Date of Award

1-1-1981

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling Psychology & Community Services

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between locus of control and psychological well-being for different environmental situations. Two different environments were selected, the military environment as an example of a situation where events are frequently beyond individual control, and the university environment as an example of a situation where individuals have more control over the events in their lives. Internal and external subjects from both environments were compared on psychological well-being, a linear composite of self-concept and anxiety. The experimental hypotheses reflected the expectation that individuals with an internal locus of control would have higher levels of psychological well-being than externals when the environment allowed more individual control, such as within a university setting. Conversely, externals were expected to have higher levels of well-being than internals when the environment did not allow as great a degree of individual control.A total of 207 subjects were administered Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale, the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Of the 207, 102 were enlisted personnel at the Grand Forks Air Force Base, and 105 were undergraduate students at the University of North Dakota. Subjects whose locus of control scores fell within one-half a standard deviation above and below the mean were eliminated from further analysis. Of the remaining 94 subjects, 44 were identified as internals, and 50 were identified as externals.Three analyses of variance were performed. The first analysis examined the effects of locus of control and environment on psychological well-being. The results of this analysis showed that internals had a significantly higher level of psychological well-being than externals within both the military and university environments. The environmental situation had no effects on well-being. The second and third analyses examined the effects of locus of control and duration within the environment on psychological well-being for the military and university samples separately. No difference was found between long and short duration groups for either environment. Internals were found to have significantly higher levels of psychological well-being than externals for both short and long duration groups in the military sample. For the university sample, short duration internals were found to have a significantly higher level of psychological well-being than short duration externals. No difference was found between internals and externals for the long duration university sample.This study concludes that locus of control has a more powerful effect on psychological well-being than either the environment or the length of time within the environment. Those individuals who believe that their rewards and punishments are the direct consequence of their own behavior were found to be more likely to have a higher level of well-being than those who feel their life is controlled by others, regardless of environmental conditions. While it remains desirable and important for future research to consider the effects of a variety of social and physical environments on human behavior and personality, the results of this study suggest that an even more important factor is the individual's belief that one can, indeed, exert control over the events in one's own life.

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