Internal–external expectancies and health-related behaviors.

Abstract

The present article is a review of research on internal-external (I-E) locus of control expectancies and health attitudes and behaviors. The theoretical background of the I-E construct is described. Topics covered include I-E in relation to health knowledge, precautionary health practices, reactions to physical disorders, psychological responding, psychological disturbances, and responses to psychological treatment. Some problems and issues are also noted.Health concerns and health costs constitute a social problem of enormous magnitude in this country (APA Task Force on Health Research, 1976). Estimates of numbers of individuals with symptoms severe enough to warrant attention with respect to treatment range as high as 75% of the general population (Mechanic, 1972). The cost of medical care is the fastest growing item in the U.S. consumer price index, close to $100 billion annually, and it is expected to more than double over the next 5 years ("Health-Cost Crisis," 1977). For good reason, individuals appear to be increasingly concerned not only with recognizing and attending to debilitating symptoms but also preventing the occurrence of illness or accident. The rewards to those persons who remain free of disease or disability are, of course, not only financial but include enhanced physical and emotional well-being as well. The findings from a broad range of studies demonstrating a generally greater adaptive functioning for those persons holding internal as opposed to external expectancies (Strickland, Note 1, Note 2) have clear implications with respect to health.

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“…The term locus of control refers to the site of a cause, that is, whether or not the outcome of an event is attributed to something inside (internal to) or outside (external to) the person involved (Rotter, 1954(Rotter, , 1966Strickland, 1978;Tones, 1997;Weiner, 1986). Locus of control relates to people's attitudes, emotions, health, and motivation, as well as behavior in organizations and educational institutions (Spector and Fox, 2005).…”

Reconstrucción mamaria y beneficio psicológico

“…En general una atribución interna producirá una mayor actividad y persistencia en el afrontamiento que una atribución externa. Según ha sido informado por Strickland 20 , en la atribución interna predominan las estrategias dirigidas al problema, por el contrario, si la atribución es externa predominan las estrategias que son dirigidas a la emoción.…”

Posttraumatic stress disorder following asthma attack: the role of agency beliefs in mediating psychiatric morbidity

“…Previous studies found that high self-efficacy and internal LoC are related to resilience in both mental and physical health outcomes (Strickland, 1978;Strecher et al, 1986;Weiss and Larsen, 1990;Bandura, 1993;Wu et al, 2004;Shelley and Pakenham, 2004;Zajacova et al, 2005;Marks et al, 2005;Cross et al, 2006;Leontopoulou, 2006;Cohen et al, 2008;Waldron et al, 2010;Craig et al, 2011;Oliveira et al, 2012). Specifically in regard to PTSD, self-efficacy and LoC are significantly associated with individual differences in pathology and posttraumatic recovery Heinrichs et al, 2005;Chung et al, 2006Chung et al, , 2007Chung et al, , 2012Jones et al, 2006;Mak et al, 2010).…”