Describes two studies examining the relationship between locus of control and structure of group therapy. Results suggest that external clients may achieve the most significant therapeutic benefits from a structured therapist intervention within a spaced time format, while internal clients may require a therapist model of minimum control and…

The association of Rotter's Internal-External personality dimension and improvement in reading rate and comprehension was investigated in four reading instruction treatments and a fifth control condition. The motivated instruction was found more effective for increasing reading rate, without significantly affecting reading comprehension, than the…

Discusses the use of psychic energy for clarifying what occurs in human interaction and for therapeutic purposes. Describes steps counselors should take to understand and use their own psychic energy effectively. (Author/EJT)

To determine the effect of subject characteristics and subject control on counseling, a laboratory analogue study was designed. Subjects were given varying degrees of control over the programming of their exploration by assigning them to groups in which high, low, and intermediate levels of external control were manipulated. (Author)

This article specifies a number of precepts put forth by don Juan, a Yaqui Indian sorcerer. It also outlines the consequences of each precept for counselors. The intent is to facilitate the emergence of a new reality for counseling and other helping professions. (Author/BW)

In designing a personalized system of instruction (PSI) personality course, the locus of control literature was surveyed in attempts to answer two questions: 1) Whether differences in locus of control would be predictive of PSI course performance; 2) whether changes would result after exposure to a PSI course. (Author/DEP)

Data were analyzed from a sample of elderly males and females to ascertain level of expectancy for control as well as the relationship between internal control and adaptive behavior. Assessments were made with the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, and indices of developmental adjustment, active involvement, and emotional adaptation.…

The purpose of this study was to expand the previous limited locus of control focus of gender differences cross-nationally by shifting to an attributional model for both successes and failures in both achievement and affiliation domains in order to test the hypothesis that women differ from men in their attributional patterns for achievement and…

Much theoretical interest has been focused on the role that causal attributions play in the development of mood disorders. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the impact of outcomes and performance attributions upon mood. In the first experiment subjects performed different tasks which naturally gave rise to internal or external…

The attribution of responsibility literature may suffer from the lack of an appropriate conceptual basis. Although past research has demonstrated the usefulness of Heider's levels of responsibility framework, one facet of Heider's theory that has received little attention is the justification level. Occupational role constraints and severity of…

Research has established a reliable relationship between self-awareness and causal attribution, i.e., heightened attention toward the self increases attributions of responsibility to the self. It was hypothesized that increased availability or accessibility of self-related cognition would increase causal attributions to the self, although this…

Research has shown that attributing failure to lack of ability leads to lower motivation than does attributing the failure to lack of effort. An attributional model of motivation and performance following failure was tested with college students (N=63), who were preselected on the basis of their attributional styles for interpersonal failures, as…

The decisions and attitudes of sex-stereotyped and androgynous individuals (as defined by the Bem Sex Role Inventory) were compared in a social conformity paradigm and on two measures of locus of control. The conformity paradigm consisted of 160 trials in which subjects predicted one of two possible stimuli after hearing predictions of two other…

A total of 141 children, aged 6 to 10 years, were read eight illustrated attribution problems involving play and non-play behaviors and were asked to infer information concerning the story character's intrinsic or extrinsic motivation for the behaviors. Children were grouped into three age levels (mean ages 5.9, 8.8 and 10.3 years) for analysis of…

The locus of control among married couples was compared to that among their friends. Also compared was the relationship between married couples' locus of control and their reported marital satisfaction. No correlation was found between friends' locus of control, whereas a positive correlation was found between married couples' locus of control.…