Does It Matter? Study Habits and Locus of Control

Most research on study habits as they relate to locus of control point to an internal locus of control being most common among students with strong study habits (Onwuegbuzie and Daley, 1998). Other studies recognized it as a mere correlation rather than a variable with predictive value when looking at specifically one type of academic achievement like mathematics (Villa and Sebastian 2021). One study examining learning styles most compatible with internal and external loci of control concluded that those with internal locus of control did better than those with the external locus of control in self-regulated learning styles (Muhim 2021). Lone (2021) shows how locus of control, concentration, and study habits are related in favor of internally controlled students; and raises the question as to how these are related to other predictors of study habits like socio-economic status. More research into this topic could help clear discrepancies between the studies to see where locus of control lies as a predictor to study habits and therefore achievement, as well as where it interacts with other factors like socio-economic factors or cultural factors. This could also lead to more research in how we could apply that knowledge to make academic decisions and habits seem less daunting and more controllable to those who struggle with academic achievement or motivation. For the study, the 83 participants ( 17 male, 66 female, Mage = 18.8yrs; grade of F=42, SO=26, J=10, SE=5), contributed data to this investigation. Participants completed a series of measures, including the Rotter Locus of Control Scale (Rotter, 1966) as well as a self report of how many hours they expected to study per week this semester. Results suggest that there is no correlation between locus of control and hours expected to spend studying (r=0.024; p=0.828). I believe these results come from a narrow operational definition of “study habits”. A lot more goes into studying than just how long you choose to study, and that terminology could seem too broad for some. In future opportunities to refine this study, I would look more into what measures of study habits are more reliable, and how to more effectively relay them to the subject. An interesting result of the data collection was an average scale score of 9.97, meaning that the average subject was more internally leaning. An interesting topic for further research could look into how this score has changed over time and at differing levels of academia, to provide more of a wider scale understanding of how Locus of Control fluctuates.