South African Graduate Students' Locus of Control, Gender Differences, and Academic Performance

Abstract

To explore whether locus of control scores of South African university students show sex differences and differences in academic achievement, 73 subjects (46 women and 27 men) whose mean ages were 36.5 yr. for women and 35.0 yr. for men were given Rotter's Locus of Control scale. Scores students obtained on a final examination in an educational psychology course were recorded. A gender difference was statistically significant, with men scoring internally oriented and women scoring externally oriented. There was no significant difference in academic performance between internally and externally controlled subjects.