Using 375 primary school children, the study examined the relationship of locus of control, cognitive style, anxiety, and academic achievement while partialling out general intellectual ability. The results indicated that locus of control, cognitive style, and anxiety were correlated significantly with academic achievement. Regression analyses showed that even with the presence of general intellectual ability, locus of control was a significant predictor of academic achievement, followed by state-anxiety, cognitive style, and trait-anxiety.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bar-TalD.KafirY.Bar-ZoharY.ChenM. (1980) The relationship between locus of control and academic achievement, anxiety, and level of aspiration. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 50, 53–60.
2.
CrandallV. C.KatkovskyW.CrandallV. J. (1965) Children's belief in their own control of reinforcements in intellectual-academic achievement situations. Child Development, 36, 91–109.
3.
FindleyM. J.CooperH. M. (1983) Locus of control and academic achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 419–442.
4.
HeadL. Q.LindseyJ. D. (1983) Anxiety and the university student: A brief review of the professional literature. College Student Journal, 17, 176–182.
5.
LawsonA. E. (1983) Predicting science achievement: The role of developmental level, disembedding ability, mental capacity, prior knowledge, and beliefs. Journal of Research in Science Training, 20, 117–129.
6.
LefcourtH. M. (1982) Locus of control current trends in theory and research. (2nd ed.) New York: Wiley.
7.
MaqsudM. (1983) Relationships of locus of control to self-esteem, academic achievement, and prediction of performance among Nigerian secondary school pupils. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 53, 215–221.
8.
NgS. N. (1977) School anxiety and achievement. Journal Pendidikan, VII, 79–83.
9.
OtisA. S.LennonR. T. (1979) Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, manual for administering and interpreting. New York: Psychological Corporation.
10.
ReidI.CroucherA. (1980) The Crandall Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire: A British validation study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 40, 255–258.
11.
RobergeJ. J.FlexerB. K. (1983) Cognitive style, operativity, and mathematics achievement. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 14, 344–353.
12.
RotterJ. B. (1966) Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80, No. 1 (Whole No. 609).
13.
SewellT. E.FarleyF. H.SewellF. B. (1983) Anxiety, cognitive style, and mathematics achievement. Journal of General Psychology, 109, 59–66.
14.
ShadeB. J. (1983) Cognitive strategies as determinants of school achievement. Psychology in the Schools, 20, 488–493.
15.
SpielbergerC. D. (1966) The effects of anxiety on complex learning and academic achievement. In SpielbergerC. D. (Ed.), Anxiety and behavior. New York: Academic Press. Pp. 361–398.
16.
SpielbergerC. D. (1975) Anxiety: State-Trait process. In SpielbergerC. D.SaransonI. G. (Eds.), Stress and anxiety. Vol. 1. New York: Hemisphere. Pp. 115–143.
17.
SpielbergerC. D.GorsuchR.LusheneR. E. (1970) Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
18.
WitkinH. A.MooreC. A.GoodenoughD. R.CoxP. W. (1977) Field-dependent and field-independent cognitive styles and their educational implications. Review of Educational Research, 47, 1–64.
19.
WitkinH. A.OltmanP. K.RaskinE.KarpS. A. (1971) A manual for the Embedded Figures Tests. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
