Locus of control refers to the connections individuals perceive between their behaviour and what happens to them (internality). Those who believe what happens to them is due to luck, fate or chance are deemed to be external. Internal LOC is positively related to academic achievement, physical/mental health, self-concept and economic success. 

Originally funded by the John Templeton Foundation (PIs: Jean Golding and Stephen Nowicki).  Staff currently involved:  Yaz Iles-Caven, Steve Gregory, Holly Tunstall

This project analyses longitudinal data from ALSPAC to assess factors in the parents’ backgrounds that influence their level of LOC as measured in pregnancy, at 6 years and 18 years after the pregnancy and, more recently in 2020 and 2022.  Although analyses were carried out on the offspring measured at ages 8 and 16 years with two main aims: (i) to identify groups at high risk of externality for subsequent development of interventions, and thus to develop a more internally oriented population, and (ii) to assess the consequences of parental and child/adolescent LOC orientation on their own development, achievements, health and behaviour.

Subsequently repeat LOC measures have been administered to parent and child cohorts pre- and post-pandemic, thus enabling us to determine whether the pandemic had any effect on changing an individual’s externality/internality.