A Study Of Locus Of Control And Self–Esteem Of School Teachers

Abstract

The quality, competence, and character of teachers are the most important factors that influence the quality of education. Locus of control is an individual’s perception of his control over the environment. Internal Locus of control refers to the belief that an individual’s ability, behavior, and efforts control the outcome of events. External Locus of control refers to the belief that the outcome of events is not controlled by the individual’s ability, behavior, or efforts but by some outside factors like luck, fate, and significant others. The cognitive system that represents a person’s view of himself or the pattern of traits by which he describes himself is called self–esteem. Locus of control and self–esteem both influence role performance. The sample for this descriptive survey was 565 school teachers selected randomly. The tools used were the Locus of control scale by Hasnain and Joshi. The self-esteem inventory was prepared by the researcher in Marathi. It is concluded that there is a marked positive correlation between locus of control and self–esteem. Teachers with internal locus of control differ significantly from teachers with external locus of control in their self–esteem.