Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Master of Educational Psychology
2 Faculty member of Psychology Department, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
Abstract
Locus of control is a personality characteristic which refers to a constellation of beliefs and expectations pertaining to people or factors controlling rewards and punishments in one’s life. Some people have an internal and others hold an external locus of control. Those with internal locus of control believe that hard-working and ‘responsible behavior’ yield positive outcomes. In contrast, those having external locus of control maintain that ‘out-of-control’ factors such as ‘unknown forces’, ‘chance’ and ‘other people’s influences’ control the outcome of their behavior. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between parents’ attitudes toward child rearing and children’s locus of control. In this study, three types of attitudes toward child rearing were tapped, namely Dominating, Ignoring and Possessive. The Sample which was randomly selected from students studying in Dezful’s Guidance Schools, included 217 third-grade boys and girls. Nearly, all four hypotheses and their subsidiary derived hypotheses were confirmed. Based upon these findings, a number of suggestions regarding development and modification of children’s locus of control are offered to parents and teachers.
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