Case Study Of External Locus Of Control

Description
Penny, a friend and indirect co-worker to the group, is the Systems Librarian at the Sunshine University Engineering Library. Despite being a straight-A student, high school valedictorian, and a Phi Beta Kappa, she is struggling with the demands and interpersonal dynamics of her first job out of college. While she feels confident in her ability to manage the tasks inherent to her job description (technical support and training for new technology), she feels besieged by the expectations placed on her by her manager, Sheldon. She believes Sheldon is a poor steward of the department’s finances as he acquires new technology for the library with abandon. In her view, Sheldon’s lack of restraint creates additional, unnecessary work
Locus of Control refers to the degree to which people feel they control their own lives. People with an internal locus of control believe their behavior and personal characteristics determine outcomes, whereas people with an external locus of control perceive outside factors like luck, fate, and other outside forces are controlling their lives (Yemen & Clawson). As externals tend to believe their lives are controlled by outside factors, they often experience higher levels of anxiety, stress, and job dissatisfaction than their internal counterparts. Penny’s external locus of control is evident in the way she characterizes Sheldon and how she describes the difficulties she experiences with consistent interruptions throughout the day. She is certain Sheldon is out to get her and is purposefully trying to overwhelm her with meaningless tasks. When asked to clarify why she think’s Sheldon expects her to work so much, she explained that he had never directly asked her to work more. Instead, she “intuited” the expectation. Furthermore, Penny classifies tech support requests, which are a key component of her job description, as interruptions from the “idiots and slackers” she works with rather than an important aspect of the role she plays within the department. These examples help to illustrate the way Penny views the
The process of perception takes place when someone organizes their sense of reality in a way that is meaningful to them (Gordon, 2001). Essentially, perception refers to a person’s interpretation of reality. Interpretations of a situation can vary, and purely objective perceptions are rare. People often suffer from distortions in perception that can skew their understanding of the world around them, thus contributing to poor decision making and missed opportunities. Penny primarily exhibits signs of the perceptual distortions through her use of stereotyping, self-fulfilling prophecy, and projection. Penny displays stereotyping, or making assumptions about a single person based on the group they belong to, in her assessment of her co-workers as “idiots and slackers.” She sees herself as the only person in the office who works hard and makes sacrifices. She is willing to work through her lunches, so she expects others to do the same. When her colleagues protest, she classifies them all as incompetent and lazy based solely on their desire to have a mid-day break. The effects of self-fulfilling prophecy are felt when a person’s expectations cause them to see behaviors whether or not those behaviors actually exist (Gordon, 2001). In Penny’s case, she thinks Sheldon buys new technology with no regard for the department’s budget, their existing materials, or her time. She