Selected factors related to locus of control among a sample of high school students

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between locus of control, the dependent variable, and selected independent factors that were classified as demographic and social/behavioral factors. The demographic factors were sex, socio-economic status, grade level, average grades, family size, and length of residence. The social/behavioral factors were social participation, drinking behavior, and smoking behavior. The data examined were collected in May, 1976. The high school selected for this study was located in a small homogeneous community approximately seventy-five miles north of Houston, Texas. A stratified random sampling technique was employed which resulted in a total sample of forty-seven students (27 males and 20 females) drawn from the entire student enrollment of ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades. The study sample was all Caucasian which was representative of the school population. The dependent variable, locus of control, was measured by the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children and was examined for relationships between each independent factor. The scale was scored in the external direction (high scores: external locus of control). Relationships between locus of control and each independent factor were examined for the total sample (N=47), for the male group (N=27), and for the female group (N=20), as sex was believed to be a moderating variable. Of the demographic factors examined, only two reached the designated .05 level of statistical significance. Socio-economic status was found to be negatively correlated with locus of control scores for the male group; and family size was found to be positively correlated with locus of control scores in the female group. None of the other factors, either demographic or social/behavioral, were found to be statistically significant.