Choice or Chance: Understanding Your Locus of Control and Why It Matters - Paperback

by Stephen Nowicki (Author)

How Much Do You Believe That What Happens to You Is the Result of Your Own Actions-or Do Circumstances Beyond Your Control Largely Determine Your Fate? Locus of Control (LOC) is a phrase used by psychologists to describe a widely effective way of assessing an individual's potential for success-personal, social, and financial.LOC measures how much you believe what happens to you is the result of your own actions or, conversely, of forces and circumstances beyond your control. People who accept that they are largely in control of their lives tend to do better than those who feel that fate or external factors rule what they do, especially in novel and difficult situations. This book explains LOC research, until now mainly confined to academic circles, in terms easily understandable to the average person. The author, a clinical psychologist who has spent nearly five decades investigating and writing about LOC, helps the reader to explore his or her own locus of control and what those orientations might mean for how life is lived. He discusses the extensively documented relationship between LOC and academic achievement, personal and social adjustment, health, and financial success. Dr. Nowicki notes that there has been an increasing tendency among Americans to feel as though their lives are slipping out of their control, and he identifies ways to reverse this negative trend. He describes how the Locus of Control is learned and demonstrates ways in which it can be changed to yield higher levels of achievement, success, personal satisfaction, and better interactions with others.

Author Biography

Stephen Nowicki is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Emory University in Atlanta. During his forty years of teaching there, Dr. Nowicki has served as director of clinical training, head of the Psychological Center, and head of the Counseling Center. The recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Nowicki maintains an active clinical practice and is a founding fellow of the American Psychological Society, and a consultant to a variety of businesses, organizations, and public and private educational programs. He is the author of more than 350 publications and presentations, the coauthor of six books, and has appeared on CBS This Morning, NBC's Weekend Today, NPR, and other programs.