A
theory by one,
Julian Rotter, to
explain why
people do things. As the
name suggests, the theory states that a
person's
decision to
undertake an
action is
based upon what they
expect to
follow and how
valuable the
outcome based upon that expectation is. This
expectation is a result of
experience and
past learning. For
example, a
student wears
stylish clothes to
school because past experience has told them that this will gain them
acceptance among their
peers and they
value that
acceptance a lot.
Rotter classified people into two categories: internals and externals. Internals are more likely to believe that happenings are due to their own efforts. Externals, on the other hand, attribute them to factors such as luck which cannot be controlled by them. Studies have shown that internals are more likely to do better at school, score higher on standardized tests, work harder at being healthy, wear seat belts and avoid drugs and alcohol.