Locus of control: an important determinant of self esteem and perceived life satisfaction of married women

ABSTRACT

The study aims to determine the effects of internal and external locus of control upon self-esteem and perceived life satisfaction of married women. It was hypothesized that Married women with internal locus of control will have higher perceived self esteem and perceived life satisfaction than married women with external locus of control. To find out the difference between both the groups, the sample comprised of 82 married women with age range of 25 to 40 years. They were approached individually and consent was taken for their participation as a sample. After gathering demographic information, Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale [Rotter, 1966a], Self Esteem Scale [Rosenberg, 1965] and Satisfaction with Life Scale [Diener, Emmons, Larsen and Griffin, 1985] were administered, t' test was applied in order to find out the difference between women with internal and external locus of control. Results reveal significant difference in the level of self-esteem [t =-3.203, df= 80, p< .01] and life satisfaction [t = -3.285, df = 80, p< .01], between women with internal [Self esteem X - 32.34 and life satisfaction X=20.02] and external [Self esteem X =29.60 and life satisfaction X= 17.34] locus of control. It is clear that the self-esteem and life satisfaction of women with internal locus of control is significantly higher than women with external locus of control. Hence, it is interpreted that internal locus of control helps to develop better self-esteem and contribute in the development of higher level of life satisfaction than external locus of control. Avenues for future research have also been given