Assessment of locus of control: Situational specificity in the sexual context

Past research indicates that one's beliefs about the control of rewards and aversive events critically affect the quality of one's life. The concept of locus of control (LC) has been a focal point for this prior work. Few studies have examined the explanatory power of the LC concept in sexual (excluding reproductive) contexts. Problematic for past work has been the use of LC measures not developed specifically for sex research. The present study discusses methodological and conceptual issues involved in assessing LC, reports on the development of an LC measure relevant to the sexual dyad (the DSR), and compares the DSR to a general LC measure not developed expressly for sex research (the NSLC). The DSR was found to (a) have satisfactory reliability and validity, (b) correlate with sexual dyadic variables (e.g., frequency of orgasm, dyadic sexual satisfaction) but not monadic variables (e.g., masturbation frequency, masturbation attitudes), and (c) have significantly larger correlations with dyadic sexual variables than has the NSLC. Accordingly, when LC is assessed in a sexual context, LC scale items should incorporate relevant features of the sexual situation. Lastly, expected sex differences in perceptions of control were not found. Possible reasons for this result are discussed.     

Unravelling the organization

The application of a computer package for drawing cause maps (NETGRAPH) to a cause map originally given by Hall as part of a study of the ‘Saturday Evening Post’ is described. It is shown how the cause map produced by the computer reveals a number of subsystems. The way in which these can be more clearly revealed by manually redrawing the computer cause map is demonstrated. The subsystems thus obtained are shown to be identical to those given by Hall, except in one case where one of Hall's subsystems is split into two. It is suggested that this split is sensible from an organisational analysis standpoint. The organisational system is analysed in terms of a number of insights derived from the computer-produced cause map including its apparent lack of a formal model of the impact of the Magazine's decisions on the environment. Such a model is claimed by Beer to be indispensable, from a systems theory standpoint, to any ‘viable’ organisational system. The conclusions derived from this analysis are similar to those drawn by Hall, though they do extend his analysis in several respects. It is argued that the results show that the package is of potential use in analysing cause maps of organisations.