Locus of Control and Field Dependence as Factors in Students' Evaluations of Applied Music Instruction

Abstract

This study examined students' evaluations of applied music teaching as a function of the students' attributes of locus of control and field dependence/independence. 70 undergraduate music majors listened to an audiotape of an applied piano lesson taught by one of two teachers, Subjects evaluated the teacher by means of (a) the Applied Teaching Rating Scale and (b) the Favorable and Unfavorable Scales of the Adjective Checklist. The former ratings and the ratio of favorable to unfavorable adjectives were examined by means of 3 × 3 factorial multivariate analysis of variance. A significant effect of locus of control was found for the adjective ratio, with externally oriented subjects rating teachers significantly less favorably than relatively internally oriented subjects. No significant main effect for field dependence was found. A significant interaction was noted for both the ratings and the adjective ratio, with 19% and 15% of the variance, respectively, explained.