Locus of control and three types of aggression

Abstract

The literature suggests external locus of control to be related to aggression. The present study investigated whether this is equally true of different types of aggression (physical, verbal, and indirect) and in both sexes. A total of 722 adolescents, 11 and 15 years of age from two nations, Finland and Italy (n = 722), filled in the Locus of Control Scale for Children [Nowicki and Strickland (1973): Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 40:148–154] and the Direct and Indirect Aggression Scales [Björkqvist et al. (1992b): Åbo Akademi University]. In the case of boys, all three kinds of aggression correlated significantly with external locus of control. In the case of girls, no significant relationship between aggression and locus of control was found. When both sexes were aggregated in the analysis, external locus of control correlated significantly with all three types of aggression, but significantly higher with physical than with indirect aggression. Aggr. Behav. 25:61–65, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.