Locus of Control and Mental Health among Married and Unmarried Women

Abstract

Locus of control and mental health of an individual is crucial in predicting the success. Research reveals that mental health is positively associated with locus of control. It is also related to the job environment, job culture, working conditions, and family environment of the people. Today, married women have to overcome role conflict, which they experience in their lives. People who have high level of external locus of control attribute outcomes and reinforcements to luck, fate or chance, while people with high levels of internal locus of control attribute outcomes and reinforcements to their individual actions (Rotter, 1966). Individuals who have an internal locus of control tend to believe that their own abilities are in control of their success, while individuals who have external locus of control believe that the existence of others in what makes their Success. According to Levinson (1973) locus of control classified into three dimensions namely powerful to other, chance control, and individual control. Numerous studies have established the importance of the locus of control in preserving good mental health among married and unmarried women. The present study was conducted to investigate the significance difference in Locus of control and Mental Health among married and unmarried women. Sample consists of a subset of population selected to participate in a research study. The sample was collected from Ahmednagar city. In this study the total sample consists of 120. The sample was categories into two group’s namely married and unmarried women, 60 in each group. Nonprobability sampling technique used for selecting sample. The tools used to collect data were Levinson Locus of control scale, Mental Health test by Dr. C. G. Deshpande. The findings based on descriptive statistics and ‘t’ test denotes that unmarried women were high on locus of control as compared to married women. No significant difference was found among married women and unmarried women with respect to mental health.