EFFECT OF GENDER AND LOCUS OF CONTROL ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING OF DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY OF DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN.

EFFECT OF GENDER AND LOCUS OF CONTROL ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING OF DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY OF DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN.

ABSTRACT

The study examined the effects of gender and locus of control on psychological wellbeing of distance learning students.

It geared towards exploring some predicting variables of gender and locus control on psychology wellbeing among distance learning universities in Nigeria. 500 distance learning students from university of Ibadan, which comprises of 250 males and 250 females from different faculty completed the questionnaire pack of Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale, and Ryff’s Psychological Wellbeing Scale. Results showed that psychology wellbeing and gender use are positively and insignificantly related (r=0.53; p>0.05); psychology wellbeing and locus of control use are positively and significantly related (r=0.22; p<0.05); psychology wellbeing and gender/locus of control use are positively and significantly related.

Findings were discussed and relevant recommendations were made for further studies.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 1.1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Locus of control is a personality construct developed by Julian B. Rotter in 1966, which refers to an individual’s perception of the locus of events as determined internally by his or her behaviour versus fate, luck or external circumstances (Ziegler, 2006). It is a belief about whether the outcomes of individual’s action are contingent on what we do or on events outside our personal control. Locus of control is equally the degree to which individuals believe that things that happen to them are due to internal versus external factors. These beliefs are rooted in individual’s actions and behavior.

Locus of control plays a major role in one’s perception of situation and possible reactions on what is happening or should be happening. This has the ability of influencing one’s reactions to situations that are considered unacceptable. Individuals with internal locus of control believe that they can influence the outcomes of their lives. They also attribute their achievements in life to their skills, abilities and knowledge. They take pride in good outcomes and feel disappointed in bad outcomes (Bassey & Ezeh, 2005). A person with dominant external locus of control is convinced that anything that happens is the result of fate, luck or external powers and these believe often cause feelings of anger, frustration, depression and aggression (Swart, 2004).

Psychological wellbeing refers to how life goes for a particular person. It is a cognitive judgmental process which gives an evaluation of a person’s life satisfaction according to his chosen criteria (Shin, 2012). This judgment of how satisfied an individual is with his state of affairs is based on comparison with a standard he sets for himself (Diener, 1984).

EFFECT OF GENDER AND LOCUS OF CONTROL ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING OF DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY OF DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN.