a scale that is used to provide information regarding an individual’s feelings about causality of events. Individuals who measure high on internal locus of control assume causality is primarily under their control; those who measure high on external locus of control assume causality is primarily outside of their control. Those with high internal measures tend to take more responsibility for and control of their learning, resulting in better performance (e.g., on academic tasks). In contrast, those with high external measures have been shown to take less responsibility, resulting in poorer performance on tasks. [Julian Rotter]