Comment on Brown et al.'s "Locus of control, sex role orientation, and self-concept in Black and White third- and sixth-grade male and female leaders in a rural community."

Abstract

Brown et al. investigated locus of control among black and white, male and female leaders and reported that white leaders were more internally controlled than were black leaders and were more willing to attribute good outcomes to personal attributes than were black leaders. They also found that white female leaders were more willing to accept responsibility for bad outcomes than were black female leaders. It is argued here that closer inspection is warranted of the reported findings and of some conclusions drawn from those findings. Specifically, attention is given to the absolute status of the relevant groups on locus of control as well as to the relative status. It is suggested that, because of the widespread appeal of this theoretical construct, extreme care should be taken when attempting to generalize the existence of internality-externality across various populations.