Locus of Control Among American and Rhodesian Students

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Abstract
This investigation was designed to compare the factor structures for the Collins I-E Scale between American and Rhodesian university men and women. Three hundred and eighty-seven Americans and 209 Rhodesians filled out the Collins Scale, and the data were then factor analyzed with the use of the principal components method. The results showed differences in the factor structures for the two groups. The Just World factor was found for the American students, but not for the Rhodesians. Instead, the factor analysis revealed the existence of Self-Determination for Success and Authoritarian Control factors for the Rhodesians, but not for the Americans. The remaining two Collins factors, Predictable World and Politically Responsive World, were found for both groups. The results suggest that investigators exercise care in cross-cultural research involving the I-E construct, since its various components may have different meanings or be nonapplicable in certain cultures.