Origins of generalized control expectancies: reported child stress and observed maternal control and warmth

The relations among reported stressful events, maternal control and warmth, and children's locus of control of reinforcement were investigated. Fifty-five 2nd-grade. U.S. children completed the Children's Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, and their mothers completed a modified form of Coddington's Life Events Scale for their child. Mother and child also were videotaped while they worked together on three puzzles. The results indicated that, compared with children with external control expectancies, children with internal control expectancies had experienced less stress in their lives. Furthermore, when observed interacting with their children, mothers of children with internal control expectancies were rated as displaying less control and more warmth than mothers of children with external control expectancies. The findings generally are consistent with predictions based on Rotter's social learning theory for the development of individual differences in generalized control expectancies.