fei75766_ch18_569-609.indd 582  02/24/20 10:50 AM
Part VI    Learning-Cognitive Theories582
Internal and External Control of Reinforcement
AtthecoreofRotter’s social learning theory isthenotion thatreinforcement does
notautomatically stamp inbehaviors butthatpeople havetheability toseeacausal 
connection between theirownbehavior andtheoccurrence ofthereinforcer (Rotter, 
1954; Rotter &Hochreich, 1975). People strive toreach theirgoals because they
haveageneralized expectancy thatsuchstrivings willbesuccessful.
During the1950s andearly 1960s, Rotter became intrigued bytheobservation 
thatmany people didnotincrease theirfeelings ofpersonal control afterexperiencing 
success andthatothers didnotlower theirexpectancies afterrepeated failure (Rotter, 
1990, 1993; Zuroff &Rotter, 1985). Inother words, some people tended toexplain 
away successful outcomes asbeing duetoluckorchance, whereas others retained 
ahighsense ofpersonal control evenafterseveral nonreinforced behaviors. These 
tendencies seemed tobeespecially trueinsituations thatpeople regarded asambigu -
ousornovel (Rotter, 1992) orwhen people werenotclear whether theoutcome of
theirbehavior wasduetotheirskillortochance. Rotter (1990) suggested thatboth
thesituation andtheperson contribute tofeelings ofpersonal control. Thus, aperson 
withageneralized expectancy forsuccess inonesituation mayhavelowfeelings of
personal control inanother situation.
Toassess internal andexternal control ofreinforcement, orlocus of control, 
Rotter (1966) developed theInternal–External Control Scale, basing itonthedoc-
toraldissertations oftwoofhisstudents, E.Jerry Phares (1955) andWilliam H.
James (1957). TheI-EScale consists of29forced-choice items, 23pairs ofwhich are
scored and6ofwhich arefillerstatements designed todisguise thepurpose ofthe
scale. Thescale isscored inthedirection ofexternal control sothat23isthehighest 
possible external score and0isthehighest possible internal score. Table 18.1shows 
several sample items from theI-EScale. People must select either alternative “a”or
alternative “b”from eachpairofitems. Although theinternal orexternal direction of
these items mayseem obvious, Rotter (1990) reported thatscores haveonlyamodest 
correlation withasocial desirability scale. 
TheI-EScale attempts tomeasure thedegree towhich people perceive acausal 
relationship between theirownefforts andenvironmental consequences. People who
score highoninternal control generally believe thatthesource ofcontrol resides 
within themselves andthattheyexercise ahighlevelofpersonal control inmost situ-
ations. People whoscore highonexternal control generally believe thattheirlifeis
largely controlled byforces outside themselves, suchaschance, destiny, orthebehav -
iorofother people (seeTable 18.2). Atthebeginning ofthischapter, weasked you
tocheck either “a”or“b”forsixitems thatmight assess internal orexternal locus of
control. Marking “b”foralltimes except Number 2might indicate internal locus of
control. However, asRotter (1975, 1990) pointed out,toomuch internal control is
notalways socially desirable. Forexample, Item2ofthechapter opener tapsintoa
person’s generalized expectancy foromnipotence, hardly asocially desirable attitude. 
Rotter’s Internal–External Control Scale hasbecome oneofthemost thor-
oughly investigated topics inpsychology aswellasinother social sciences, having 
sparked several thousand publications since itsinception. Despite thispopularity, the
concepts ofinternal andexternal control arenotalways clearly understood. Although 
Rotter (1975) pointed outseveral common misconceptions concerning internal andFinal PDF to printer