| Abstract: | The importance of Rotter's concept of locus of control is discussed and its educational implications outlined. A procedure involving relaxation, suggestion, and imagery (RSI) is described and its use in modifying perception of locus of control postulated. This hypothesis is tested in a study with 36 final-year secondary school students who were paired according to their scores on Rotter's I-E (internal-external) scale. Members of each pair were allocated at random to either an experimental group, which experienced three half-hour RSI sessions distributed over a 3-week period, or a control group which spent the same amount of time in discussing ways of modifying locus of control. Immediate posttreatment administration of the I-E scale indicated a definite shift toward increased internal control by subjects of both groups, with the experimental group's scores being significantly better. A further administration of the I-E scale after 12 months confirmed that this superiority had been maintained. |
