Do you feel that you have control over the events in your life? Or do you feel that you’re buffeted by forces beyond your control? If you believe that your choices, actions, and behaviors are the deciding factor in how your life unfolds, you’re said to have an “internal locus of control.” But if you believe that your life is decided by factors outside your control, you’re considered to have an “external locus of control.”
Of course, most people have a combination of both perceptions—they see that they have free will and abilities, but also that “luck” and the actions of others have a great influence on their lives. One danger of believing too strongly that your life is run by outside factors is when things don’t go well, you can attribute blame to others and abdicate responsibility, such as blaming a teacher for a bad grade on a paper.
