Description

The Work Locus of Control Scale (WLOC) is a psychometric tool developed to assess individuals’ beliefs regarding the control they have over their work environment. The Work Locus of Control examines whether individuals perceive their professional successes and failures as determined by their own actions (internal locus of control) or by external factors such as luck, working conditions, or the decisions of others (external locus of control).

Purpose

The purpose of the Work Locus of Control Scale is to measure employees’ tendency to attribute the outcomes of their professional life either to their own actions and abilities or to external factors. This measurement can help human resource professionals, psychologists, and researchers better understand employees’ attitudes and perceptions, and develop interventions that promote professional growth and job satisfaction.

Analysis

The WLOC includes a series of statements to which employees are asked to respond using a Likert scale (e.g., from 1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree). These statements are designed to evaluate internal and external locus of control in relation to the work environment.
The analysis of the results includes:
Score Calculation: Responses are summed to calculate total scores for internal and external locus of control.
Score Interpretation: Higher scores on the internal locus of control indicate that employees believe their actions significantly affect professional outcomes. Higher scores on the external locus of control suggest that employees attribute professional outcomes to external factors.
Statistical Analysis: Further analysis may be conducted to explore relationships between work locus of control and other factors, such as job performance, job satisfaction, burnout, and organizational commitment.

Standardization

The standardization of the WLOC is conducted through studies on large and diverse samples of employees to establish normative data and ensure the tool’s reliability and validity. Scores are standardized to allow for reliable comparisons of results across different populations and professional fields.

References

Spector, P. E. (1988). “Development of the Work Locus of Control Scale.” Journal of Occupational Psychology, 61(4), 335–340.
Rotter, J. B. (1966). “Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.” Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80(1), 1–28.
Ng, T. W., Sorensen, K. L., & Eby, L. T. (2006). “Locus of control at work: A meta-analysis.” Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 27(8), 1057–1087.
Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2001). “Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis.” Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 80.
Blau, G. (1993). “Testing the relationship of locus of control to different performance dimensions.” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 66(2), 125–138.