Development of 'Locus of Control' Related to Responsibility in Middle-School Students

Abstract

People like to be able to explain the causes and speculate about the outcome of their own and other people's behaviour. They need to know the world around them and to control their environment. Comprehension of human behaviour can be attributed to one of three categories: (1) external causes (such as environment, situation, the effect of other people's behaviour); (2) dispositions and internal states (such as cognition, affection, emotion, will, moral values, character and ability); (3) a combination of both internal and external causes. The study of these essences and principles is called Attribution Theory, and was first put forward by the American social psychologist Heider with his colleagues, Robert and Weiner. Other psychologists applied this theory to the practice of education, and through the study of educational psychology, they developed the term 'locus of control'.