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STATUS OF LOCUS OF CONTROL AMONG PRIVATE BANK EMPLOYEES

S. POONGAVANAM

Professor, Department of Management Studies, Ranippettai Engineering College, TK Thangal, Vellore, India

ABSTRACT

Locus of control is seen as spectrum from the individuals who have an internal Locus of control and belief in

personal ability and efforts as major determinants of outcome, to individuals who have an external locus of control believe

in luck, fate, high powers and task difficulty as major determinants of outcomes. It is important to note that people are not

borne as internals or externals. People develop their locus of control as they grow; through learning experience. This paper

deals with the status of Locus of Control among the private sector bank employees.

KEYWORDS: Internals, Externals, Powerful Others, Personal Variables, Job Related Factors

INTRODUCTION

Locus of control (LOC) is a persons perception of the source of his or her fate. That is, the locus of control is the

degree to which people believe they are master of their own fate. Individuals who believe that they control what happens to

them are Internals or internally motivated and have an Internal Locus of Control. Those who believe that outside factors

such as luck or chance controls their fate are Externals or externally motivated and have an External Locus of Control

(Robins 2003). It is said that people who perform better in most employment situations generally possess a moderately

strong internal rather than external locus of control. They tend to be more successful in their careers and earn more money

than their external counterparts. Therefore, the control of outcomes can be perceived as located in ones own behaviours or

skills or as residing in luck or chance (Rotter, 1966).

According to Howell et al, internals are particularly well suited to leadership positions and other jobs requiring

initiative, independent action, complex thinking and high motivation. Internals have also been found to be more satisfied

with their jobs and cope better in stressful situations, and they are more motivated by performance-based reward systems

(Andrisani & Nestel, 1976; Howell & Avolio, 1993; Spector, 1982). Similarly, the internals were found to be interested

more in research and development, introducing new products more quickly than the competition as such, and making more

drastic product line changes. Furthermore, internals tend to be more involved in their jobs, show greater satisfaction, cope

better with stress, and rise to leadership positions more frequently than people who are externals (Anderson, 1997; Lefcourt

et al., 1984). There were many research works in the developed countries on locus of control and its impact on various job

related aspects of employees in different industries. But in India, such research works are limited, particularly in banking

sector. In this scenario, here an attempt has been made to elicit the status of locus of control among private and public

sector bank employees in India.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Nicole (1985) developed new internal-external (I-E) scale for French students. Four criteria were used for the

construction of the scale: causal explanation, orientation of behavioral outcomes, situational contents, and control ideology.

Questionnaires were administered to 200 male and female undergraduates in psychology. A principal-components analysis

International Journal of Economics, Commerce

and Research (IJECR)ISSN 2250-0006

Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mar 2013, 119-128

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120 S. Poongavanam

and a non-metric multidimensional scaling were used. The hypothesis of the unidimensionality of locus of control was

confirmed in this study.

King Albert, Hegland Susan, Galejs Irma (1986) investigated relationships among social/non-social and

positive/negative locus of control. The Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview (SDRCI) and the Stanford

Preschool Internality-Externality Scale (SPIES) were administered to 111 pre-schoolers. Children perceived more control

over positive and social outcomes than over negative and non-social outcomes on both scales. No correlations were

observed between social and non-social locus of control. Positive and negative locus of control was highly correlated on

the SDRCI but not on the SPIES; however, positive/social and negative/nonsocial items were confounded on the SPIES.

Results were interpreted as supporting independence of social/non-social locus of control but not of positive/negative locus

of control for pre-school children.

Browne Beverly, A., & Brown Daniel, J. (1993) studied the lottery gambling behavior of 288 American college

students. Although most students were infrequent gamblers, it is found that student lottery gambling was related to parents

and friends who were lottery gamblers. Students who were frequent lottery gamblers were more likely to participate in

other forms of gambling and to have begun gambling at younger ages than less frequent gamblers. Locusofcontrol was

related to more frequent gambling among parents and only marginally related to more frequent lottery play among

students.

Klein Helen Altman, Tatone Carol, L., & Lindsay Noreen, B. (1989) explored the relationship of life satisfaction

among military wives with the individual attitudinal and personality variables of perceived social support, locusofcontrol,

and temperament. Sixty wivesofnoncommissioned military personnel were selected as participants. Life satisfaction was

found to be related to high levels ofperceived social support from family and from friends, to an internal locusofcontrol,

and to low levels ofemotionality-stress and emotionality-fear.

Lewis Virginia, G., & Borders Dianne, L.(1995) examined ten factors and their relation to the life satisfaction of

single middle-aged professional women. The proposed regression model, which included job satisfaction, gender identity,

locusofcontrol, social support, health, financial resources, leisure-time activities, sexual satisfaction, and regrets regarding

life circumstances, were explored through a questionnaire. Questionnaires were administered to professional women in

higher education institutions and responses were received from 152 women. Performance on life satisfaction was

significantly explained by recourse to the variables of job satisfaction, internal locus of control, regrets regarding life

circumstances, sexual satisfaction, and leisure-time activities.

OBJECTIVES

To identify the level of Locus on Control among bank employees. To identify the extent of variation in Locus of Control from certain clear categories of personal variables and job

related characteristics.

To offer viable suggestions to improve Locus of Control.HYPOTHESES

There is no significant influence of personal variables on Locus of Control. There is no significant influence of job oriented factors on Locus of Control.


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Status of Locus of Control among Private Bank Employees 121

METHODOLOGY

Survey method was adopted for the study and the study used both primary and secondary sources of data. The

study covers four private sector banks in Vellore district. The banks selected for the study are:-HDFC Banks, ICICI Banks

Ltd, Karur Vysya Bank Ltd and Axis Bank.

The sample respondents were selected from private sector banks situated in Vellore district. Random sampling

was adopted to choose the desired sample size. Employees were stratified into Officers and Managers and the respondents

99 (80 officers and 19 managers) were selected from the selected private sector banks. The distribution of selected sample

respondents is given in the following table:

Table 1: Sample Distribution

Sl. No. Name of Bank Sector Manager Officers Total

1 HDFC Bank Private 4 17 21

2 ICICI Bank Ltd. Private 2 27 29

3 Karur Vysya Bank Ltd. Private 10 15 25

4 Axis Bank Private 3 21 24Total 19 80 99

INSTRUMENTATION

In this study the standard tool developed by Terry Pettijohn was used to find out the Locus of Control among the

employees of private sector banks situated in Vellore district. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. In the first part

certain background data were sought in order to identify the personal and job related variables. In the second part each

respondent was asked to respond to the 20 statement pertinent to locus of control, using the Likert type 5 point scoring

system ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.

TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS

The primary data collected from randomly selected public and private sector employees were subjected to

statistical analysis from descriptive to non-parametric Kruskal Wallis ANOVA. Apart from the above two tests, parametric

tests such as One-Way ANOVA for comparing mean perception scores of more than two groups and t-test for comparing

the mean perception scores between private and public sector employees are also used in the present study.

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY TEST

The status of locus of control among bank employees was measured using 20 statements in the questionnaire. The

respondents were asked to indicate their degree of agreement with each statement, using a 5-point Likert scale ranging

from 1 for strongly disagree to 5 for strongly agree and 2 for disagree, 3 for no opinion (neither agree nor

disagree) and 4 for agree in between. The reliability (internal consistency) of the scale items measuring locus of

control is first examined with Cronbachs alpha reliability coefficient. Cronbachs alpha ranges from zero to one, with

value zero indicating complete unreliability and value one indicating perfect reliability. Each items correlation with

total scores as well as alpha if deleted is also calculated in order to identify the consistency of each item in the

measurement scale. Further, Cronbachs alpha reliability coefficient of the locus of control measurement scale items is

0.9290 and near to one, revealing that there has been high degree of internal consistency among 20 items in the scale

measuring locus of control of bank employees. Hence, it is found that the scale items measuring locus of control

measurement are highly reliable, internally consistent and the collected data can be used for subsequent analysis. To


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122 S. Poongavanam

examine the validity and dimensionality in the locus of control, principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation

is applied.

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

The scores of items for each factor are averaged and average scores are used in the empirical analysis for findingsthe status of locus of control among bank employees on the whole as well as by sectors and also for identifying the

influence of personal and job characteristics variables on the locus of control. The results of the analysis are tabulated and

discussed in detail in the following part of this chapter. The level of Internality, Externality chance, and Externality

powerful others of locus of control among Public, Private and All Bank employees, is evaluated based on the respondents

mean perception scores, which are presented in Table 4.

Table 2: Status of Locus of Control among Bank Employees

Dimensions of Locus of Control N Mean SD Z Value

Private Sector Banks

Internality 99 3.57 0.74 7.64***

Externality Chance 99 3.67 0.67 9.98***Externality Powerful Others 99 3.82 0.81 10.09***

Z Table Value @ 10% = 1.64, @5% = 1.96 and @1% = 2.57

***Significant at 1% level.

From table, it can be observed that the mean scores vary from 3.57 to 3.82 for private sector bank employees. The

mean score is found to be beyond 3, the value for neutral (neither agree nor disagree level) for all dimensions of locus of

control. Z values are calculated for ascertaining the significance of the difference between observed mean score and

hypothetical value, 3. It is evident that all Z values are significant highly at 1 per cent level. From the significant Z values,

and the mean score above 3, it is confirmed that there exists internality, chance externality and powerful other externality

of locus of control private bank employees.

EFFECT OF PERSONAL-JOB CHARACTERISTICS ON LOC PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS

The influence of personal characteristics and job oriented factors on locus of control tendencies due to internality,

chance externality and powerful other externality factors among private sector bank employees is tested in this section.

Table 3 depicts results of the analysis comparing the internality of the locus of control among Private sector bank

employees across categories by personal characteristics. Perusal of the table shows that the mean perception is above 3,

the value for neutral level as the mean scores ranges from 3.36 to 3.80 across categories. Perusal of the mean scores further

reveals that the level of internality of the locus of control is higher among younger (aged up to 25 years Mean = 3.78),

female (Mean = 3.74), unmarried (Mean = 3.67), post-graduate (Mean = 3.68) employees and also among employees from

families with 4-6 (Mean = 3.80) and above 6 (Mean = 3.78) dependents.

Table 3: Effect of Personal Variables on Locus of Control Internality for Private Sector Bank Employees

Personal Variables N Mean Rank Sum Kruskal- Wallis H P Value

Age (Years)

Up to 25 22 3.78 1291.0

26 - 35 40 3.48 1866.5 3.90 0.27

36 - 45 20 3.68 1065.5

Above 45 17 3.39 727.0

SexMale 75 3.52 3590.0 1.71 0.19

Female 24 3.74 1360.0

Marital statusMarried 46 3.46 2104.5 1.89 0.17

Unmarried 53 3.67 2845.5


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Table 3: Contd.,

Education

Graduate 49 3.51 2316.5

Post Graduate 35 3.68 1915.5 1.48 0.48

Higher to PG 15 3.53 718.0

Family Size

Up to 3 members 76 3.50 3599.5

4 6 members 23 3.80 1350.5 2.77* 0.10

Above 6 members 22 3.78 1291.0Source: Primary Data. *Significant at 10% Level

However, the KW H value is significant only for respondent categories by family size (H = 2.77, p < 0.10). So,

it is found that internality of locus of control among private sector bank employees is influenced by family size and

independent of sex, marital status, and education.

Table 4: Effect of Job Oriented Factors on Locus of Control Internality for Private Sector Bank Employees

Job Related Factors N Mean Rank Sum Kruskal- Wallis H P Value

DesignationManagers 19 3.93 1214.0 5.52** 0.02

Officers 80 3.48 3736.0

Monthly IncomeUp to Rs.20000 50 3.52 2407.5Rs.20000-30000 35 3.67 1887.5 1.04 0.59

Above Rs.30000 14 3.51 655.0

Experience in

Present Position

Up to 5 Years 41 3.57 2074.5

6 - 10 Years 30 3.53 1427.5 0.33 0.85

11 - 15 Years 28 3.62 1448.0

> 15 Years 30 3.51 1457.0

Bank Experience

Up to 5 Years 12 3.78 695.5

6 - 10 Years 34 3.52 1602.5 1.45 0.69

11 - 15 Years 23 3.62 1195.0

> 15 Years 22 3.76 1230.0

Nature of work

Mutual Fund 36 3.58 1840.5

Insurance 41 3.46 1879.5 1.85 0.40

Banking 19 3.93 1214.0

Source: Primary Data. **Significant at 5% Level.

Table 4 presents the results KW-test statistic for the association between job oriented variables and internality of

locus of control among private sector bank employees. According to table, the level of internality of the locus of control

differ between managers and officers working in private banks (H = 5.52, p < 0.05).

On the other hand, the above locus of control does not differ by income, experience in present position,

experience in bank and nature of work. The above picture has revealed that the level of internality of the locus of control

among private sector bank employees differ significantly between managers and officers, but it is unrelated to their

income, experience in present position, bank experience and nature of work.

The relationship between personal characteristics on chance externality of the locus of control among privatesector bank employees is analyzed and the results of the analysis are presented in Table 5.

An examination of the table shows that the chance externality of the locus of control is almost similar for

respondent categories by age, sex and family size as the H value is very small and insignificant.

The level of chance externality of the LOC is found to be more among unmarried (Mean = 3.76) and higher

educated (Mean = 3.84) employees. But, the above differences are likely due to sampling error as KW test statistic H

values are insignificant for marital status and education also.


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Table 5: Effect of Personal Variables on Locus of Control Externality (Chance) for Private Sector Bank Employees


Age

(Years)

Up to 25 22 3.70 1164.5

26 - 35 40 3.70 2043.0 0.67 0.88

36 - 45 20 3.63 945.5

Above 45 17 3.61 797.0

SexMale 75 3.65 3689.0 0.25 0.62

Female 24 3.73 1261.0

Marital

Status

Married 46 3.57 2072.0 2.57 0.11

Unmarried 53 3.76 2878.0

Education

Graduate 49 3.64 2372.5

Post Graduate 35 3.64 1746.0 0.69 0.71

Higher to PG 15 3.84 831.5

Family

Size

Up to 3 members 76 3.64 3738.0

4 6 members 23 3.76 1212.0 0.27 0.61

Above 6 members 22 3.70 1164.5

Source: Primary Data

So, overall from the inferences of the above results, it is found that the level of chance externality of the locus ofcontrol is not influenced by personal characteristics in the case of private sector employees. Table 4.14 presents the results

pertaining to the status of relationship between job related factors and chance externality of the locus of control among

private sector bank employees.

Table 6: Effect of Job Oriented Factors on Locus of Control Externality(Chance) for Private Sector Bank

Employees


DesignationManagers 19 3.78 1029.0 0.50 0.48

Officers 80 3.64 3921.0

Monthly Income

Up to Rs.20000 50 3.62 2433.5

Rs.20000-30000 35 3.82 1935.0 2.52 0.28Above Rs.30000 14 3.49 581.5

Experience in Present

Position

Up to 5 Years 41 3.75 2227.5

6 - 10 Years 30 3.66 1452.5 1.76 0.41

11 - 15 Years 28 3.58 1270.0

> 15 Years 30 3.75 1632.0

Bank Experience

Up to 5 Years 12 3.77 658.5

6 - 10 Years 34 3.66 1650.5 2.20 0.53

11 - 15 Years 23 3.53 1009.0

> 15 Years 22 3.82 1249.5

Nature of work

Mutual Fund 36 3.42 1418.0

Insurance 41 3.80 2282.5 7.79** 0.02

Banking 19 3.78 1029.0

Source: Primary Data. **Significant at 5% Level

It can be observed from table that there is no significant difference in the level of chance externality of the locus

of control between managers and officers as mean scores are almost same (H is very small at 0.50). But it is found to be

higher among private sector bank employees with monthly income between Rs.20000-30000 (Mean = 3.82), above 15

years of experience in the present position (Mean = 3.75) as well as in the bank (Mean = 3.82). It can also be observed that

the level of chance externality of the LOC among the private bank employees with mutual fund as nature of work (Mean =

3.42) is less than that of their other two counterparts. At the same time H value is significant only for nature of work (H =

7.79, p < 0.05). This in turn have revealed that the level of chance externality of locus of control among private sector

bank employees is independent of their designation, income, experience in present position, experience in bank, but it


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differ significantly by nature of work. The level of powerful other externality of the locus of control is compared across

categories by age, sex, marital status, education and family size for private sector bank employees and the results of the

comparative analysis are presented in Table 7. It can be observed from table that the powerful other externality of the

locus of control is almost similar between male and female employees in private sector banks (Mean = 3.80 & 3.89 and H

value = 0.57). But, it seems that the powerful other externality of the locus of control is more for employees aged between

26 35 years (Mean = 3.90), post graduates (Mean = 3.95) and for employee groups with dependent of 4-6 members

(Mean = 4.00). Though there seems to be difference in the level of locus of control due to powerful other external factors

across categories by age, marital status, education and family size, the differences are likely due to chance (sampling error)

as the obtained H values for the above variables are insignificant statistically.

Table 7: Effect of Personal Variables on Locus of Control Externality (Powerful Others) for Private Sector Bank

Employees


Age (Years)

Up to 25 22 3.74 1053.0

26 35 40 3.90 2111.5 0.65 0.88

36 45 20 3.76 956.5

Above 45 17 3.79 829.0

SexMale 75 3.80 3658.0 0.57 0.45

Female 24 3.89 1292.0

Marital StatusMarried 46 3.76 2201.0 0.49 0.48

Unmarried 53 3.87 2749.0

Education

Graduate 49 3.77 2349.0

Post Graduate 35 3.95 1937.0 2.09 0.35

Higher to PG 15 3.67 664.0

Family Size

Up to 3 members 76 3.76 3625.5

4 6 members 23 4.00 1324.5 2.12 0.15

Above 6 members 22 3.74 1053.0


So, it is found that there is no relationship between personal characteristics and the level of powerful other

externality of the locus of control of the private sector bank employees. The results of the analysis comparing the level of

locus of control tendencies towards powerful other externals across categories by job characteristics of private sector bank

employees are depicted in Table 8

Table 8: Effect of Job Oriented Factors on Locus of Control Externality (Powerful Others) for Private Sector Bank

Employees


DesignationManagers 19 3.93 1024.5 0.44 0.51

Officers 80 3.79 3925.5

Monthly Income

Up to Rs.20000 50 3.80 2530.5

Rs.20000-30000 35 3.89 1789.5 0.51 0.78

Above Rs.30000 14 3.71 630.0

Experience in Present

Position

Up to 5 Years 41 3.91 2186.0

6 - 10 Years 30 3.88 1597.5 3.33 0.19

11 - 15 Years 28 3.61 1166.5

> 15 Years 30 3.93 1633.5

Bank Experience

Up to 5 Years 12 4.06 709.5

6 - 10 Years 34 3.85 1695.5 4.99 0.17

11 - 15 Years 23 3.49 911.5

> 15 Years 22 3.92 1144.0

Nature of work

Mutual Fund 36 3.56 1524.0

Insurance 41 3.99 2282.0 4.31 0.12

Banking 19 3.93 1024.5



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2-41-1362675115-15.Status of locus.full