Teacher Stress as Related to Locus of Control, Sex, and Age

Abstract

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that a feeling of being in control will make potentially stressful environmental events less so. Subjects were practicing teachers about whom little was known regarding the relationship between locus of control and stress. They responded to the Teacher Locus of Control Scale and the Teacher Occupational Stress Factor Questionnaire. Multivariate and bivariate analyses of their responses showed that locus of control was related to teacher stress. As hypothesized, teachers who felt that they were in control reported less stress in their world of work than did those who did not feel influential in their educational environment. Neither sex nor age moderated this relationship.