Effects of personality-situation locus of control congruence

The effects of combining personality and situation differences in locus of control on cheating behavior were tested. Eighty college students (36 male and 44 female) were classified as having relatively high internal or external locus of control beliefs using Rotter's Internal-External Scale. In subsequent individually conducted sessions, subjects were given the opportunity to falsely report success (i.e., to cheat) when success was objectively impossible and when the outcome was described as due to either skill or chance. A significant (p less than .001) Personality X Situation locus of control interaction found cheating more prevalent in congruent personality-situation combinations (internal-skill and external-chance) than in incongruent combinations (internal-chance and external-skill). Additional significant effects involving task persistence and postoperformance effort ratings suggested accounting for the results in an achievement motivational framework. As the Personality X Situation Locus of control interaction accounted for a large proportion of the variance, the results were considered to be supportive of an interactionist position regarding behavior prediction.