Relationship Between Self Esteem and Locus of Control Among Well Functioning Adolescent
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the relationship between self esteem and locus of control among adolescent
- To ascertain the effect of self-esteem and locus of control on academic achievement.
- To ascertain the effect of locus of control upon academic achievement.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
LOCUS OF CONTROL
In generalizing on the implications for research on locus of control, Lefcourt (1982) stated that the way individuals judged causality made a difference in the way life experiences were approached. If the individual believed events were controllable, he or she would try to actively exert an influence on them. If the individual believed events were not controllable, her or his response would be different and would include withdrawal or apathy. The locus of control concept emerged from the framework of social learning theory, which stressed that personality is studied by examining the interaction of the individual and the individual’s environment. Social learning theory further claimed that personality is consistent and unified, that social behavior is learned, that there are broad traits that account for behavioral consistency in different situations, and that human behavior is purposeful and determined by expectations that certain behavior will lead to certain goals (Phares, 1976). By looking at behavior in different situations, it is possible to infer personality consistency. Locus of control is a personality characteristic that, along with other social learning theory variables, may be used to prognosticate social behavior in humans. It is both a situation specific expectancy and a broad, generalized expectancy. As a specific situational expectancy, it helps clarify behavior variations which appear in highly structured situations (Phares, 1976) . A pioneer in locus of control research, Julian Rotter (1966), stated that an individual who has an external locus of control believes reinforcement is unpredictable and not dependent upon his or her own actions but is, instead, dependent on fate, luck, or powerful others. On the other hand, an individual who believes that reinforcement resulted from her or his own characteristics and behavior has an internal locus of control. According to Rotter, such belief about the relationship between consequences and behavior affects many choices which people make in a variety of situations. If a person saw reinforcement as dependent upon his or her own behavior, then a positive reinforcement would strengthen a behavior and a negative reinforcement would weaken it. If the person thought reinforcement depended upon fate or other factors outside the individual, then the behavior is likely to remain unchanged. The person’s beliefs about how reinforcement was controlled denoted internal or external control. Rotter (1966) hypothesized that the generalized expectancy that an individual’s behavior would affect the environment was measurable and predicted rational behavioral construct referents. He also asserted that an internally controlled individual would be aware of environmental information for future behavior, try to improve conditions of the environment, value achievement and skill reinforcements, manifest concern about ability and personal failure, and resist attempts of others to exert influence.
LOCUS OF CONTROL AND AGE
Age and development may influence locus of control. In the Lifshitz (1973) study of kibbutz children, change of locus of control appeared to be related to development. In a study of locus of control and at risk children in grades kindergarten through 5, Payne and Payne (19 89) found that internal locus of control increased with age. Another researcher (Richaud de Minzi, 1991) agreed with this conclusion. In an investigation of beliefs about ability, effort, luck, powerful others, and unknown causes, Skinner (1990) found that children made finer distinctions among many internal and external causes during middle childhood. On the other hand, Hegland and Galejs (1983) found contradictory evidence concerning the relationship between age and locus of control orientation and concluded that their results did not confirm the actuality of a developmental trend from externality to internality.
CHANGE OF LOCUS OF CONTROL IN ADULTS
A variety of environmental factors and special instructional interventions, however, can change locus of control. Noel, Forsyth, and Kelley (1987) found that students failing a college course improved performance when they shifted from external to internal causal attributions. In a study of patients involved in a crisis situation it was found that locus of control scores became more internal as the crises neared resolution (Smith, 1970) . As they gained more experience, individuals ranging in age from 19 to 50 who worked in their own community organizations believed they had more control over what they could do for themselves and showed changes towards more internal control (Gottesfeld & Dozier, 1966). Senior female nursing students who received brief training in lay counseling skills scored higher in internality on Rotter*s locus of control scale (Martin & Shepel, 1974) as did college freshman who received counseling which attempted to help them understand behavior-effeet contingencies (Reimanis, 1974) . An encounter group experience resulted in increased internal locus of control for two groups of graduate students (Diamond & Shapiro, 1973) . In a study of university students Dua (1970) found that persons who changed their actions also changed their attitudes and saw themselves as more internally controlled.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to relationship between self esteem and locus of control among well functioning adolescent
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information relationship between self esteem and locus of control among well functioning adolescent. 200 students from selected secondary schools in Abuja were selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain relationship between self esteem and locus of control among well functioning adolescent. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of relationship between self esteem and locus of control among well functioning adolescent
Summary
This study was on relationship between self esteem and locus of control among well functioning adolescent. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the relationship between self esteem and locus of control among adolescent, to ascertain the effect of self-esteem and locus of control on academic achievement, to ascertain the effect of locus of control upon academic achievement. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 students of selected secondary schools in Abuja. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made sss3 students, sss2 students, sss1 and jss3 students were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
From the findings of this study one could say that a significant positive relationship exist between self-esteem and locus of controls with high self-esteem correlating with internal locus of control and low self-esteem correlating with external locus of control.
Recommendation
Students with high self esteem and internal locus of control are academically more competent as compared to students with low self esteem and external locus of control. Parents put lots of pressure on their children to do well but academic achievement should be what one wants for oneself rather what others want for him/her. Academic achievement is a both quantifiable indicator of student progress and a key that opens doors that broader the educational, occupational and life opportunities for adolescents.
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