Abramson, Seligman and Teasdale's reformulated model of learned helplessness hypothesized that an attribution of causality intervenes between the perception of noncontingency and the future expectation of future noncontingency. To test this model, relationships between attribution and performance under failure, success, and control conditions were…

Past research has suggested that supervisors, when evaluating the poor performance of a subordinate, are influenced by the outcome of the performance. Nurses (N=55) in advanced training assumed the role of a supervisor of a nurse described as having performed poorly. Half of the subjects read an incident without an outcome and half read an…

Current research suggests that a lack of involvement and a sense of powerlessness pervades many aspects of life for the inner city poor, including childrearing. In the late 1960's, as the movement to involve parents in their children's schools grew, an assumption took root that such participation would help alleviate parents' feelings of…

This study assesses the effects of three kinds of verbal plans, temptation-inhibiting plans, reward-oriented plans, and task-facilitating plans, on children's resistance to temptation. Each plan was studied in an elaborated and an unelaborated form. Subjects were 70 four-year olds, 35 boys and 35 girls. The major piece of apparatus employed was a…

The paper describes a study of the relationship of personality and family variables to the capacity of 42 families to care for their handicapped infants. The predictor variables included two distinct measures of commitment as well as measures of consensus, resources, boundary permeability and locus of control. Outcome measures were the child's…

Subjects were four groups of 12 college women, high or low in motive to avoid success (MAS) and locus of control (LC), were reinforced for response A on a fixed partial reinforcement schedule on three concept learning tasks, one task consisting of combined reward and punishment, another of reward only, and one of punishment only. Response B was…

In this paper differing theories on behavioral psychology are examined as they relate to individual reactions to anxiety producing situations. The focus is on athletes and how personality traits and stress situations influence their behavior and performance. The basic question asked is "How do persons and situations interact in promoting or…

Numerous studies involving suicide attempters and those who commit suicide suggest that the suicidal individual perceives limited control over the environment, the occurrence of stressful life events and a diminished probability of future success. Results of the present study indicate a relationship between the frequency of suicidal thoughts among…

In this study, locus of control and IQ were compared to assess the power of each as a predictor of performance on academic and non-academic tasks. Four locus of control scales: the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Scale, the Academic Achievement Accountability Questionnaire, the Rotter I-E scale, the Origin-Pawn measure and the Iowa Tests…

The purpose of this paper was to present findings from a study that investigated the ideal and real occupational aspirations (classified as Innovative, Moderate, or Traditional) among adolescent females with respect to locus of control and other social and psychological variables, e.g., parental education, mother's work and occupational status.…

This research project investigates the relationships between age and life satisfaction, self-concept, and locus of control among the aged. The predictions were based in large part on Erickson's adult development theory, and attempts were made to isolate the effects of age from other possible factors such as cohort and environment. The findings…

Three experiments were conducted to examine the effects of providing extrinsic rewards for engaging in an activity on children's subsequent intrinsic interest in that activity. In each study, preschool children were asked to engage in an activity of initial intrinsic interest in individual experimental sessions. The children agreed to engage in…

Criticisms directed at the I-E Scale are: that it is too general and should be broken into components, that it is politically biased, that subjects respond to items on the scale on the basis of the perceived social desirability of the alternatives, and that predicted negative correlations between it, academic achievement and achievement motivation…

Hypothesis tested is that the expectancy of internal control is a function of the individual's present role, his immediate context, and the saliency of the role and context. Results indicate that when an acrual behavior is required rather than the expression of an attitude, the attribution of internal control changes. (Author/AM)

Results indicate that students who blame the system for black disadvantages will be more likely to participate in collective behavior. Individuals who blame the system and are high in personal control are also more likely to participate in collective behavior. (Author/AM)