The Locus of Control
The Locus of Control
The locus of control is a way of describing where we think power resides in the world in relation to us. .
External Locus of Control
If we believe that power lies outside of ourselves then we feel powerless in relation to what happens and how we can influence our lives. We tend to think that stuff happens to us and we just have to accept it. It is true that we don’t have control over everything that happens to us, but we do have control over how we both frame, and respond to events. Another downside of this external locus is that when we achieve good things in life we often don’t give ourselves true credit. We tend to think we just got lucky.
Internal Locus of Control
If we believe that power lies within us then we will feel that we can influence the events in our life. We can take initiative, make things happen and take credit for our successes. Once again, we don’t have control over everything that happens to us, but we can decide how we are going to respond. An internal locus of control promotes our agency in the world and reminds us that we are the creators of our experience of life.