Locus of Control

Aha! I have tricked you! I bet you didn’t know I was about to give you a quick inspirational pick-me up and get your act together speech! Quick, you still have time to bail and “x” me out before your interest gets the best of you.

Locus of control is one of my favorite terms in psychology. Often, it’s something that I take notice of immediately when meeting people with respect to their personality. It also determines how much I will eventually like the person (jk,..kinda) Let’s run through the basics. An internal locus of control means exactly what it sounds like. YOU are in control. Meaning, you take responsibility for your actions and the outcomes in your life. You take charge and don’t rely on “fate” or blame others for your mistakes or misfortunes. While I was waiting for my layover in CA last Sunday, a young man I was talking to mentioned that he was having a hard time nailing down a job after college (not the first time I’ve heard this). He didn’t blame the economy, being unlucky or that he was “over-qualified”, he mentioned that maybe he just wasn’t looking for the right position that fit him or maybe he didn’t have great interview skills and needed to practice. It was incredibly refreshing to hear someone take charge and admit that maybe they needed a bit more work on their resume or interview skills rather than blaming someone/something else. (I’m certainly not saying that the economy has been kind to people in the unemployment market; however, there is something to be said for just realizing you need to be proactive and may need to rethink your approach when you aren’t successful. I also plan on posting about job success and interview techniques in the future.) 

Pop Quiz: Internal or External?

As you can imagine, the opposite of an internal locus of control is an external locus of control. People who have an external locus of control tend to believe that the situation was out of their hands and fate took over (for good or bad). They tend to find excuses for situations or reasons why things didn’t go their way. These are the “complainers” of the world if you will. “The teacher was out to get me”, “my boss hates me”, “why does this happen to me”, “the refs we’re totally paid off” people. (I’ll admit, in a heated sports game, I’ll shamefully use that last one). I’m sure you know who they are (you might even be one!). Stop it. The cards aren’t stacked against you, and you aren’t getting sympathy from me (or anyone else that you happen to make listen to you).

Sometimes external people also have the problem of not giving themselves enough credit. A friend who was admitted to an amazing grad school program told me, “I guess there weren’t that many good candidates”. HELLO! Maybe you’re just AWESOME. Instead of attributing his success to hard work, he looked outside of himself for an explanation.

Where do you fit in? Maybe you have an external locus only while focused on some parts of your life, but not others. Maybe you didn’t realize that you have a sucky attitude and need to pull it together to get where you want to be. Maybe now you know why your friend drives you crazy when they blame everything under the sun for their misfortunes. Or maybe you just know a bit more about psychology.