LOCUS OF CONTROL

After joining the PGDM Programme at Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur, I came across multiple psychometric tests which interpret an individual’s personality. After giving many psychometric tests, one may feel like magic, magic in the sense that oh yes! That’s me, that is my personality.

Because these tests give the results so accurately that one could get deep inside and find out the positive and negative sides of their personality. Here I curtain off my topic, Out of many psychometric tests one was the “Locus of Control”.

In the year 1954, Locus of Control was introduced by “Julian B. Rotter” & since that time the test is known for personality psychology.

What is Locus of Control?

Before taking steps towards the root of the topic, let me first give you all a brief about the LOCUS OF CONTROL.

To begin with, you need to answer a few questions.

Try to recollect the two most successful events in your life and the two most unsuccessful events in your life. Yes, I am asking you to pen it down quickly, or just memorize 2 words, 2 events that are all I am asking for, and now those things that you have listed as of now. Just try to write down who is responsible for it?

So, when you achieve a big recognition, or you were appreciated in the family or maybe you got honor or praise in the company you are working for. Who is responsible for it?

Are you responsible or do you think that someone else is responsible for it?

Most of us credit ourselves for any success in life. Right?

But when it comes to failures, probably the answer would be that someone else was responsible for it.

So this is how this concept works.

LOCUS OF CONTROL is a psychological concept that refers to how strongly people believe they have command over the situations and experiences that affect their lives. In education, it is generally referred as to how students recognize the reasons for their educational progress or failure in college.

In simple words, it is something that to whom? An individual blames or appreciates his failure or success.

There are two types of Locus of Control –

1. Internal Locus of Control
2. External Locus of Control

Internal Locus of Control

So, in case, you feel like you are responsible for whatever happens in your life, you would say that your internal locus of control is high.

External Locus of Control

In case you feel like you are not responsible for whatever happens in your life, you would say that your external locus of control is high and it is the external locus of control that is affecting you.

Now, to have a grip on it, what is more important?

So if you say that you are responsible, you take the onus and make all the efforts. You are usually a Leader. You take control of your life, you don’t believe in destiny instead you try to work hard and create it. These are all the qualities that are with the people who have an internal locus of control.

When it comes to an external locus of control, you feel like there is someone else who is running the things for them. So here you have fate, you have a destiny. So you think that you cannot do anything about it as it was already written by the almighty GOD and will going to happen.

In this people get affected by that thought process and they don’t make their efforts.

Now the question is, is it good or bad to have this separate locus of control?

Referring to the psychometric test, one could easily understand better their level of internal locus of control or external locus of control and here in this test, I scored 12 out of 23 which means that I have a moderate locus of control. Neither have I had too much high nor too much low of both internal and external locus of control.

Now I would like to share some instances which describe my Locus of Control

The events that describe My Locus of Control are-

Let me take the most recent one, I was constantly imagining myself as a future Chartered Accountant but what happened is we all know that the exams were getting delayed repeatedly due to this Covid-19 Pandemic. When I was about to give the exams, the announcement comes that the exams are being postponed and the time also came when exams were about to get held But, I was not well.

No right thing was coming my way as I have lost many peoples in my family and friends to this Covid-19. There was negativity all around, and it took half a year to get into the New Normal. To my knowledge, there was an External Locus of Control because there was an external factor affecting my education, which was not within my limits.

Let me talk about my business and relate it with a Locus of Control

I am into the business of Real Estate.6-month ago; I did the purchase agreement with the party and provided them with their desired token amount, and promised to pay the remaining amount in the next 3-months at the time of registry. But, the agreement date just slipped from my mind as I was engaged in the process of taking admission into some good B-Schools.

Then, later on, I found Jaipuria and got admitted. After being admitted, I got busy with my schedule of taking the classes and was still unaware of the date of registry, then I received a call from my agent mentioning that the remaining amount is to be paid tomorrow & which is the registry date.

I was shocked as I had already paid my first installment of MBA at the time of registration and was with a shortage of money at that time. This event could have made me bear heavy losses, but somehow I managed to arrange the funds from my friends and CC limit. So there was an Internal Locus of Control because I was only the person responsible for every loss that I could have suffered.

Another event in my life which I think involves a Locus of Control could be-

Last Sunday, I met with an accident although my bike was not at high speed but who knows that even if you are not riding at high-speed other person riding could be a Heavy Driver. Even at a four ways crossroad, He was riding at an uncontrollable speed. I even saw him coming towards me.

However, I was helpless as he just came and smashed into my vehicle. Thank god, I did not get even a single scratch on my body, but that man’s condition was at worst as his finger got injured so badly that there was blood all around and he on his own welcomed many scratches on his body, being at high speed even at a road crossing.

Here I learned a lesson that you have to take care of yourself as well as of others while riding because many peoples like him are the “Heavy Drivers” nowadays.

In my opinion, there are both External and Internal Locus of Control because the External Locus of Control is due to that heavy driver. And I am responsible for the Internal Locus of Control.

Yes, I accept that I am also equally responsible even though I was riding at low speed. I should have waited too at the road cross instead of moving non-stop towards my direction. I could have saved myself as well as that person from the accident.

Here I would like to conclude that, is it good or bad to have these separate locus of control?

Going forward with the psychometric test, one can understand better their level of internal locus of control and external locus of control.

When the result arrives in a high internal locus of control, one feels like they are responsible for everything on earth. Well probably that is extreme, so too much of everything is bad.

What everyone is looking for in a person with an internal locus of control is that one who makes his destiny on his own and doesn’t depend on fate and believes in hard work. Ok fine! But they should also remember that not everything is in our control. Taking the blames of others is not a good idea. Right?

I have also heard people coming out with this idea that in case it rains in the morning, I should have left my place early to reach the office. Fine but what if it’s raining from the whole night and day. So, one has to know their extremes because if you take responsibility for each and everything you would end up getting depression.

Coming on to the external locus of control, of course, we should not be dependent on everything external instead we should try to control it gradually, as to what is going wrong to us externally.

The final verdict about Locus of Control is that there must be a balance between Internal and External Locus of Control, which highlights that certain things are within our limits, while many other things are beyond our control. so, control what you can but don’t control the impossible.

These are the beautiful concepts that help us understand our personalities and improve them.

Mohammed Shadab Qureshi