Internal and external locus of control in relation to beliefs in free will and determinism

Abstract

Responses of 85 male and 56 female undergraduates to a scale designed to measure beliefs in free will or determinism were correlated with responses to an internal/external locus of control questionnare. Analysis gave only a low-order correlation between scores on the scales, and factor analysis led to the conclusion that beliefs in free will or determinism are not necessarily related to beliefs in internal or external locus of control. Explanations were offered for why those who believe in free will might nevertheless believe in many external constraints upon behaviors and why determinists might believe in the so-called internal locus of control.