Locus of evaluation and adjustment to experimentally induced failure and success among disabled adolescents

Forty-eight adolescents with a physical, intellectual or emotional disability participated in this study, while enrolled in a work adjustment program. A variable designated as "locus of evaluation" was hypothesized to have a significant effect upon how subjects regarded themselves and how experimentally induced success or failure feedback might change this level of regard. The experimental procedure, designed as an analogue to the psychological stress of a disabling condition, involved simulated feedback regarding one's competence relative to an immediate social reference group. Subjects who utilized a locus of evaluation based upon social acceptance and social status were hypothesized to show greater sensitivity to experimentally induced feedback and less self-regard than subjects who less frequently endorsed such locus of evaluation statements. The hypotheses were partially confirmed. Subjects who utilized standards based upon social acceptance and social status (1) revealed lower self-regard, (2) did not consistently raise or lower self-regard after experimentally induced success or failure feedback, (3) revealed a greater shift in self-regard, in either a positive or negative direction after such feedback, compared to subjects who endorsed extrinsically phrased locus of evaluation statements less frequently.