You’ve just bagged the big promotion at work. You’ve finally managed to work out what’s been making the clunking noise in the attic late at night. You’ve gotten every single answer correct on the ‘How Many Types Of Cheese Can You Name’ quiz that you were taking while your boss thought you were working on the latest quarterly returns spreadsheet. On top of the world and at the peak of your game, everything is coming up *INSERT YOUR NAME HERE* and you know exactly who you have to thank for it.

If your answer is ‘me’, as in ‘I’ve got me to thank because, let’s face it, I’m awesome and I am nailing life right now‘, then chances are you have an internal locus.

However, if on the other hand, you attribute your recent successes to fate or luck, you’re far more likely to be working with an external locus.

When I first heard the term ‘The Locus of Control’ it inevitably conjured up images of some great, omnipotent acrididae flying through space, wielding reality-bending powers of destruction and benevolence gleefully wiggling its intergalactic antennae. Anyone else? No?

Just me, that’s fine.

But we’re not talking about a mythical grasshopper of destiny. The ‘Locus of Control’ is, in fact, the concept of an individual attributing the causes of their successes or failures to a specific factor.

Not so much a phenomena as just something a little less known (generally speaking), the Locus of Control greatly effects how we deal with everything from personal growth, to rejection, to the way we react when we are FINALLY triumphant at the annual Christmas family Pictionary/Scrabble/Monopoly-a-thon.

Take that, Aunty Whats-Yer-Name.

Studies suggest that people who have an ‘internal locus’ are less likely to suffer from anxiety whereas those who have an ‘external locus’ often believe that their failings are caused by ‘fate’ or the universe being ‘against’ them.

That’s not to say that having an external locus is always a bad thing. There are pros and cons to both sides of the locus coin. External locus types are more inclined to believe that fate or luck play a hand in our determining our experiences. But that, of course, can mean good fortune just as much as it can mean bad.

Internal types are generally more willing to acknowledge the impact of their own efforts on the outcome of work or projects, i.e. I got here because I worked hard.

When we think of characters throughout literature, or of the characters we create when writing, we probably tend not to consider what sort of locus they might have. But, if you were to go back through all of your favourite books right now, fresh with your new-found knowledge of the existence of the locus, I can all but guarantee you’d be able to see which category each of the characters fall into.

While some argue that being either an ‘internal’ or ‘external’ locus type of person is something intrinsic (i.e. inherent from birth), there are many who believe that childhood experiences are pivotal in influencing this aspect of our psyche.

Studies suggest that people who, from an early age, were encouraged to think and act independently and who were introduced to cause and effect (the consequences or rewards of our actions) whilst still in the cognitive development stages were far more likely to develop the internal locus.

It can be helpful to take this into account when developing or ‘padding out’ a character, especially if they are likely to encounter a successive streak of failures or humiliations over the course of their arc. And let’s face it, what good character doesn’t?

Naturally, with all things psychological, it isn’t always as simple as someone fitting into either one category or the other. Being an internal type doesn’t mean you won’t occasionally hurl your fist skyward in anger as you curse whatever powers of destiny that made you miss the last bus home.

Just like being an external type doesn’t mean you won’t ever feel the sense of personal accomplishment that comes from knowing that something good happened because of the energy and work that you put into making it so.

We humans are a flighty and changeable sort. So even if do find yourself leaning more towards the external locus, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn to accept your own greatness and take (relatively) humble credit for it.

Of course, if you are looking for someone to blame when things go wrong, you could always just imagine a giant grasshopper hurtling through the universe. Chances are, it probably is their fault anyway.

Until next time, look after yourselves, your bodies and your minds.