Locus of Control in Health and Development: A Psychological Study of Health Education Objectives
Abstract
Locus of control is a tendency to believe that important outcomes in life are either within one’s own control, or determined by external factors such as fate, chance, or powerful others. If this is a simple dimension (that is, internal versus external), it raises a problem for health education. Self-determination and responsibility are vital objectives in health education, reliance on fate and chance are discouraged, but the ‘powerful others’, in the shape of health professionals, need increased credibility. The resolution of this paradox is the subject of this paper.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Health and Wellbeing Research
Behavioral Health and Interventions
Health Education and Validation
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Routledge eBooks
- Pages
- 77–82
- Publication date
- 26 February 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter