Relation entre locus of control, désir de contrôle et anxiété

Many studies present a negative relation between anxiety and locus of control. However, Rotter (1966) and Averill (1973) show that a strong control of the situation can be harmful. Thus, it would also be necessary to take into account the desire for controlling the situation. The objective here is to study the relation between these three variables: locus of control, anxiety and desire for control. Initially, the attention will be related to the relation between locus of control and anxiety, and between desire for control and anxiety. Then, secondarily, the discrepancy between the desire for control and the locus of control will be put in relation with anxiety. Results highlight that only the internal dimension of locus of control and the desire for control are opposite factors to anxiety. “Powerful Others” and “Chance” subscales as well as the discrepancy between locus of control and desire for control appeared to be unrelated to anxiety.