The original Locus of Control questionnaire was developed by Jullian Rotter in 1966. Its 13 questions measures comprehensive expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement (Lefcourt, 1982). Since then, there has been several different scales developed to target certain groups in order to predict human behavior. They range from questions requiring a yes or no response, strongly disagree to strongly agree responses, to an open ended assessment of values, expectancies, and locus of causation (Lefcourt, 1982). The most widely used scale within the medical profession today is the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Scale ( Landsbergis, Schnall, Baker, 1994). The MHLC scale contains three forms that each include 6 questions that are compared and scored (Wallsten, 2007). In addition there is The Internal Health Locus of Control (IHLC) dimension which assesses the amount that one believes that their health status is correlated to their behavior (Landsbergis, Schnall, Baker, 1994). People who score high on the IHLC are generalized to acquire a sense of responsibility for their own health (Landsbergis, Schnall, Baker, 1994). In terms of spirituality and health, a specific test has been constructed, in order to assess the belief that God is either the locus of control of an individual’s health status or specific disease status (Wallsten, 2007). The God Locus of Health Control (GLHC) Scale relays a number of statements where the participant would answer how much they agreed on a scale from 1-4. Each statement involves where responsibility lies in regards to the participants current health status.
Each test determines an aspect of which forces we hold responsible for our victories and failures. Both locus of control and attribution styles have an important impact on our motivation, anticipations, self-esteem, risk-taking behavior, and even on the definite outcome of our actions (Lefcourt, 1982). .
http://www.psych.uncc.edu/pagoolka/LC.html – Rotter 13 Questionnaire
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/nursing/kwallston/mhlcscales.htm – Multidimensional Heal Locus of Control
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/nursing/kwallston/The%20God%20Locus%20of%20Health%20Control%20scale%20items.pdf– God Locus of Health Control
These three tests only account for a small number of developed tests since the Rotter scale.
Landsbergis, P., Schnall, P., & Baker, D. (1994, January 16). Locus of control and cardiovascular health. Retrieved from http://www.workhealth.org/risk/rfblocus.html
Lefcourt, H. (1982 ). Locus of conrol:current trends in theory and research. (2 ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Wallsten, K. (2007). Multidimensional health locus. Informally published manuscript, Nursing, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessey. Retrieved from http://www.vanderbilt.edu/nursing/kwallston/mhlcscales.htm
Locus of Control 