Internal Locus Control

Internal locus of control can also be called “agency”. Overall, it incorporates the ability to take action, be effective, influence your own life, and assume responsibility for your behaviors. Individuals with a high internal locus of control believe that their interactions with their environment will produce predictable results (Li, Lepp, & Barkley, 2015).

Think about this concept  from the perspective of control theory, which is the idea that we have either external or internal control systems that are required to keep us from deviating from accepted behavior. If we have people who lack personal control and require external forces to keep them in line, then managers will have to work significantly harder to maintain order. By contrast, if you have people whose control orientation is far more internal, they probably won't need much (if any) external management to deliver the kind of organizational behavior that is consistent with high performers (and other successful people).

Locus of control is often viewed as an inborn personality component. However, there is also evidence that it is shaped by childhood experiences including children’s interactions with their parents. Children who were raised by parents who encouraged their independence and helped them to learn the connection between actions and their consequences tended to have a more well developed internal locus of control.

Let me use an example to clearly "illustrate" this concept. Imagine that there are two overweight people named Vusi & Samantha

Person A - (Vusi)

Believes that his weight is a result of previous eating habits and has decided to start going to the gym and start to change his eating habits. Person A is taking responsibility and believes he has the ability to do better and lose weight. He is aware that only hardwork will get him his desired results. -Internal Locus Control

Person B - (Samantha)

Samantha feels that her weight is out of her control and that external factors(As if she didn't eat all that food) are to blame for the situation. Because she does nothing about her situation she still continues to be overweight and she is very easy on herself.Person B is not taking responsibility for her weight, hence it will continue to "persist" until she does something about it. -External Locus Control

In essence, people with internal locus control are accountable, they are always looking deeply inwardly and making changes and improvements where necessary. They believe that they are in control of their destiny & in the idea that nothing just happens.. So they are accountable over both their success and failure because they believe nothing just happens by fate.

People with a high internal locus control see themselves as the one in control of the  of their life.. They take full responsibility for what happens. They also hold themselves to very high standards compared to people with external locus control.Individuals with a strong internal locus of control believe events in their life are primarily a result of their own actions: for example, when receiving exam results, people with an internal locus of control tend to praise or blame themselves and their abilities.

Various studies have revealed that genarally having an internal locus of control is a positive thing and that those who have an ILC are more likely to be healthier and have a better psychological state. People who have Internal Locus of control have greater mconfidence in their ability to influence the outcome of their lives. 



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