Locus of control, self-efficacy, and student performance in an introductory economics course

Abstract

In the Principles of Microeconomics course taught during the Fall Semester 2019, 88 students participated in the completion of two questionnaires and a survey describing their demographic and academic profile. The two questionnaires included the 29 items of the Rotter Locus of Control Scale and the 10 items of the Schwarzer & Jerusalem Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale. The paper is intended to show that locus of control and self-efficacy are two distinct constructs not only in their influence on student performance but also in their student profile interaction. Using the Locus of Control Scale, the class was divided by a median split of 12 into two equal-sized groups. The results show that internals (lower score) had a higher average exam score, had a higher cumulative GPA score, spent more time working, attended classes more often, and scored higher on the self-efficacy scale than externals (higher score). Using the Self-Efficacy Scale and dividing the class by a median split of 3.2 into equal-sized groups, high self-efficacy students had a higher average exam score, took more high school economics courses, and were internally oriented, as compared to the low self-efficacy students. Of the 88 students participating in the survey, 30 students were identified as having both low locus of control and high self-efficacy and 33 students were identified of having both high locus of control and low self-efficacy. The results show that the 30 students had a higher average exam score, had a higher cumulative GPA score, were more of white ethnicity, and took more high school economics courses, as compared to the 33 students. For the whole sample, the correlation coefficient between locus of control and self-efficacy groups is negative and highly significant. The regression results show that the locus of control variable has a negative and significant effect, while the self-efficacy score has a positive and significant effect on the exam average. The adjusted R square value increased markedly with the addition of both locus of control and self-efficacy variables to the regression equation.