9/3/2023 0 Comments Locus of controlOne possibility is fueling a just world fallacy: if one thinks that outcomes are generally internally controlled, then a corollary is when bad things happen to someone or they fail at something, it was primarily their fault rather than them being a victim of circumstance. Further, the internal view may have some costs. Yet it is generally better not to believe falsehoods. What is true and what is prudentially rational seem to be diverging, such that it might be in your interests not to know about the evidence in support of an external locus of control view, as deluding yourself about an internal locus of control view would lead to your greater success. If it is the case that folks with an internal locus of control succeed more, yet also the external view being generally closer to the truth of the matter, this is unfortunate. Even if we want to look at narrower questions, like "What has made me turn out the way I am, versus all the other people who were likewise born in rich countries in comfortable circumstances?" It is still unclear whether the locus of control resides within our will: perhaps a combination of our IQ, height, gender, race, risk of mental illness and so on will still do the bulk of the explanatory work.(4) Bringing the true and the prudentially rational together again So the answer to 'What determined how I turned out, compared to everyone else on the planet?', the answer surely has to by primarily about external factors, and our internal drive or will is relegated a long way down the list. Even after this we know various predictors, similarly outside (or mostly outside) of our control, that exert their effects on how our lives turn out: IQ is one, but we could throw in personality traits, mental health, height, attractiveness, etc. On cursory examination the contours of how our lives are turned out are set by factors outside our control, merely by where we are born and who our parents are. The precise determinants of IQ remain controversial, it is known to be highly heritable, and the 'non-genetic' factors of IQ proposed (early childhood environment, intra-uterine environment, etc.) are similarly outside one's locus of control. One robust predictor of success (grades in school, job performance, income, and so on) is IQ.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |