Locus(ts) of control…..check your attitude
Do you believe in fate? Or do you believe life is what you make it? Do you recognise your ‘Locus of Control’?
Read a simple explanation of theory, review your beliefs, and if it helps to think of it as ‘locusts of control’ like me, then do. I like a strong visual prompt.
I have been thinking of Julian B Rotter’s theory ‘Locus of Control’ and the perception that our life experiences are determined by our behaviours, or alternately, decided by fate or other people.
Any practitioner who supports mental health and wellbeing will know the importance of self care, self awareness and making conscious choices so you are able to attend to the needs of clients.. For me to support others, I have to notice how I am feeling, explore my own mental health and access regular supervision. It is helpful for me to use the ‘locusts’ as a reminder every now and again as a test of where my mindset is at.
For you, as parents or professionals, regularly checking in on your own wellbeing and continuously developing your self awareness is important too. For our children and young people, we are their role models, we shape their values and beliefs. In the same way as we might want to develop a growth mindset in them, we might want to develop the idea that the choices they make have a direct impact on their own life, and that of others.
Locus of Control (Rotter, 1966) is an idea that our personalities fall within a spectrum, where you have a strong external locus of control at one end of the spectrum, to a strong internal locus of control at the opposite end.
To put it simply, it describes how much a person feels in control over what happens to them, and how they can affect their own life.
A strong external locus of control describes when someone believes what happens to them is luck or fate and that they are not in control of their life; it is all due to external forces in their environment (for example other people).
A strong internal locus of control describes someone who believes they are in control of what happens to them, through the choices they make, they effort they put in and the motivation that they have.
For example, if I think about how tight my waistband is on my trousers, then I could tell myself ‘It’s my age, they shrank in the wash, it’s my mum’s fault for an endless supply of baking throughout lockdown’. That would be an external locus of control, although I know that my internal locus of control tells me that I have exercised far less in the last year, eaten more, and to fit in those trousers comfortably I am going to have to make the effort to be more active and eat less rice pudding.
Another example, if my son fails a test I want him to learn that blaming the teacher, or the content of the test, or the distractions of his peers are not the reason he didn’t get the result he expected or wanted. If he develops an external locus of control he might never learn to accept responsibility or choose to blame others. If he develops a more internal locus of control and he wants to do well in a test, he will understand that he has to pay attention, concentrate, work hard and prepare for tests. This is a work in progress, and I want that motivation to be intrinsic, because he feels satisfaction at seeing the result of hard work, rather than extrinsic because he feels he has to please me or meet my expectations.
To support the development of a strong internal locus of control in your child, encourage independence and teach them how to make the connection between actions and consequences. When I say this, I mean take the time when they are in a calm state to reflect on situations at home or in school, or make the link when you are reading with them or watching films. The link cannot be made simply by imposing the consequences.
When our mental wellbeing is healthy and positive, then we are more likely to have an internal locus of control.
The more anxious, stressed or depressed we feel, the more likely we are to have an external locus of control.
This is a truth for me. When I reflect on times where I have felt stressed or anxious my locus of control definitely shifts. If my car gets a flat tyre, I shrink my new favourite jumper and my oven breaks in the space of a couple of weeks I am likely to revert to one of my Mother’s favourite sayings, “Well things do come in threes!”
When I feel really well, then I feel that I am the one who is making things happen, driving my own change and making typical human mistakes along the way. I am more able to see when things do go wrong that it is a direct result of an action, the flat tyre is because I drove into a pothole, the shrunken jumper is because I did not read the label, the oven broke because the fuse needs replacing.
None of us can control the pandemic we are living through. All of us will have been impacted in some way, and the future remains uncertain and unpredictable.
How can awareness of our locus of control help us live through Covid-19?
A strong internal locus of control might support choices to wear a mask, practice social distancing, take extra care over hand hygiene. If you do this then you are likely to believe your actions influence the management of the virus.
If you are working on the ‘frontline’ as a keyworker, you follow the risk assessments, procedures and practices put in place to minimise the risks to self and others.
If you are at home with your family you focus on meeting the needs of those who depend upon you the most.
Some people have decorated their entire house, made choices and decisions about their home, because that is within their control.
Some people have run multiple marathons, or cycled the length and breadth of the country in terms of the miles they have put in and improved their health and fitness.
Some people have set personal challenges to stimulate and learn, reading a book a week, growing your own vegetables, painting, sewing, crafting, bringing back the jigsaw puzzle.
Most of us will have had to dig very deep at times in terms of our own resilience, it is possible that the stronger the internal locus of control you have, the more resilient you are.
If you read this and feel your locus of control has shifted to an external one, that others control your destiny, there are actions you can take to shift this.
Be conscious of your choices, no matter how small
You can choose to challenge unhelpful thoughts
You can choose to give yourself options
You can choose how you talk to yourself, positive or critical self-talk
You can choose to set targets and to make them SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time limited)
You can choose to ask for help
You can choose which perspective you take on events
You can choose the meaning you attach to conversations
You can choose your focus
You can choose to compare yourself to others, or not.
You can choose your own expectations
You can choose what you predict in the future
You can choose what you take from your past
You choose how you think, how you feel and how you act
You choose how to react
You choose the coping strategies in life that work best for you
You choose the people you surround yourself with
You choose what you do, how you do, where you do and why you do
This is what I teach children and young people, you are never too old to learn as parents or professionals.
Are you interested in learning more?
You can identify where you fall on the spectrum using this quick and easy test.
www.psychologytoday.com personality/locus-control-attributional test
You can take the original Julian B Rotter test, or use this handout to discover with friends or family their personal traits as a prompt for discussion.
Rotter's locus of control handout
Have fun with it, explore it, choose to understand yourself better.
