TITLE:
The relationship between Locus of Control and the South African National Political Environment
AUTHORS:
Charles H. Van Wijk
KEYWORDS:
Locus of Control; Internality-Externality; Political Environment; Race; Perceptions of Personal and Political Control
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.4 No.12,
December
5,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Locus of control refers to the prediction of
how reinforcements change expectancies. An internal locus of control was
previously reported to be associated with access to political and economic
power in “Apartheid” South Africa. The democratisation ofSouth Africagave equal access to
political power to all its citizens. This study set out to investigate whether
post-apartheid political changes have altered the way a group of technical
engineers in the public service perceived their own ability to influence their
personal lives and political environment. A total of 297 male participants with
a mean age of 30 years, comprising Black, Mixed-race, and White government
employees, completed Rotter’s Internality-Externality Scale. This was scored
using Ferguson’s (1993) two-factor solution, which comprised of a personal and
a political control factor. The scores of the three race groups were then
compared. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between
the groups on the total score and scores on the Personal Control factor. All
participants believed in an equal internal control over their personal lives.
However, Black respondents scored more external than the other race groups on
the Political Control factor, indicating a perception of lesser influence over
political affairs. The results suggest that the effects of the shift in political
power have not fully filtered down to ordinary citizens yet.