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Circumstances v. Hard Work

simulatedworld

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People who believe that failure is due to uncontrollable circumstances are called liberals.

People who believe that success is due to one's own hard work are called conservatives.

Why doesn't anybody ever believe that his own success is due to uncontrollable circumstances, or that his failure is due to his own laziness?

Sorry if the political thing seems unrelated, but I think it's very related. It's interesting how everyone seems to believe the answer to "How hard should I work?" is "Precisely as hard as I am working"--anyone doing worse isn't working hard enough, and anyone doing better is cheating.
 

wildcat

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I remember this being brought up a while ago in another thread, but it wasn't explored to the extent I would like.

This post is all about Locus of Control theory.

Locus of control - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



I am wondering where others stand on this issue, and if there is any distributional relevance to type.

I am also curious to see if one's upbringing significantly affects whether they have an internal or external locus of control.

Let the discussion begin.:devil:

EDIT: I don't know how to make a poll otherwise I would do so.
There is conserved energy and fluid energy.
Control is about conserved energy.

The dichotomy is not about the subject of the dichotomy.
It is about the agent of the dichotomy.
 

Thalassa

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People who believe that failure is due to uncontrollable circumstances are called liberals.

People who believe that success is due to one's own hard work are called conservatives.

Why doesn't anybody ever believe that his own success is due to uncontrollable circumstances, or that his failure is due to his own laziness?

Sorry if the political thing seems unrelated, but I think it's very related. It's interesting how everyone seems to believe the answer to "How hard should I work?" is "Precisely as hard as I am working"--anyone doing worse isn't working hard enough, and anyone doing better is cheating.

That's MUCH too black and white, Sim. I believe failure can be either/or uncontrollable circumstances/laziness. I believe success can be either/or uncontrollable circumstances or hard work.

In reality both things have to be taken into consideration.
 

Thalassa

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How can people even think they are not in control of their lives? Sure, some things are random but you can still always react to those things however you choose to. I'm all about taking responsibility. If you're broke, for example, it's because of what you did. Most likely, it's because of what you did for many years.

Are you, like, in high school? Because you can't be serious.

It's not the economy's fault. Thinking your life is up to fate is like handing your power away. In order to create what you want you have to admit that it's your fault that you don't already have it. (Within reason.)

There are some really deluded, sheltered people in this thread, though you do earn points for (Within reason.)
 

compulsiverambler

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People who believe that failure is due to uncontrollable circumstances are called liberals.

People who believe that success is due to one's own hard work are called conservatives.

Why doesn't anybody ever believe that his own success is due to uncontrollable circumstances, or that his failure is due to his own laziness?
You are supposed to pretend you think your success is largely down to external circumstances. It's called modesty. I've always thought it strange, given that denying talent you clearly have must mean either you have poor judgement about the very area you're specialising in or that you're lying, that modesty is something we're taught to admire and aspire to, but it is. More powerfully in some cultures than others. Japan comes to mind. You're not supposed to admit that you or your children are even moderately good at anything, even when it's obvious and accepted by everyone else. The UK is pretty bad for it too.
 

compulsiverambler

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People who believe that failure is due to uncontrollable circumstances are called liberals.

People who believe that success is due to one's own hard work are called conservatives.

Why doesn't anybody ever believe that his own success is due to uncontrollable circumstances, or that his failure is due to his own laziness?

Sorry if the political thing seems unrelated, but I think it's very related. It's interesting how everyone seems to believe the answer to "How hard should I work?" is "Precisely as hard as I am working"--anyone doing worse isn't working hard enough, and anyone doing better is cheating.
Have you heard of the Just World Hypothesis? I studied it at school, you may find it interesting. Some people have a stronger tendency to see the world that way than others. I think you may be right about it being correlated with political conservatism, though I don't know of any research about that. However blaming rape victims is a commonly used example of it and that is seen as a conservative thing to do, extremely conservative by today's standards. I can't think of any examples that are associated with liberals, but there may just be some I've not recognised, as a liberal myself.

Edit - I take that back, in the page I linked to there is actually mention of a link to conservatism:

Zick Rubin of Harvard University and Letitia Anne Peplau of UCLA have conducted surveys to examine the characteristics of people with strong beliefs in a just world. They found that people who have a strong tendency to believe in a just world also tend to be more religious, more authoritarian, more conservative, more likely to admire political leaders and existing social institutions, and more likely to have negative attitudes toward underprivileged groups. To a lesser but still significant degree, the believers in a just world tend to "feel less of a need to engage in activities to change society or to alleviate plight of social victims."
 

LucrativeSid

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Are you, like, in high school? Because you can't be serious.



There are some really deluded, sheltered people in this thread, though you do earn points for (Within reason.)

I think that anyone here who shares my viewpoint will readily admit that SHIT HAPPENS. We'd just rather not define our lives by the shit. It doesn't matter how you got into a hole, the only thing that matters is that you're the only one who will climb yourself out of it. When brainstorming, problem solving, and working towards what you want in life, nobody walks up and writes "LUCK" on the chalkboard.

Does this topic offend you in some way? Are you taking it personally? I just don't understand why you would call someone a high school student and deluded instead of asking questions and trying to better understand what they are saying first. I mean, gosh, even if you thought I was dumbest person in the world, you could have at least explained why you thought I was wrong.
 

cascadeco

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Locus of control refers to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them. Individuals with a high internal locus of control believe that events result primarily from their own behavior and actions. Those with a high external locus of control believe that powerful others, fate, or chance primarily determine events. Those with a high internal locus of control have better control of their behavior, tend to exhibit more political behaviors, and are more likely to attempt to influence other people than those with a high external locus of control; they are more likely to assume that their efforts will be successful. They are more active in seeking information and knowledge concerning their situation.

One's "locus" (Latin for "place" or "location") can either be internal (meaning the person believes that they control their life) or external (meaning they believe that their environment, some higher power, or other people control their decisions and their life).

I have a very high internal locus of control in the sense that I very much believe my life is in my own hands and only I can bring about things that I want and make headway in terms of bringing about change in my life as I see fit. I also tend to be highly disciplined and would say I'm in pretty good control of my behavior. However, I do not relate to the piece describing political behaviors, nor attempting to influence other people. Perhaps that's my introversion.

I do however recognize/believe more and more my lack of control over other people (people ultimately take charge of their own lives of their own volition, or disregard their own lives/responsibility) and most things outside of myself, so that is another reason I tend not to try to exert much influence over others - typically I don't see much point. I might provide input, if the other person seems receptive to it or is seeking it, but I don't push my views/influence on others.

I think there is certainly an element of chance in life, and I'll be the first to admit the chips don't always fall the way I hope they will. There is also much inherent in life that is absolutely out of my control - and there are ways others influence me or impact my life, so external people/things will always be a factor (obviously. When it comes to larger social institutions/laws/government, external crises/disasters, illness, other people, etc etc etc to the infinity). There will always be the unknown.

But by and large, even with outside unpredictability, for the most part I believe my life is what I choose to make of it, and my life is the result of each and every choice that I make.
 

onemoretime

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Ultimately, you have a fairly low amount of control over the things that happen to you in your lifetime. There's a reason Fortune was arguably the most important Roman deity.

However, the one thing you can control are your own actions, and there is no reason you should not take full responsibility for them, and make the best of whatever situation you're in. It's just unwise to be too disappointed when things don't go your way, because in the end, it's ultimately a roll of the dice.
 
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