Locus of Control

What is Locus of control? Before this assignment, I had not given it much thought. With my Bachelors degree being in psychology, I had heard the term ‘locus of control before’ but I was not exactly sure what it was.  According to a blog written by Erik Meira, The Science PT, locus of control refers to how a person perceives causes of change in their life. Some people understand their circumstances to be a direct result of external forces, things that are out of their control. Others understand their circumstances to be a direct result of internal forces, things inside of their control such as personal actions (Meira, 2013).

In my Leadership II course, we were asked to complete Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale. This is a questionnaire consists of 13 items and 6 filler items and you are instructed to select the statement that you most agree with. I personally found this to be difficult, because in some instances I like neither of the choices given to me. After it is completed, the questionnaire is scored using a scoring key. The total score ranges from 0 being completely Internal Locus of control and 23 being completely external locus of control. My score was 14, almost in the middle but leaning towards external locus of control.

I believe that my score is fairly accurate.  One of the things I struggle with is pessimism. I tend to refer to this as being a realist, but if I am being honest, I can be a bit negative. This is something that I am actively working on. I hope that in the future I am able to say that my score leans more toward an internal locus of control. I do think that having a more or less neutral locus of control will be helpful in clinical practice. This way, I can see things from all perspectives, but I do understand the importance of encouraging an internal locus of control in clients.  I think it is important to encourage clients in a way that leads them towards an internal locus of control so that they can focus on what is in their control rather than what is out of their control. According to the Science PT, this is the goal of an ethical provider (Meira, 2013). 

           

           

Reference:

Meira, E. (2013, December 5). Are your patients out of control? Erik. Retrieved August 02, 2020, from https://thesciencept.com/are-your-patients-out-of-control/

My, How Things have Changed!

A year doesn’t seem like such a long time ago, but when I compare my two drawings I feel like I am a totally different person. I guess a lot can change in a year. The drawing I created when participating in this activity the first time is pretty different from my current drawing. Initially, my drawing included a triangle shaped face, meaning that at the time, I thought leaders were born, not made. In my current drawing, I included a square shaped face because I have now seen that anyone can become a leader in the right circumstances. In my original drawing, I didn't include any eyebrows, meaning that being a “leader” wasn't really my “forte”. Now, I can identify my leadership as being primarily behind the scenes. My first drawing had no freckles, indicating that at the time, I did not see self-awareness as a necessary in leadership. I now know that self-awareness is very important in effective leadership. I believe that our current situation has definitely changed my opinion on the use of technology and leadership, I believe now that it is important.

A lot has changed since the start of OT school. I have grown so much as a person and as a future practitioner. Coming from small town Mississippi, I look back now and see a lot of my thinking as being close-minded. I am so thankful for UTHSC, my classmates, and instructors for helping change my way of thinking for the better.