PART 1
Health Locus of Control
PART 2
CONCLUSIONS
METHODS
DISCUSSION
APPENDIXES
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You don't have to believe in the ocean to get wet; however, you do need to jump in. -R. Gordon |
As predicted, individuals with a more external HLC exhibited a higher number of self-report psychosomatic symptoms on the PCS, with results approaching very close to significance (p=.056). This supports the notion that the perception that one lacks control over health does indeed manifest in the body (or perhaps that one's health contributed to HLC style). I predict that if stress levels and health risk behaviors were controlled for, or if a larger, more diverse sample were studied, this relationship would prove more significant. Although Mode of Acculturation did not significantly predict scores on HLC, there is indication that the results reflect the restricted variance in this sample. Results did fall in the predicted direction: assimilated and integrated modes were more likely to have an internal HLC.
Limitations of This Study
Low variability of the sample:
As my pool of subjects was one of convenience, certain restrictions applied. All subjects were enrolled in the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, primarily as undergraduates. One might expect individuals enrolled in higher learning institutions to exhibit higher than average scores on DSI, as success within academia demands a certain degree of assimilation. This population did score a high mean on the DSI subscale (3.87, out of a 1-4 possibility), with a restricted range skewed toward the high end. This precluded being able to discriminate between those high/ low on DSI with any predictability. As the population was comprised mainly of Caucasian, middle-class females, although efforts were made to obtain a more representative sample, the high DSI mean is no big surprise.
College student population:
Health Professionals with higher degrees of education tend to espouse more holistic views of health including an internal HLC (Bartol & Eakes, 1995). Since this sample had very similar education levels, this may have influenced the variability that could have been detected in a more diverse population. College students are traditionally more internal than community dwelling individuals (Wallston et al, 1976). In addition, most subjects were taking psychology classes rendering them more likely to be exposed to paradigms supporting a holistic view. The impact of education on HLC should therefore be taken into account when attempting to ascertain differences with HLC. In addition, early adulthood is generally characterized by outstanding health, which may influence scores on both HLC and PCS.
The instruments:
It is a well known but taken for granted phenomenon that our cultural biases color our psychological measures, rendering them culture bound (most measures are standardized on very limited mainstream populations in the United States). This point is expanded: "If, indeed, the assignment of causal attributions in the research literature have an American ethnocentric bias then it is essential that the meanings represented by national or cultural variations in assignments be identified to place the attributional literature in a wider context" (Chandler & Spies, 1996, p. 748). The meanings we attribute to certain psychosomatic symptoms and health locus of control beliefs, for example, may vary across cultures. This may or may not have had an influence on the current results, which are concerned with detecting such cultural variations.
