Personal Development and Locus of Control

Posted on August 6, 2007
Filed Under personal development

Martin Seligman, in the 60’s, did rather cruel experiments on dogs. He exposed them to a tone and a brief electrical shock from which they were unable to escape - restraining the dog in a harness during the learning phase. The idea, then, was that after the dog learned this, the dog would feel fear on the presentation of a tone, and would then run away or do some other behavior. (Step 1 dog associates sound of tone with shock.) In Step 2, they put the conditioned dog into a shuttlebox, which consists of a low fence dividing a box into two compartments. The dog could easily see over the fence, and easily jump over it . Then they presented the tone. Surprisingly, nothing happened. (They were expecting the dog to jump over the fence, to avoid the shock.) Then, they decided to shock the conditioned dog, and again nothing happened! The dog just lay there!(the dog had learned helplessness). When they put a nonconditioned dog into the shuttlebox, who never experienced inescapable shock, the dog, as soon as he heard the tone and felt the shock, jumped over the barrier (quickly learning that the tone preceded the shock and jumped the barrier to avoid the shock).

Learned helplessness is when a human being or an animal has learned to believe that it is helpless in a particular situation. In terms of locus of control, someone with learned helplessness has an external locus of control. That is, they believe control is out of their hands. (People with an internal locus of control believe that they control their own destiny. They also believe that their own experiences are controlled by their own skill or efforts.)

I would contend that one of the major steps personal development allows us to take, is to move from an external locus of control to an internal one. One of the more popular concepts in personal development nowadays is the Law of Attraction. The key assumption with the Law of Attraction is that one can control or influence one’s destiny. This requires an internal locus of control.

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Comments

3 Responses to “Personal Development and Locus of Control”

Personal Life Coaching on July 15th, 2008 1:25 am

It is our attitude towards the situation that makes us feel helpless.
Life Coach Sydney on July 16th, 2008 3:37 am

I agree. Being in control with our lives is a stepping stone for personal development.
Spiritual Healing Melbourne on July 19th, 2008 12:29 am

Most people give up when they feel stuck, when they feel helpless and confused with their lives. This factors hinders one to fulfill his/her life’s goals.