Locus of Control
The Basic Idea
Most people would say they enjoy the feeling that comes with a job well done. Of course, however, we define “well” relative to our self-constructs and the feasibility of the task at hand. Part of this positive feeling is due to the fact that we’ll attribute our successes to our hard work and efforts. But what about when we don’t perform as well as we wanted or expected? Are those “failures” a result of our own doings, or other influences?
Our locus of control - the degree to which we see outcomes as related to our personal influence versus external factors - tends to vary based on the outcome of an event.1 When we hold an internal locus of control, we attribute the outcome to our own efforts and abilities. When we hold an external locus of control, we attribute the outcome to luck, fate, or other factors beyond our control. As you might be able to guess, we typically hold an internal locus of control for our successes and an external locus of control for our failures.
I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.
– Carl Jung, pioneer of analytical psychology, on an internal locus of control
About the Authors
Dan Pilat
Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
