Cross-temporal meta-analyses of changes in the locus of control among Chinese college students: No changes were also a trend

Abstract

Previous research has shown that the locus of control among college students in the United States has become increasingly external. However, people's locus of control may not have the same change pattern in different cultural contexts. In this study, we investigated the changes of locus of control of Chinese college students by conducting two cross-temporal meta-analyses. Study 1 was based on Rotter's locus of control scale showing that the level of external control (vs. internal control) displayed by Chinese college students underwent no significant changes between 2001 and 2019. Based on the Levenson's multidimensional locus of control scale, Study 2 found that, from 1997 to 2018, there were also no significant changes in the levels of internality, powerful others, and chance factors for Chinese college students. To the best of our knowledge, the present research is the first to demonstrate that both internal and external controls tended to be stable in the last two decades among Chinese college students. This study expands our understanding that the trend of psychological change may be self-sustaining.