Journal Press India^®

Author Details ( * ) denotes Corresponding author

Locus of Control (LOC) concept was evolved from social learning theory of personality in the form of reinforcement. Rotter coined the term in relation to learned behavior and the reinforcement of such behavior. In the light of the phenomenon, individuals come to hold beliefs about the cause of their actions, and these beliefs then guide their attitudes and behavior for future actions. Job stress is inability to cope with the pressures of the job. Job stress may cost 10% to the GDP of any economy. Apart from the financial costs, the employee may suffer from many physiological and psychological diseases. One of the major sources of job stress was found to be the personality of the individual. This study attempts to analyse the impact of locus of control on job stress. The researchers attempt to assess whether internal or external locus of control relates to job stress of the employees. 100 employees were surveyed in the study. Job Stress and Locus of Control Questionnaires were administrated to the employees. The analysis revealed that the Indian employees are facing high job stress. It was found that employees who have internal locus of control are less stressed by their jobs and more satisfied with the organization while the external locus of control employees are high on stress and more dissatisfied with their jobs. The study suggests that while designing any stress management programme, management should give due consideration to the variable of Locus of Control.

Keywords

Locus of Control (LOC), Job Stress, Sources of Stress, Internal Locus

1. Comish, R. & Swindle, B. (1994). Managing stress in the workplace, Journal of independent studies and research, 26, 130-142.
2. Cooper, C. L. & Marshall, J. (1976), Occupational sources of stress: a review of the literature relating to coronary heart disease and mental ill health, Journal of occupational psychology, 49, 12.
3. Daniels, Kevin, Guppy, Andrew (1994). Occupational Stress, Social Support, Job Control, and Psychological Well-Being, Journal of Human Relations, 47, 1523- 1544.
4. Erkutlu, H. V. & Chafra, J. (2006), Relationship between leadership power base and job stress of subordinates: example from boutique hotels, Management Research News, 29, 285-297.
5. Glazer, S., Stetz, T. A., & Izso, L. (2004). Effects of personality on subjective job stress: A cultural analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 645-658.
6. Hair, Joseph F., Ronald L. Tatham, Rolph E. Anderson and William Black (1998), Multivariate Data Analysis. London: Prentice-Hall International.
7. Lu, L., Cooper, C. L., Kao, S.-F., Zhou, Y. (2003), Work stress, control beliefs and wellbeing in Greater China An exploration of sub-cultural differences between the PRC and Taiwan, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18, 479-510.
8. Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement, Psychotogtcat Monographs, 80, 609).
9. Schmitz, N., Neumann, W., Oppermann, R. (2000). Stress, burnout and locus of control in German nurses, International Journal of Nursing Studies, 37, 95-99.
10. Sundaresh, N. (2010). The Correlation between Work Locus of Control And Occupational Stress Among Team Leaders Working In It Companies In Bangalore. Unpublished M.Phil Dissertation, Centre of Research, Christ University, Bangalore.