Locus of control, Aggression and General health among Adolescents: A Contemporary Study

Abstract

Adolescence is a period of full of events, where the question of control over events is a matter of great concern. Our lives are increasingly shaped by either large impersonal bureaucracies or at the mercy of events or conditions beyond our immediate control. Psychologists have identified two major sources of control (i) internal (i.e. when one has control over one’s life events) (ii) external (i.e. fate/luck is responsible for events).This cognitive appraisal of an event has a marked impact on psychological construct i.e. aggression and general health of adolescents. The main objective of the current study was to explore the relationship among locus of control (LOC), degree of aggression and status of general health of adolescents in the contemporary Indian society. A purposive sample of 200 adolescents (both male and female) was drawn. The present findings indicate that now-a-days teenagers exhibit high external LOC, average level of aggression and enjoying normal general health. The results further highlight the fact that more the aggression better is the health. Correlation between LOC and aggression though positive is insignificant.