Note on locus of control and academic achievement in institutionalized juvenile delinquents

The previously reported relationship between internal locus of control and academic achievement was explored with the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children (Nowicki & Strickland, 1973) and seven measures of academic achievement in a random sample of 45 male residents of seven state learning centers for juvenile delinquents. Correlations between overall locus of control scores and all seven measures were significant, but with intelligence controlled in a partial correlation, locus of control scores were found to add little to the prediction of academic achievement from IQ scores alone. Discussion addressed possible explanations for the current findings in terms of the meaning of the scale for a nonnormal group and the effects of situations on responses of subjects.