Relationship between students' locus of control and satisfaction

Abstract

This article describes a study that was undertaken to examine the influence of the 'locus of control' (LOC) on perceived satisfaction of nursing students. LOC is an internal, dynamic capacity of an individual which influences how one deals with everyday outcomes. Rotter (1966) proposes that the degree to which people believe their lives are under their own control is an important variable of personality which varies from person to person. People with an internal orientation believe they have control over what happens to them, whereas people with an external orientation attribute what happens to them to fate, luck, chance or powerful others. Three groups of 50 students in first, second and third years of the nursing diploma course were tested on LOC (Rotter, 1966) and satisfaction (Betz et al, 1970; Pennington et al, 1989) questionnaires. It was anticipated that the students would become more internal on the LOC orientation over time and would therefore perceive greater satisfaction with time on the course. The effects of LOC on satisfaction were analysed using t-tests, analysis of variance and Pearson's product-moment correlation. Results showed that students with internal orientation on LOC perceived greater satisfaction than students with an external orientation. However, no significant differences in LOC were found between the groups. The nursing students tested were found to be more external in their LOC orientation than other student populations have been in the past. The implications of this and the other findings for future research are discussed.

The Relationship Between Locus of Control and Mental Health Status Among Baccalaureate Nursing Students in Turkey

“…A different finding was reported by Ponto (1999) who found no significant difference in the LOC scores among first-, second-and third-year university students, and she noted that her subjects had higher external LOC scores compared to norms for students in other fields.…”

Locus of Control in Nursing Students on a Problem-Based Learning Program: A Longitudinal Examination

“…In contrast. Ponto (1999) found no significant difference in LOC scores among first-, second-, and third-year nursing students. Furthermore, she noted that her participants had higher external LOC scores than other student populations in previous studies.…”

Relationship of Credit Attitude and Debt to Self-Esteem and Locus of Control in College-Age Consumers

“…Our data supported a modification of the Levenson scale as was proposed by Presson, Clark, and Benassi (1997) in their 20-item two-factor model. We recoded the external dimensions to a low value resulting in an external-internal continuum similar to the work of Ponto (1999). Higher scores on the scale indicate greater internal locus of control.…”