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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Locus of control

Overview

  • Influence: Locus of control
  • Domain: Student
  • Sub-Domain: Self
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have positive impact
  • Influence Definition: Locus of control in schools - students' belief about the extent to which they have control over their academic success and outcomes

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 4
  • Number of studies: 236
  • Number of students: 109,291
  • Number of effects: 599
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.30
  • Robustness index: 3

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Findley & Cooper Locus of Control and Academic Achievement: A Literature Review 1983 Internal locus of control 98 15,285 275 0.36
Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs Kalechstein & Nowicki A meta-analytic examination of the relationship between control expectancies and academic achievement: An 11-year follow-up to Findley and Cooper 1997 Internal locus of control 78 58,142 261 0.23
Book Çogaltay The Effect of Locus of Control on Student Achievement 2017 Locus of control 23 18,918 23 0.04
Journal on Efficiency and Responsibility in Education and Science Haidai, Koçoglu, & Kanadli Contribution of Locus of Control, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation to Student Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modelling.  2023 Locus of control 37 16,946 40 0.45
TOTAL/AVERAGE 236 109,291 599 0.27
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