Internal locus of control was associated with more rapid heart rates in 38 subjects who listened to signaled stressful tones. The reductions in heart-rate responses to the tones that were achieved by the half of the sample that was given progressive relaxation training were not related to locus of control. But in these subjects, larger reductions in the ratings of the aversiveness of the tones were associated with scoring in the direction of internal control. The findings point to a complex relationship among the context in which stress occurs, locus of control, and the physiological and subjective indices of stress reactions.
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