Health Locus of Control Scales

Health is one of the many areas in which there has been a significant amount of interest in relating locus of control (LOCI beliefs to a variety of relevant behaviors. Much of the earlier work in this area has already been reviewed and is available elsewhere (see Strickland, 1978; Wallston, & Wallston, 1978). In this chapter we will not review this material again but will focus on work that has used the health-specific scales we developed, the Health Locus of Control (HLC] Scale and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC] Scales.2 This chapter will review our own program of research and the programs of others across the country who have been using these scales.3 We have tried to be as complete as possible in covering such work, but much of it is unpublished, and numerous studies are in progress. Thus, although this chapter reflects our current views on the utility and validity of