Locus of control refers to an individual's generalized
expectations concerning where control over subsequent
events resides. In other words, who or what is
responsible for what happens. Locus of control is an
individual's belief system regarding the causes of his or
her experiences and the factors to which that person
attributes success of failure. It can be assessed with the
Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale. Locus
of control can be divided into two separate sources of
control: internal and external. People with an internal
locus of control believe that they control their own
destiny. They also believe that their own experiences are
controlled by their own skill or efforts. An example
would be "The more I study, the better grades I get" [2].
On the other hand, people who tend to have an external
locus of control tend to attribute their experiences to
fate, chance, or luck.
If students either attribute their successes or failures
to having a bad day, unfair grading procedures on their
teacher's part, or even God's will, they can be said to
have a more external locus of control. These students
might say, "It doesn't matter how hard I study. The
teacher just doesn't like me, so I know I won't get a good
grade." These students generally don't learn from
previous experience. Since they attribute both their successes and failures to luck or chance, they tend to
lack persistence and not have very high levels of
expectation. [3].