Choice or Chance ─ Understanding Your Locus of Control and Why It Matters

Locus of Control (LOC) is a phrase used by psychologists to describe a widely effective way of assessing an individual’s potential for success—personal, social, and financial. LOC measures how much you believe what happens to you is the result of your own actions or, conversely, of forces and circumstances beyond your control. People who accept that they are largely in control of their lives tend to do better than those who feel that fate or external factors rule what they do, especially in novel and difficult situations.

This book explains LOC research, until now mainly confined to academic circles, in terms easily understandable to the average person. The author, a clinical psychologist who has spent nearly five decades investigating and writing about LOC, helps the reader to explore his or her own locus of control and what those orientations might mean for how life is lived. He then discusses the extensively documented relationship between LOC and academic achievement, personal and social adjustment, health, and financial success. He also describes how the Locus of Control is learned and demonstrates ways in which it can be changed to yield higher levels of achievement, success, personal satisfaction, and better interactions with others.

Dr. Nowicki notes that there has been an increasing tendency among Americans to feel as though their lives are slipping out of their control, and he identifies ways to reverse this negative trend.

Stephen Nowicki is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Emory University. He is the author of more than 350 publications and presentations and the coauthor of six books includingWill I Ever Fit In? How to Master the Tools of Adult Social Relationships (with Marshall Duke) andStarting Kids Off Right: How to Raise Confident Children Who Can Make Friends and Build Healthy Relationships (with Marshall Duke and Amy van Buren). During his forty years of teaching at Emory University in Atlanta, Dr. Nowicki has served as director of clinical training, head of the Psychological Center, and head of the Counseling Center. He is the recipient of numerous awards, a founding fellow of the American Psychological Society, and a consultant to a variety of businesses, organizations, and public and private educational programs. He maintains an active clinical practice. In connection with his previous books, he has appeared on the CBSGood Morning, NBC’s Today Show Weekend, NPR, and other radio programs.