fei75766_ch18_569-609.indd 583  02/24/20 10:50 AM
Chapter 18     Rotter and Mischel: Cognitive Social Learning Theory583
external control ofreinforcement (heseldom referred toitas“locus ofcontrol”), 
people continue tomisuse andmisinterpret theinstrument. Onemisconception is
thatscores onthescale aredeterminants ofbehavior. Rotter insisted thattheyshould 
notbeseenascauses ofbehavior butasindicators ofgeneralized expectancies (GEs).
Assuch, theymust beconsidered along withreinforcement value (RV)when predict -
ingbehavior potential.
Asecond misconception isthatlocus ofcontrol isspecific andcanpre-
dictachievement inaspecific situation. Again, theconcept refers togeneralized TABLE 18.1
Sample Items From Rotter’s Internal–External Control Scale
1. a. Many oftheunhappy things inpeople’s livesarepartly duetobadluck.
b.People’s misfortunes result from themistakes theymake.
2. a.Oneofthemajor reasons wehavewarsisthatpeople don’t takeenough interest 
   inpolitics.
b.There willalways bewars, nomatter howhardpeople trytoprevent them.
3. a.Inthelongrun,people gettherespect theydeserve inthisworld.
b.Unfortunately, anindividual’s worth often passes unrecognized nomatter how
hardheorshetries.
4. a.Theaverage citizen canhaveaninfluence ingovernment decisions.
b.Theworld isrunbythefewpeople inpower andthere isn’tmuch thelittleguy
candoabout it.
5. a.Theideathatteachers areunfair tostudents isnonsense.
b.Most students don’t realize theextent towhich theirgrades areinfluenced by
accidental happenings.
6. a.Nomatter howhardyoutry,some people justdon’t likeyou.
b.People whocan’t getothers tolikethem don’t understand howtogetalong with
others.
From J. B. Rotter, 1966. Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. 
Psychological Monographs, 80  (Whole No. 609), p. 11.
TABLE 18.2
Internal and External Control of Reinforcement
Internal Locus of Control: In general…
• Imake things happen
• Icontrol mylife
• Iexplain personal outcomes asaresult 
ofhardwork andskillExternal Locus of Control: In general…
• Things happen tome
• Mylifeiscontrolled byforces outside 
ofme
• Iexplain personal outcomes asaresult 
ofluck, chance, God, other people, or
thesituation
Source:  From J. B. Rotter, 1966. Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of 
reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80  (Whole No. 609), p. 11.Final PDF to printer