Relationship between Locus of Control and Moral Judgments among College Students

Abstract

This research assessed the importance of locus of control in explaining the moral judgments people make with reference to moral situations. It was hypothesized that an individual whose locus of control was internal, when presented with moral situations, would make different moral judgments with regards to “right” and “wrong” than an external locus of control individual. 185 college students completed a questionnaire consisting of Rotter's I-E Scale and the Rettig and Pasamanick moral judgment scale. A weak relationship between locus of control and moral judgments was noted. Those moral statements for which locus of control appears relevant have four common characteristics: (1) the student can personally relate to the moral statement, (2) the moral statement contains personal accountability, (3) the immediacy of the moral situation, i.e., whether the individual is directly experiencing or being exposed to the moral situation described in the statement is relevant, and (4) no consensus of society on the Tightness or wrongness of the action is apparent.