Academic/General Training Module by Adam Smith First Published in 2015

 IELTS
 JOURNAL 
 
157 
Psychologists recognise that we differ in the way in which we characteristically 
attribute responsibility for the various things that happen to us in life. One of the ways 
in which we do this is known as locus of control (Weiner,1979), which refers to 
assigning responsibility. At its simplest, some individuals have a predominantly 
external locus of control, attributing responsibility to outside causes (for example, the 
faults of others or the help given by them) ,while with other individuals the locus of 
control is predominantly internal, in which responsibility is attributed to oneself (for 
example, one's own abilities or lack of them, hard work, etc.). 
However, the picture usually isn't as simple as this. Many people's locus of control is 
more likely to be specific to a particular situation, for example internal in certain areas, 
such as their social lives, and external in others, such as their working lives. Or, to take 
another example, they may attribute certain kinds of results to themselves, such as 
their successes, and certain kinds of results to other people, such as their failures. 
Obviously the best kind of locus of control is one that is realistic and able to attribute 
every effect to its appropriate cause, and this is particularly important when it comes 
to time management. Certainly, there are occasions when other people are more 
responsible for our time loss than we are, but for most of us, and for most of the time, 
the blame must fall fairly and squarely upon ourselves. 
Choose ONE phrase (A-J) from the list in the box below to complete each key point 
below. Write the appropriate letters (A-J) in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet. 
The information in the completed sentences should be an accurate summary of points 
made by the writer. 
NB There are more phrases (A-J) than sentences, so you will not use them all. You 
may use any phrase more than once.