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Locus Of Control Essay

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whereas externals believe that feedback to be strictly due to forces outside of their control (Schultz & Schultz, 2013). Locus of control is a concept developed by Julian Rotter as part of his own social-learning approach to psychology. Haynes and Ayliffe (1991) utilize a theory of internal and external attribution that parallels Rotter’s locus of control, specifying attribution as an important mental process when addressing self accountability. Internal attribution is behavioral change that is instigated internally by the individual, such as a conscious decision to modify behavior. External attribution is change that is caused by outside factors such as medication or disease (Haynes & Ayliffe, 1991). An excellent example of these concepts is an alcoholic who is told …show more content…

One commonly occurring response is an assumption by the alcoholic that they have no control over their drinking and that any attempt to change it will be pointless; an attitude known as learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is detrimental to the internal attribution process because it impedes the internal locus of control; however it is fed by the external locus of control (Haynes & Ayliffe, 1991). For example: addicts like the previously mentioned alcoholic are frequently presented with biological causes for their addictions. While these factors cannot be proven as the sole causation, it is not uncommon for physicians or therapists to point to them as the cause of the maladaptive behavior, leading them to believe it is out of their control. This essentially hands them an excuse, or feeling of helplessness that discourages any type of internal attribution. Social-learning based counseling practices that focus on the whole picture, helping addicts to understand that these predispositions can be overridden by cognitive processes, can assist in this situation. Furthermore, recent research appears intent on finding biological causes for everything as opposed to considering all contributing

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