Assessment of locus of control: Situational specificity in the sexual context

Abstract

Past research indicates that one's beliefs about the control of rewards and aversive events critically affect the quality of one's life. The concept of locus of control (LC) has been a focal point for this prior work. Few studies have examined the explanatory power of the LC concept in sexual (excluding reproductive) contexts. Problematic for past work has been the use of LC measures not developed specifically for sex research. The present study discusses methodological and conceptual issues involved in assessing LC, reports on the development of an LC measure relevant to the sexual dyad (the DSR), and compares the DSR to a general LC measure not developed expressly for sex research (the NSLC). The DSR was found to (a) have satisfactory reliability and validity, (b) correlate with sexual dyadic variables (e.g., frequency of orgasm, dyadic sexual satisfaction) but not monadic variables (e.g., masturbation frequency, masturbation attitudes), and (c) have significantly larger correlations with dyadic sexual variables than has the NSLC. Accordingly, when LC is assessed in a sexual context, LC scale items should incorporate relevant features of the sexual situation. Lastly, expected sex differences in perceptions of control were not found. Possible reasons for this result are discussed.