ERIC Number: EJ765778
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 4
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1172
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Available Date: N/A
Relationship between Locus of Control and Health-Related Variables
Graffeo, Lisa Cotlar; Silvestri, Lynette
Education, v126 n3 p593-596 Spr 2006
Locus of Control (LOC) deals with an individual's personal attribution of successful or failure. Those with internal LOC believe that events in their lives are under their personal control while individuals with external LOC feel that their lives are dominated by the environment. The theory has been applied to achievement and health-related issues with internals performing higher academically and taking better care of their health (Harvey & Thomas, 2004). Using the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC) his study examined the connection between high school students' LOC and their grade-point averages, extracurricular activity membership, amount of studying time, alcohol use, seatbelt use and tobacco use. Using Pearson correlations, results did not support the notion that students with internal LOC were better students or had better health habits than those with external LOC. A significant correlation was found between involvement in school organizations and less use of alcohol. Another interesting correlation at the 0.05 level was noted between frequent use of alcohol and regularity of seatbelt use. It appeared that those students who drank alcohol were careful to wear seatbelts.
Descriptors: Locus of Control, Mental Health, Extraversion Introversion, Stress Variables, Predictor Variables, Multidimensional Scaling, High School Students, Research Methodology, Grade Point Average, Correlation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A