Locus of Control, Happiness, and Self-esteem

Xhestina Meci
Locus of Control Internal Locus of Control

If a person has an internal locus of control, that

Locus of control is an individual’s person attributes success to his or her own efforts and
abilities. A person who expects to succeed will be
belief system regarding the more motivated and more likely to learn.
causes of his or her experiences
Rotter (1990) describes the internal locus of control as:
and the factors to which that 'the degree to which persons expect that a reinforcement or an
person attributes success or outcome of their behavior is contingent on their own behavior
or personal characteristics'
failure. (Richard B. Joelson)
Locus of control is often viewed as an External Locus of Control
inborn personality component. However,
there is also evidence that it is shaped by A person with an external locus of control, who
childhood experiences—including attributes his or her success to luck or fate, will be
less likely to make the effort needed to learn. People
children’s interactions with their parents.
with an external locus of control are also more likely to
experience anxiety since they believe that they are not
This concept is usually divided into in control of their lives.
two categories: internal and Rotter (1990) describes the external locus of control as:
external. 'the degree to which persons expect that the reinforcement or
outcome is a function of chance, luck, or fate, is under the
control o f powerful others, or is simply unpredictable.'
 Individuals with Internal Individuals with External
Locus of Control Locus of Control

● likely to take responsibility for their

● Blame outside forces for their
actions
circumstances
● less influenced by the opinions of
● Often credit luck or chance for any
other people
successes
● Usually, have a strong sense of
● Don't believe that they can change their
self-efficacy
situation through their own efforts
● Feel confident in the face of
● Frequently feel hopeless or powerless in
challenges
the face of difficult situations
● Tend to be physically healthier
● Are more prone to experiencing
● Report being happier and more
learned helplessness
independent
● Often achieve greater success in the
workplace
Self-esteem
According to the existent definitions, self-esteem is
Self-esteem is often contemplated as self
the extent to which a person values his or her ability
evaluation, or an evaluation of one‟s self-worth
and importance. Also, it is a personal experience
or self-acceptance (Rosenberg, 1979).
through which relevant indicators can be observed
through individual‟s social and communication
It is considered as a set of attitudes and beliefs
resources, and eloquent
that individuals express in their relationships
behaviours (Pope et al., 1988).
with their surroundings (Luszczynska &
Schwarzer 2005).
Self-esteem describes a person's overall sense of
Basically, self-esteem is the evaluative aspect of self-worth or personal value. It is one of the four
the self-concept that corresponds to an overall core constructs -the other three being Self
view of the self as worthy or unworthy Efficacy, Neuroticism and Locus of Control.
(Baumeister, 1998).
Locus of Control & Psychological Well-being

Past studies have consistently found that locus of control is associated with psychological well-being.

➔ Indicators of good psychological well-being came from participants reporting lower indices of
stress and depression, linking it to high inter nal locus of control. (Garber, 1980)
➔ Stress is often the result of feeling powerless in a given situation, which suggests it is linked to
having an external locus of control. (Grob, 2000)
➔ Individuals who are low in self-esteem are more likely to believe outcomes are not under their
own influence and control and different variables influence well-being if they affect a person’s ability
to achieve his or her goals. (Emmons and Diener, 1989)
➔ In an interesting divergence theory cross-cul tural study, more individualistic cultures were shown to
have high subjective well-being, attributing it to high internal locus of control (Stocks, 2012).

These studies suggest that internal and external locus of control each have a unique relationship to
psychological well-being.
Self-esteem and Locus of Self-esteem connotes self worth which is
the evaluation by self. However, self worth is also
Control determined by behavior of others towards oneself.
Therefore, could it be linked to locus of control?

Could it be that the feeling of being in control of

one’s life-which is called the internal locus of
control, influences self-esteem?

Or conversely, could the feeling of being in control

of one’s life (internal locus of control) go along
with the sense of self worth (self-esteem) of a
person?

Can external locus of control (meaning being

controlled by chance, or not having control over
outcomes affecting our life) undermine the feeling
of self worth or self-esteem that we experience?
According to Cooper Smith’s studies more than 30 years Subsequently, internal locus of control is
ago, persons who feel insufficiency and worthlessness,
characterized as a belief that events are dependent on
assume themselves as to be unimportant and unable to
produce internal sources for improving their situation. one‟s own permanent traits or behavior, while external
These locus of control is defined as a belief that outcomes
people believe that they are unsuccessful and unhelpful are the result of luck, fate, chance, or control of
while they don’t achieve their goals despite a lot of effort
powerful others or are unpredictable due to the
to
improve the situation and this belief is as a result of poor complexity of situations (Rotter, 1990).
self-esteem (Daglas, 2006).
Moreover, individuals with an internal locus of control
Locus of control and self-esteem are consistently engage in adaptive and proactive
contemplated as socially learned and self behaviors (Rothbaum, Weisz, Snyder, 1982).
developed life attitudes.
High self-esteem demonstrates strong association
with internal locus of control, or in other words, the
highly confident individual perceives that own
outcomes are determined by own actions (Whisman,
Kwon, 1993).
 Interrelation of Locus of Control, Happiness & Self-
esteem
1. Relation between happiness and self-esteem

In everyday experience, happy individuals tend to consider themselves as a worth empowered people,
while people who experience deficit of self-respect or self-worth consider themselves as unhappy.
(Campbell, 1990; Diener and Diener, 1999; Lyubomirsky and Lepper, 1999; Schimmack et al., 2004).

Whereas few researchers would state that happiness and self-esteem should be considered as
synonymous, self-esteem is often used as an indicator of psychological well-being or global happiness
(Ryff, 1989).

Actually, happiness may not be recognized or achieved without an high but appropriate level of self-
acceptance and self-confidence.
 2. Relation between It is indicated that individuals with internal locus of
control are more likely demonstrate higher result on
Happiness and Locus of diverse attributes related to happiness. In view of this,
Argyle (2001) and Myers (2001) found a direct
Control relationship between internal locus of control and
perceiving of happiness.

Moreover, a longitudinal study conducted by Lu (1999)

indicated a significant correlation between internal
locus of control and happiness, which was discovered
to increase over time.

Furthermore, some studies discovered that internal

control beliefs are significant component of emotional
adjustment and ability to cope with stress in
individual‟s life and at work (Spector et al., 2002).
3. Relation between Self-esteem, locus of control, self-efficacy, and
emotional stability are indistinct measures of the

Happiness, same core trait, which is referred to as core self-

evaluations (Judge & Bono, 2001; p. 108; Judge, Erez,

Locus of Control and Bono, & Thoreson, 2002).

Self-esteem Similarly, Furr and Funder (1998) proved that

measures of happiness, life satisfaction, depression,
and self- esteem are significantly correlated with each
other and laden on a single factor.

Despite the recent attention paid to self-esteem, locus

of control and happiness, independently, both
empirical and theoretical equivocations within each
resource makes impossible many clear predictions
about the nature of their empirical distinction.
Conclusion
It is recognized that the relationships
between locus of control, happiness
and self-esteem is complex.

Self-esteem performs as a mediator in

relation with happiness and locus of
control.