PsychologicalReports, 1991, 69, 927-928.
O Psychological Reports 1991
LOCUS OF CONTROL IN RURAL SOUTHERN ELEMENTARY GIFTED STUDENTS ' FRANCES A. KARNES University of Southern Mississippi
AND
VICTOR R. D'ILIO Pinebelt Mental Health Services
Summary.-The locus of control as measured by the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale was investigated for 68 rural, southern elementary gifted students, ages 8 to 14 years. The scores became more internal with older ages, and the girls (n = 34) tended to have more internal locus of control across grades. Locus of control has been described as a generalized expectancy which relates to the control a person feels he possesses over external factors (13). Internal control has been defined as the perception of positive and negative events being the consequence of one's own actions and thereby under the person's control. Conversely, external control refers to the perception of these events as unrelated to one's own behavior and so beyond the control of the person. Locus of control has been related to a variety of diverse factors, such as reaction to disabilities, minority group status, teaching, and others (1, 6, 7, 12). Locus of control has also received attention as it relates to academic achievement (3, 4, 101. Locus of control has been the focus of studies of exceptional children and youth. Finchman and Barling (5) studied learning disabled, normal, and gifted students, noting that learning disabled students had the most internal pattern of control. Milgram and Milgram (9), comparing gifted and nongifted students in Israel, observed the gifted students were more internal in their and gifted locus of control orientation. Lynne (8) reported similar findmgs with no&ted youth. I n a more recent study (2), gifted rather than nongifted children tended to be more internal than external in their locus of control. The present study was conducted to investigate further a measure of locus of control in a sample of rural, southern, intellectually gifted youth. Method.-The sample included 68 gdted youths ranging in age from 8 to 14 years, with a mean of 11.2 yr. There were 34 boys and 34 girls who were eligible for a program for intellectually gifted students based on the state guidelines of an intelligence quotient of 120 or above on any of the three scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised or the single score on the Stanford-Binet. The means, standard deviations, and ranges for the WISC-R Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs were 138.0, 122.1, and 128.0; 9.6, 11.4, and 8.2; and 98-152, 95-143, and 111-151, respectively. The range on the Stanford-Binet was from IQ 120 to 150, with a mean of 132.3 and a standard deviation of 9.7. The subiects were administered the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale (111 in small groups by one of the authors. The testing conditions were without distractions. The Nowicki-Strickland scale uses a yes-no format for 40 paper-and-pencil question items, which describe reinforcing situations across motivational and interpersonal areas of dependency, affiiation, and achievement. Reliability coefficients ranging from .68 to .81 were reported by Nowicki and Strickland (11). Results and discussion.-The means and standard deviations of the Nowicki-Strickland scale for sexes combined, boys, and girls were calculated for each grade (see Table 11, but statistical analysis was not attempted because the sample was small. Consistent with the work of Nowicki and Suickland (ll), mean scores tend towards a more internal orientation for older
'Address correspondence to F. A. Karnes, Ph.D., Department of Special Education, University of Southern Mississippi, Southern Station, Box 5115, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5115.
92 8
F. A. KARNES & V. I. D'ILIO TABLE 1 MEANSAND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF NOWCKI-STRICKLAND SCALEFOR SEXES COMBINED, BOYSAND GIRLS, BY GRADE
Grade
n
Sexes Combined M SD
Boys
n
M
Girls
SD
n
M
SD
groups. The girls appeared to have more internal locus of control scores across grades. Reliable assessment awaits a larger sample. The present results :ue of potential use to teachers, parents, guidance counselors, and other adults interested in the social and emotional development of the gifted. Efforts should be made by adults to assist gifted boys to develop a more internal locus of control. They should also be aware of the need to continue to support gifted girls in maintaining their more well developed locus of control as they reach puberty when there are many peer pressures on girls to hide their abilities. Research may indude increasing the sample size and using various comparison groups. Also, the relation of locus of control to skill, intellectual ability, academic achievement, and personality factors may be explored and groups increased in size. REFERENCES 1. CENTER,Y., & WARD,J. (1986) The Nowicki Locus of Control Scale: an Australian study of normal and cerebral palsied children. Exceptional Children, 33, 207-213. 2. COLLIER,R. G., ACOBSON, M. G . , & ST=, S. A. (1987) Locus of control measurements for gifted an non-gdted children. Roeper Review, 9, 196-200. 3. CRANDALL, V.,KATKOVSKY, W., & PRESTON, A. (1962) Motivational and ability determinants of young children's intellectual academic achievement situations. Child Development, 33, 643-661. 4. EPPES,J. W. (1970) The effect of varying the race of the experimenter on the level of aspiration of externally controlled inner city school children. Dissertation Abstracts International, 31, 912. F., & BARLING,J. (1978) Locus of control and generosity in learning disabled, 5. FINCHMAN, normal achieving, and gifted children. Child Development, 49, 530-533. 6. JOE, V. (1971) Review of the internal-external control construct as a personality variable. Psychological Reports, 28, 619-640. (Monograph Suppl. 1-V28) H. (Ed.) (1983) Research with the locus of control construct. Vol. 2. New York: Aca7. LEFCOLIRT, demic Press. 8. LYNNE,J. H. (1979) A comparison of the locus of control of children in the gifted and average ranges of intehgence. (Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State Univec) Dissertiztion Abstracts International, 40, 4467-A. (University Microfilms No. 68-9912) 9. MILGRAM,N. A,, & MILGRAM,R. A. (1975) Dimensions of locus of control in children. Psychological Reports, 37, 523-538. 10. NOWCKI, S., & ROUNDTREE, J. (1971) Correlates of locus of control in secondary school age students. Developmental Psychology, 4, 479. B. R. (1973) A locus of control scale for children. Journal of 11. Nomcm, S., & STRICKLAND, Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 40, 148-154. 12. PHARES,E. S. (1976) Locus of control in personality. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press. 13. ROITER,J. B. (1954) Social learning and clinicalpsychology. New York: Prentice-Hall.
d
Accepted October 31, 1991
O Psychological Reports 1991
LOCUS OF CONTROL IN RURAL SOUTHERN ELEMENTARY GIFTED STUDENTS ' FRANCES A. KARNES University of Southern Mississippi
AND
VICTOR R. D'ILIO Pinebelt Mental Health Services
Summary.-The locus of control as measured by the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale was investigated for 68 rural, southern elementary gifted students, ages 8 to 14 years. The scores became more internal with older ages, and the girls (n = 34) tended to have more internal locus of control across grades. Locus of control has been described as a generalized expectancy which relates to the control a person feels he possesses over external factors (13). Internal control has been defined as the perception of positive and negative events being the consequence of one's own actions and thereby under the person's control. Conversely, external control refers to the perception of these events as unrelated to one's own behavior and so beyond the control of the person. Locus of control has been related to a variety of diverse factors, such as reaction to disabilities, minority group status, teaching, and others (1, 6, 7, 12). Locus of control has also received attention as it relates to academic achievement (3, 4, 101. Locus of control has been the focus of studies of exceptional children and youth. Finchman and Barling (5) studied learning disabled, normal, and gifted students, noting that learning disabled students had the most internal pattern of control. Milgram and Milgram (9), comparing gifted and nongifted students in Israel, observed the gifted students were more internal in their and gifted locus of control orientation. Lynne (8) reported similar findmgs with no&ted youth. I n a more recent study (2), gifted rather than nongifted children tended to be more internal than external in their locus of control. The present study was conducted to investigate further a measure of locus of control in a sample of rural, southern, intellectually gifted youth. Method.-The sample included 68 gdted youths ranging in age from 8 to 14 years, with a mean of 11.2 yr. There were 34 boys and 34 girls who were eligible for a program for intellectually gifted students based on the state guidelines of an intelligence quotient of 120 or above on any of the three scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised or the single score on the Stanford-Binet. The means, standard deviations, and ranges for the WISC-R Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs were 138.0, 122.1, and 128.0; 9.6, 11.4, and 8.2; and 98-152, 95-143, and 111-151, respectively. The range on the Stanford-Binet was from IQ 120 to 150, with a mean of 132.3 and a standard deviation of 9.7. The subiects were administered the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale (111 in small groups by one of the authors. The testing conditions were without distractions. The Nowicki-Strickland scale uses a yes-no format for 40 paper-and-pencil question items, which describe reinforcing situations across motivational and interpersonal areas of dependency, affiiation, and achievement. Reliability coefficients ranging from .68 to .81 were reported by Nowicki and Strickland (11). Results and discussion.-The means and standard deviations of the Nowicki-Strickland scale for sexes combined, boys, and girls were calculated for each grade (see Table 11, but statistical analysis was not attempted because the sample was small. Consistent with the work of Nowicki and Suickland (ll), mean scores tend towards a more internal orientation for older
'Address correspondence to F. A. Karnes, Ph.D., Department of Special Education, University of Southern Mississippi, Southern Station, Box 5115, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5115.
92 8
F. A. KARNES & V. I. D'ILIO TABLE 1 MEANSAND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF NOWCKI-STRICKLAND SCALEFOR SEXES COMBINED, BOYSAND GIRLS, BY GRADE
Grade
n
Sexes Combined M SD
Boys
n
M
Girls
SD
n
M
SD
groups. The girls appeared to have more internal locus of control scores across grades. Reliable assessment awaits a larger sample. The present results :ue of potential use to teachers, parents, guidance counselors, and other adults interested in the social and emotional development of the gifted. Efforts should be made by adults to assist gifted boys to develop a more internal locus of control. They should also be aware of the need to continue to support gifted girls in maintaining their more well developed locus of control as they reach puberty when there are many peer pressures on girls to hide their abilities. Research may indude increasing the sample size and using various comparison groups. Also, the relation of locus of control to skill, intellectual ability, academic achievement, and personality factors may be explored and groups increased in size. REFERENCES 1. CENTER,Y., & WARD,J. (1986) The Nowicki Locus of Control Scale: an Australian study of normal and cerebral palsied children. Exceptional Children, 33, 207-213. 2. COLLIER,R. G., ACOBSON, M. G . , & ST=, S. A. (1987) Locus of control measurements for gifted an non-gdted children. Roeper Review, 9, 196-200. 3. CRANDALL, V.,KATKOVSKY, W., & PRESTON, A. (1962) Motivational and ability determinants of young children's intellectual academic achievement situations. Child Development, 33, 643-661. 4. EPPES,J. W. (1970) The effect of varying the race of the experimenter on the level of aspiration of externally controlled inner city school children. Dissertation Abstracts International, 31, 912. F., & BARLING,J. (1978) Locus of control and generosity in learning disabled, 5. FINCHMAN, normal achieving, and gifted children. Child Development, 49, 530-533. 6. JOE, V. (1971) Review of the internal-external control construct as a personality variable. Psychological Reports, 28, 619-640. (Monograph Suppl. 1-V28) H. (Ed.) (1983) Research with the locus of control construct. Vol. 2. New York: Aca7. LEFCOLIRT, demic Press. 8. LYNNE,J. H. (1979) A comparison of the locus of control of children in the gifted and average ranges of intehgence. (Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State Univec) Dissertiztion Abstracts International, 40, 4467-A. (University Microfilms No. 68-9912) 9. MILGRAM,N. A,, & MILGRAM,R. A. (1975) Dimensions of locus of control in children. Psychological Reports, 37, 523-538. 10. NOWCKI, S., & ROUNDTREE, J. (1971) Correlates of locus of control in secondary school age students. Developmental Psychology, 4, 479. B. R. (1973) A locus of control scale for children. Journal of 11. Nomcm, S., & STRICKLAND, Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 40, 148-154. 12. PHARES,E. S. (1976) Locus of control in personality. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press. 13. ROITER,J. B. (1954) Social learning and clinicalpsychology. New York: Prentice-Hall.
d
Accepted October 31, 1991
