Locus of control among psychiatric disability petitioners

Administered the Rotter I-E scale to 135 psychiatric disability petitioners in connection with their clinical evaluation for the Social Security Administration. Internal vs. External Locus of Control (I-E), Personal Locus of Control (PLC) subscale, and Sociopolitical Locus of Control (SLC) subscale scores were analyzed with respect to diagnostic groups. While no significant differences were found among the diagnostic groups for I-E or PLC subscale scores, SLC subscale scores were significantly different (p less than .02), with externality inversely related to degree of impairment. The report concludes that the disability petitioners, especially the less impaired, see themselves in adversarial relationships with sociopolitical forces, i.e., the Social Security Administration, with this attitude reflected in the SLC subscale scores.