A preliminary investigation of expectancy changes in locus of control among aged white women as related to skill and chance tasks

It was the purpose of this study to investigate expectancy changes (whether one expected to succeed or fail on successive task trials) in skill- and chance-task situations as related to changes in locus of control among aged white women. Recent research indicates that the aged possess the inferior socioeconomic characteristics of minority groups for whom external control is a characteristic. Further, societal forces tend to strengthen external control expectancies for the aged. A large number of studies with both children and adults have demonstrated that a belief in some minimal level of internal control is of fundamental importance in the development and maintenance of mental health