Imagine that your life is a car and you had to the choice to either be the driver or passenger. Which would you pick? Being the driver ensures that you are in control of the car and you pick the destination. If an obstacle is approaching, you have the opportunity to evade it. Passengers do not share this same luxury. Passengers are at the mercy of whomever or whatever is controlling the car. In a bad situation, this can be terrifying. When accessing an individual’s perception of control: who is in control of their life, we use the term locus of control. Locus of control is defined as an individual’s perception of control that they maintain over their own lives (Aspelmeier et al., 2012). Individuals with an internal locus of control feel that they are responsible for the consequences resulting from their behavior, while those with an external locus of control attribute outcomes to luck, fate, or circumstances beyond their control. As demonstrated with the previous example, feeling as if you are not in control can be scary. This left us wondering if there were any long-term effects of have an external locus of control. In recent years, there has been a growing concern about psychological well-being, the state of being happy, healthy, or successful in a learning environment, especially amongst college students. Surveys conducted by the National Alliance on Mental Health have announced that one in three students reported prolonged periods of depression and one in four students reported having suicidal thoughts or feelings. These numbers are alarming and should be raising concerns. .
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Findings from previous research have indicated that individuals with an external locus of control tended to have lower levels of well-being (Bostic & Ptacek 2001). In a study consisting of 60 undergraduates from a private university in the northeast United States, Bostic and Ptacek concluded that feeling as if you have control over events that happen to yourself can be an indicator of a healthy mental state. Similarly, Hortop and colleagues (2013) found that a combination of high levels of motivation and high levels of perceived control was associated with accelerated goal progress after 6 months, which mediated 6-month increases in emotional well-being. In their study, researchers used 162 young adult students from Concordia University to examine the hypothesis that autonomously motivated participants who also perceive high levels of control would make accelerated progress with the pursuit of their most important goal and experience associated increases in emotional well-being. Students were recruited to complete a questionnaire and were contacted for a follow-up questionnaire, for both assessments participants were compensated $10. These findings suggest that young adults with low levels of perceived control could have difficulty achieving self-motivated goals and reaping the emotional benefits of such goal attainments. Also, individual differences in perceived control may not matter if young adults pursue activities for controlled reasons. It is also known that campus involvement and stress are known to predict well-being. Research shows that student who become involved in a variety of co-curricular activities through their residence halls (e.g., student government), and these activities are associated with increased psychological well-being (Bowman, 2010). In their study, 4,501 students who were beginning their first year of college in fall 2006 were invited to participate in a longitudinal study and 3,081 were brought back to complete a second wave measure. Students were told to complete a registration form that included demographic information, a questionnaire of various high school experiences, interests, attitudes, and values, and a battery of five assessments, including Ryff ’s scale of PWB. Also, students who felt committed to their institution, in their first year, were more likely to succeed (Hixenbaugh et al., 2012). In their study, Researchers used survey data from 429 first year students, from the total annual population of 10,890 students, to examine the impact of first year experiences of students on the outcomes of their course upon graduation and to identify factors that predict and/or aid academic success. A web-based questionnaire survey was employed to investigate socio-demographic, health and lifestyle variables that consisted of questions relating to smoking and drinking behaviors, number of hours in employment and information about finance, living arrangements and entry qualifications. Moeini and colleagues (2008) individuals with higher perceived stress are seen to have lower psychological well-being. 148 twelfth grader from schools
Findings from previous research have indicated that individuals with an external locus of control tended to have lower levels of well-being (Bostic & Ptacek 2001). In a study consisting of 60 undergraduates from a private university in the northeast United States, Bostic and Ptacek concluded that feeling as if you have control over events that happen to yourself can be an indicator of a healthy mental state. Similarly, Hortop and colleagues (2013) found that a combination of high levels of motivation and high levels of perceived control was associated with accelerated goal progress after 6 months, which mediated 6-month increases in emotional well-being. In their study, researchers used 162 young adult students from Concordia University to examine the hypothesis that autonomously motivated participants who also perceive high levels of control would make accelerated progress with the pursuit of their most important goal and experience associated increases in emotional well-being. Students were recruited to complete a questionnaire and were contacted for a follow-up questionnaire, for both assessments participants were compensated $10. These findings suggest that young adults with low levels of perceived control could have difficulty achieving self-motivated goals and reaping the emotional benefits of such goal attainments. Also, individual differences in perceived control may not matter if young adults pursue activities for controlled reasons. It is also known that campus involvement and stress are known to predict well-being. Research shows that student who become involved in a variety of co-curricular activities through their residence halls (e.g., student government), and these activities are associated with increased psychological well-being (Bowman, 2010). In their study, 4,501 students who were beginning their first year of college in fall 2006 were invited to participate in a longitudinal study and 3,081 were brought back to complete a second wave measure. Students were told to complete a registration form that included demographic information, a questionnaire of various high school experiences, interests, attitudes, and values, and a battery of five assessments, including Ryff ’s scale of PWB. Also, students who felt committed to their institution, in their first year, were more likely to succeed (Hixenbaugh et al., 2012). In their study, Researchers used survey data from 429 first year students, from the total annual population of 10,890 students, to examine the impact of first year experiences of students on the outcomes of their course upon graduation and to identify factors that predict and/or aid academic success. A web-based questionnaire survey was employed to investigate socio-demographic, health and lifestyle variables that consisted of questions relating to smoking and drinking behaviors, number of hours in employment and information about finance, living arrangements and entry qualifications. Moeini and colleagues (2008) individuals with higher perceived stress are seen to have lower psychological well-being. 148 twelfth grader from schools