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Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Who do you think controls what happens to you?

In the last blog, we looked at three different theories that would explain an individual personality. In order to understand the particular behavior of an individual, one would need to look at the personality characteristics. Research has indicated 5 major characteristics are important for managers to understand the job related characteristics. These are - Locus of Control, self-efficacy, self-esteem self-monitoring and positive/negative effect. In today's blog, we look at understanding locus of control.

An Individual's generalized belief about internal control (self-control) versus external control (control by the situation or others) is referred to as Locus of Control. It has been observed and strongly indicated even in research studies that people with a strong internal locus of control are found to have higher job-satisfaction and performance. They are also likely to assume managerial positions and prefer a participative management styles.

When promoted, people with both internal and external locus of control will have similar reactions to being promoted; they would have similar reactions - a high job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. Though the initial reactions are similar, these would continue for a long time with those possessing an internal locus of control, while those with external locus of control would begin attribute to the external environment.

With this understanding, managers would look at adopting an appropriate style of involvement of these sorts of employees. People with internal locus of control will be like to enjoy freedom in their job, while those with an external locus of control will appreciate a more structured work environment.

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