Expectancies of Unemployable Males regarding Source of Control of Reinforcement

Abstract

Three groups of 60 22- to 28-yr.-old males, matched for age, socio-economic status and scholastic aptitude and classified as hard core unemployables were tested on the Rotter I-E Scale. No significant differences in alienation scores were noted between Group A whites and white college students. Group B Black Ss were significantly more externally controlled with greater variability of scores. Group C Mexican-Americans showed an even greater tendency in the external direction and greater variability than the others. Blacks and Mexican-Americans did not differ significantly in expression of external control. Lack of feeling for any relation between individual effort and reward may account for the difficulty in equipping these groups with knowledge and skill to improve their lot.

Locus of Control, Self-Control, and Family Income as Predictors of Young Children's Mathematics and Science Scores

“…These results reiterated the conclusions of other studies that family income and locus of control are related (Battle & Rotter, 1963;Scott & Phelan, 1969;Ramey & Campbell, 1976). Family income has also been shown to be related to overall achievement in academic areas (Madhere, 1977;Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 2000;Grimes, et al, 2004).…”

Cross-Cultural Research With the Locus of Control Construct

“…Similarly, Scott and Phelan (1969) found that a group of chronically unemployed Mexican-American adults were more external than comparable White welfare recipients, but again no LOC differences were obtained among the adolescent children in the same community. This is particularly so when one of the entities is alien and may not structure the world in the same categories as the observer.…”

The Validity of Locus of Control Dimensions for Chicano Populations

“…Graves (1961) found that Anglo adolescents and adults feel greater personal control than their Chicano counterparts. Using a sample of subjects who had spent years on the welfare rolls and who were virtually unemployable, Scott and Phelan (1969) reported that Blacks and Mexican-Americans were less internal than Anglos. On the other hand, Jessor, Graves, Hanson, and Jessor (1968) were not able to replicate the the findings reported by Graves (1%1).…”