THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOCUS OF CONTROL AND DEPRESSION IN IDIOCENTRIC VS ALLOCENTRIC PERSONALITIES

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to assess the generalizability of the relationship between Locus of Control (LOC) and depression in a cross-cultural context. Findings from mainstream psychological research have shown· that an internal LOC is associated with lower levels of depression. However it is argued that the cultural dimension of individualism-collectivism may mediate this relationship between LOC and depression. It was hypothesized that for the idiocentrics (persons holding individualistic values), an internal LOC would be associated with lower levels of depression. However, for the allocentrics (persons holding collectivistic values), there would be no significant difference in depression between internals and externals. In this study, Levenson's (1974) Internal (I), Powerful Others (P) and Chance (C) subscales were used as the measure of LOC. An additional scale was developed in order to tap the dimension of "significant others" (family and friends) in the LOC construct. The idiocentric and allocentric groups were selected based on subjects' scores on the Individualism-Collectivism scale. Further analyses of the relationship between the four domains of LOC and depression were conducted on these two groups. Results for the I, P and C scales supported the hypothesis that personality type (idiocentric vs allocentric) would interact with LOC orientation (internal vs external) in the reported levels of depression. For the S scale this interactive relationship was not found. The possible interpretations of this discrepant finding are discussed and future direction in using this scale is highlighted. The secondary aim of this study was to verify the theory that LOC may be conceptualized differently amongst idiocentrics and allocentrics. This was done by computing correlations between the four domains of LOC in these two groups. The pattern of correlations obtained suggest that for the allocentrics, the internal LOC domain was positively correlated with the three external domains of LOC, whilst for the idiocentrics in the present sample, internal LOC was uncorrelated to external LOC. These results contradict past findings which have consistently shown that internal LOC is negatively correlated to external control. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the possible conceptual difference in the LOC construct across cultures.