In the present study, locus of control was measured by the Locus of Control Scale for Children. The locus of control dimension refers to the degree to which an individual believes his reinforcements are dependent upon his own behaviors (internality) or are controlled by forces beyond his control, such as luck or chance (externality). The Locus of Control Scale For Children (LCSC) consists of 40 questions which are answered either yes or no by placing a mark by each question. The construction of items for the LCSC was based
on Rotter's 9 definition of the internal-external control of reinforcement. An individual's total score is the total number of items marked in the external direction. Thus, the higher an individual's total score, the more external is his locus of control orientation.
Self-esteem was measured by the short form of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. The short version of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (CSEI) contains seven high esteem items ("I'm a lot of fun to be with") and eighteen low esteem items ("I often wish I were someone else"). An individual's score is the sum of the number of high esteem items marked in the positive "Like me" direction and the number of low esteem items marked in the negative "Unlike me" direction. The higher an individual's total score on the CSEI, the higher his subjective evaluation of himself.
Attitude toward school was measured by the Quality of School Life Scale. The Quality of School Life Scale (QSL) is a multi-dimensional measure that has been used with upper-elementary, middle and high school students. Three subscales form the 27-item QSL: The Satisfaction (SAT) subscale measures students' general reactions to school; Commitment to Classwork (COM) deals with the level of student interest in classwork; and Reactions to Teachers (TCH).is concerned with the nature of student-teacher relationships. Positive responses to these measures suggest a high quality of school experiences.
RESULTS
In an effort to identify any relationships between students' level of self-esteem and their attitude towards school, Pearsonian correlation coefficients (r) were computed between the CSEI and QSL scores for grades 9, 10, 11 and 12. The obtained correlation coefficients are presented in Table I.
TABLE I
Pearson Produce-Moment Correlation Coefficients Between Indian Students’ CSEI and QSL Scores by Grade Level
Grade level N R P
9 33 +.10 N.S.
10 31 +.35 .05
11 34 +.22 N.S.
12 25 +.46 .05
From Table I, it can be seen that significant correlation coefficients between Indian students' CSEI and QSL scores were found for grades 10 and 12. Thus, the present study found a significant positive relationship between self-esteem and attitude towards school for Indian students in grades ten and twelve. For these two grade levels, those Indian students who evidenced a high level of self-esteem also tended to have positive attitudes toward their
In order to identify any relationships between students' level of locus of control and their attitude towards school, Pearsonian correlation coefficients (r) were computed between the LCSC and QSL scores for grades 9, 10, 11 and 12. The obtained correlation coefficients are presented in Table II.
TABLE II
Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficients Between Indian Students' LCSC and QSL Scores by Grade Level
Grade Level N r P
9 33 -.58 .01
10 31 - .14 N.S.
11 34 +.02 N.S.
12 25 - .24 N.S.
From Table II, it can be seen that a significant correlation coefficient between Indian students' LCSC and QSL scores was found only for grade 9. Thus, a significant negative relationship between -locus of control and attitude towards school was found for ninth-grade Indian students only. It should be noted that the Locus of Control Scale for Children is scored in the external direction. Therefore, a negative relationship between LCSC and QSL scores means that those Indian students who evidenced an internal locus of control orientation also tended to have positive attitudes toward their school experiences. An external locus of control orientation was found to be associated with a low opinion of school experiences.
The final area of investigation for the present study dealt with the multiple relationship among the three variables of self-esteem, locus of control, and attitude towards school. More specifically, the present study sought to determine if self-esteem and locus of control taken together were significant predictors of an Indian student's attitude towards school. Therefore, the LCSC, CSEI, and QSL scores for the ninth-, tenth-, eleventh-, and twelfth-grade students were treated with a series of multiple regression analyses. Table III shows the obtained multiple correlation coefficients (R) and the shrunken multiple correlation coefficients ( ) for each grade level.
TABLE III
Prediction of QSL Criterion With Multiple Correlation Coefficients ( R) by Grade Level
Grade Predictors N R p p 9 LCSC + CSEI 33 +.71 .01 +.69 .01 10 LCSC + CSEI 31 +.38 N.S. — — 11 LCSC+CSEI 34 +.21 N.S. __ __ 12 LCSC + CSEI 25 +.46 N.S. — —
It can be seen from Table III that only the ninth-grade multiple correlation coefficient was significant. Thus, the present study found that locus of control and self-esteem taken together are significant predictors of ninth-grade Indian students' attitude towards school.
This analysis indicates that approximately 47.61 ( 2)percent of the variance in ninth-grade QSL scores is accounted for by the LCSU and CSEI scores taken together. An analysis of each predictor variable's contribution to total variance accounted for revealed that the locus of control variable accounted for almost all of the variance in QSL scores.
DISCUSSION
The present study sought to determine if locus of control or self-esteem was related to Indian students' attitude towards school. The study also attempted to identify any relationship between these two variables taken simultaneously and Indian students' attitude towards school. For the present sample of Oklahoma Indian students, self-esteem was found to be positively related to attitude toward school for grades ten and twelve. It seems that as the level of self-esteem increases or improves within a tenth- or twelfth-grade Indian student, so does his or her attitude towards school. However, self-esteem scores accounted for only 12 percent (tenth-grade) and 21 percent (twelfth-grade) of the variance in Indian students' attitude toward school scores. Other variables, either characteristic of the individual or the environment, account for a majority of the variance in QSL scores. Locus of control was found to be related to attitude towards school for ninth-grade students only. The analysis of the LCSC and QSL scores indicated that locus of control accounted for almost 34 percent of the variance in the QSL scores. Thus, when taken singularly, locus of control appears to be a better predicator of Indian students' attitude towards school than self-esteem. Finally, it should be noted that the relationships between self-esteem or locus of control and attitude towards school were not found at all grades.
The present study also sought to determine the efficacy of using locus of control and self-esteem simultaneously in predicting Indian students' attitudes toward school. When taken together, locus of control and self-esteem were found to be significant predictors of attitudes toward school. This multiple relationship was found only for freshmen and indicated that almost half of the variance in QSL scores was accounted for by the LCSC and CSEI scores taken together. It should be noted that when used simultaneously, locus of control and self-esteem were not significant predictors of attitude towards school for Indian students in grades ten, eleven, and twelve.
The results of the present study has several implications for educational programming. The fact that significant correlation coefficients were found only at particular grade levels indicates that the relationships between the variables used in the present study may be a function of age. An education program designed to improve Indian students' self- esteem and attitude towards school may show significant effects at one or two grade levels but show no effects for other grade levels. Similarly, students from one particular grade level who have an internal locus of control orientation may show positive attitudes toward school, while internally-oriented students from a different grade level may not show positive attitudes toward school. Finally, future research and education programs should identify
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9
Rotter, J.B. Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 1966, 80, (1, whole no. 609).
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