Task Independence and Locus of Control Orientation in Children

Summary

A new measure of locus of control orientation, the Gruen-Korte-Stephens IE Scale, was administered to 48 male and female second graders. These subjects were then tested for the amount of help-seeking and imitation in which they would engage in performing tasks. The chief findings, in addition to sex differences in help-seeking, were that internal males imitated an experimenter's behavior more than external males when the behavior was instrumental in task performance, but less when the behavior was irrelevant to the task. The findings for females were unclear, and several alternative explanations were discussed.