The Locus of Control

There's a concept introduced in the social-cognitive perspective of personality called personal control. The concept basically asks where one's locus, or point, of control is. The locus of control is one's perception of how much control he or she has over a certain situation. The locus of control can be divided into two sides: the internal locus of control, and the external locus of control. The internal locus of control is the perception that one has complete control over his or her destiny. One that is shown to have an internal locus of control achieves more in school, acts more independently, copes with stress, can delay gratification, etc. This person's perception of being in complete control of a situation helps that person actually control it. If somebody with an internal locus of control fails a test, the person will blame his or herself for not studying enough or paying attention in class. The external locus of control is the perception that other forces one's destiny. Usually people in this category don't try that hard, because they think that, since they aren't in control of their own destiny, what they do won't make a difference. If somebody with an external locus of control fails a test, he or she will blame the teacher for not teaching the material right. I find this concept very interesting, but at the same time I'm having trouble believe that it is 100% concrete (just like almost every other concept in psychology). Why? Because just because somebody has one kind of locus of control doesn't mean he or she shows those traits. For instance, I can believe I have control over my destiny, but fail a test because I don't care--I'm not a hard worker, but that doesn't mean I'm not in control of my own destiny. Also, I vaguely remember the book mentioning something about religious people having an external locus of control. This is an ignorant assumption--just because you believe in G-d doesn't mean that you have an external locus of control. Again, it's an intriguing concept, but that doesn't make it a concrete one.