The 5 Locus-of-Control Bands

Rotter’s construct asks one question: when something happens, was it <b>you</b> or was it <b>the world</b>? An internal locus predicts initiative — and also self-blame. An external one predicts calm — and also resignation. <b>Neither pole is the good one</b>, and an external reading is sometimes simply an accurate description of your circumstances.

Strongly internalYou read almost everything that happens to you as the product of your own choices.Internal-leaningYou mostly credit your own actions, while allowing that luck and other people play a part.BalancedYou hold both readings at once — sometimes it’s you, sometimes it’s the world.External-leaningYou tend to read outcomes as driven by luck, timing and other people more than by you.Strongly externalYou strongly experience your life as shaped by forces outside your control.