Investigating the relationship between profile factors and locus of control of selected college students in Camarines Norte, Philippines

Abstract

Numerous studies have revealed that locus of control is among the significant factors that contributed to the mental health challenges faced by individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the theory on locus of control, it is the degree to which a person feels he has control over events of his life, which can be internal or external. Filipinos have been known to adhere to a fatalistic attitude, which can be construed as a form of external locus of control. This study sought to discover the proportion of those who possess internal or external locus of control and the profile factors that could influence this. 226 college students from various public and private colleges in Camarines Norte, Philippines volunteered to take part in this study. The Locus of Control instrument based on Rotter was used to assess the locus of control of the respondents. When grouped according to sex, parental status and romantic status, majority of the respondents possess internal locus of control. However, percentage-wise, there are more males who have internal locus of control than females, there are more respondents without romantic involvement who possess internal locus of control than those with romantic involvement and those with only one surviving parent possess the most internal locus of control followed by those with parents who are living together and lastly by those whose parents are separated. Overall, 137 respondents or 60.62% possess internal locus of control and 89 or 39.38% have external locus of control. Chi square computations between locus of control and sex, parental status and romantic status yielded no significant relationships between these variables.