A Woman of Substance
TANIA MAJOR: A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE
QUESTION 1: How would you describe Tania Major in terms of locus of control? Why?
Locus of control refers to the generalized belief about the amount of control people have over their own lives (McShane & VonGlinow, 2000, p.191). This concept was originally developed by Julian Rotters in 1954 and is known to be a psychological term. In simpler terms, locus of control refers to an individual's perception about the underlying main causes of events in his/her life (Neill, 2006).
It can be divided into two: Internal locus of control and external locus of control.
When an individual feels that they are in charge of their own destiny, they are said to have internal locus of control. Those who believe that their destiny is controlled by fate or luck are said to have external locus of control.
In this case, the case of Tania Major, she has an internal locus of control and the case study provides this evidence. Instead of “blaming” it on fate or luck, Tania has linked the cause and effect of every phenomenon. She believes that the occurrence of an event has a reason underlying and does not just come about because of luck or fate; instead, an individual can control it.
For example, the case study has the following words: “Tania’s view is that education and health are pivotal in turning around disastrous experience for young people growing up in these communities.” Here Tania has linked the disasters (violence, drug and alcohol abuse) with a reason as to why they have taken place. She believes that the fact that young people did not get education is the reason to why they are involved in such practices.
In addition, as far as her education is concerned, she is still an internal (has internal locus of control). When she was in the community curriculum she received straight As and later when she went to Kowanyama she got Cs and Ds. She does not say this was her luck, but instead considers the fact that the community curriculum had a
QUESTION 1: How would you describe Tania Major in terms of locus of control? Why?
Locus of control refers to the generalized belief about the amount of control people have over their own lives (McShane & VonGlinow, 2000, p.191). This concept was originally developed by Julian Rotters in 1954 and is known to be a psychological term. In simpler terms, locus of control refers to an individual's perception about the underlying main causes of events in his/her life (Neill, 2006).
It can be divided into two: Internal locus of control and external locus of control.
When an individual feels that they are in charge of their own destiny, they are said to have internal locus of control. Those who believe that their destiny is controlled by fate or luck are said to have external locus of control.
In this case, the case of Tania Major, she has an internal locus of control and the case study provides this evidence. Instead of “blaming” it on fate or luck, Tania has linked the cause and effect of every phenomenon. She believes that the occurrence of an event has a reason underlying and does not just come about because of luck or fate; instead, an individual can control it.
For example, the case study has the following words: “Tania’s view is that education and health are pivotal in turning around disastrous experience for young people growing up in these communities.” Here Tania has linked the disasters (violence, drug and alcohol abuse) with a reason as to why they have taken place. She believes that the fact that young people did not get education is the reason to why they are involved in such practices.
In addition, as far as her education is concerned, she is still an internal (has internal locus of control). When she was in the community curriculum she received straight As and later when she went to Kowanyama she got Cs and Ds. She does not say this was her luck, but instead considers the fact that the community curriculum had a
References: IntroCafé. (n.d). Components of self-esteem. Retrieved November 26, 2009 from http://www.12steps.org/founder/Mark/menubord/ESTEEM.htm McShane, S.L. & Von Glinow, M.A. (2000). Organizational behavior. New York. Pitman. Neill, J. (2006). What is locus of control? Retrieved November 27, 2009 from http://wilderdom.com/psychology/loc/LocusOfControlWhatIs.html Perera, K. (2007). What is self esteem? Retrieved November 27, 2009 from http://www.more-selfesteem.com/whatisselfesteem.htm Robbins, S.P., Millet, B. & Waters-Marsh, T. (2004). Organisational behaviour. (4th ed.). Australia. Pearson Prentice Hall.