A 2002 study showed an 80 percent increase in external locus of control since the 1960s
Using the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, Jean Twenge and her colleagues analyzed the results of many studies that had assessed locus of control with groups of college students and of children (age nine to fourteen) from 1960 through 2002. They found for both age groups that over this period, average scores shifted dramatically, away from the internal toward the external end of the scale, so much so, in fact, that the average young person in 2002 was more external (more prone to claim lack of personal control) than were 80 percent of young people in the 1960s. The rise in externality over this forty-two-year period showed the same linear trend as did the rise in depression and anxiety, probably because lack of control predicts stress-response, and those undergoing significant stress are more likely to develop depression.
References
- Gray, Peter. (2013). Free to Learn Chapter 1. What Have We Done to Childhood? (p. 37). New York, NY: Basic Books.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Politics / Education / Psychiatry Status:☀️