Followers with an internal locus of control believe that they are in charge of the events that occur in their life, whereas, those with an external locus of control believe that chance, fate or outside forces determine life events (Northouse, 2016, p. 119). I like to think of myself as having a balance of both internal and external locus of control, exhibiting both participative and directive styles of leadership. Completing the Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale Test, my score was 10, and as a result I have more of an internal locus of control. Reading some of the selections, I agreed wholeheartedly with, and others, I felt I had to close my eyes and pick. For example, I believe there is a connection between how I study and the grades I receive, versus saying I don’t know how teachers give out grades. It was difficult to choose most people don’t realize the extent which their lives are controlled by accidental happenings, when I believe, some people are just in the right place at the right time, in other words, luck does happen.
Chen, Li, & Leung (2016) stated that general self-efficacy and internal locus of control are conceptually related as both reflect a positive belief about personal control over success. They are positively correlated and show positive effects on various desirable outcome (Chen, Li & Leung, 2016, p. 123). People high in internal locus of control believe that they themselves, rather than external factors such as their supervisors, are in control of their outcomes (Chen et al, 2016, p.125). Society as a whole, is taught memorable slogan’s like only you can stop wildfire? or you can make your dreams come true, in other words everything point to “you” as the individual where as, when in true reality its not just you, there should be some acknowledgement that there are external forces at work. When acknowledging the external environment, managers are able to influence organizational learning to change and adapt as needed. Complexity and great diversity in environmental factors, complicates the decision-making equation and removes certainty from making decision which is called uncertainty (Bahmani, Farhadpoor, & Hamidi, 2014, p. 2).Organizations both affect societies and their surroundings, and are affected by them (Bahmani et al, 2014, p. 2).
Having a high internal locus of control gives us great confidence in ourselves to get to reach our goal, but in reality, motivation from others can encouraging because we can be indirectly effects by it, later to realize the importance of it . This can done through words, actions or more specifically when learning a new job. Chen et al, (2016), stated the provision of supportive supervision implies that supervisors play an important role in determining subordinate outcomes such as recognition, praise, and the amount of merit pay, which disconfirms internals’ belief in their control over personal outcomes (p. 125). Favorable external factors, such as charismatic leadership and leader consideration, show less positive effects and unfavorable external factors, such as organizational frustration, conflict, and work stress, show less negative effects on internals (Chen et al, 2016, p.125). Subordinates high in internal locus of control are less attentive to and receptive of their supervisors’ influence, rendering supervisor support less effective in elevating their intrinsic motivation (Chen et al, 2016, p.125).
The downfall of high internal locus control is lack of projecting that same level of responsibility put on yourself on others. In other words, this could add more stress and less support from others, if it not balanced out with external locus of control. The question would be how to balance and handle it, and depending on the situation that comes with those having high internal locus of control finding a way to build trust, that turns into loyalty that others will do treat them the way they would treat themselves. A sense of tranquility is needed to know when you can change things in life to make it better, and learn when to wait for something to happen to make it better, but always learn from when in both case there is a chance a happening to be worse than better, from your doing or others.
Bahmani, Z., Farhadpoor, M. R., & Hamidi, M. (2014). Perception of the characteristics of external environment of organizations and its effect on managers' environmental scanning in using information resources. Library Philosophy and Practice, , 0_1.
Chen, T., Li, F., & Leung, K. (2016). When does supervisor support encourage innovative behavior? opposite moderating effects of general Self‐efficacy and internal locus of control. Personnel Psychology, 69(1), 123-158. doi:10.1111/peps.12104
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