of control on achievement is that achievement has a strong effect on locus of control (Bong & Skaalvik, 2003; Weiner, 1992). For example, the same student



Despite being one of the most accomplished female athletes in the world, Mia Hamm often fought off self-doubt. Why is locus of control important to an athlete ? How do locus of control and self-efficacy translate to the classroom? As a teacher, how can you influence self-efficacy?


If a teacher passes you to the next grade, would it probably be
FIGURE 10.2
Items from the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire
From V. C. Crandall, W. Katkovsky, and V. J. Crandall, “Children’s Beliefs in Their Own Control of Reinforcement in Intellectual-Academic Achievement Situations,” Child Development, 36, 1965, pp. 91-109. © The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

because she liked you, or
because of the work you did? [internal]
When you do well on a test at school, is it more likely to be
because you studied for it, or [internal]
because the test was especially easy?
When you have trouble understanding something in school, is it usually
because the teacher didn't explain it clearly, or
because you didn't listen carefully? [internal]
Suppose your parents say you are doing well in school.
Is it likely to happen
because your school work is good, or [internal]
because they are in a good mood?
Suppose you don't do as well as usual in a subject in school. Would this probably happen
because you weren't as careful as usual, or [internal]
because somebody bothered you and kept you from working?
might have an internal locus of control in academics (because of high academic ability) but an external locus of control in sports (because of low athletic ability). If this student discovered some unsuspected skill in a new sport, he or she might develop an internal locus of control in that sport (but probably still not in other sports).
Implications of Attributions and Self-Efficacy for Education In tire classroom, stu dents receive constant information concerning their level of performance on academic tasks, either relative to others or relative to some norm of acceptability. This feedback ultimately influences students’ self-perceptions (Bandura, 1997; Schunk, 2004). Attribution theory is important in helping teachers understand how students might interpret and use feedback on their academic performance and in suggesting to teachers how they might give feedback diat has the greatest motivational value (see Graham, 1997; Tollefson, 2000).