Factors Affecting the Health Locus of Control - Research Paper Example

FACTORS AFFECTING THE HEATH LOCUS OF CONTROL Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Abstract This is a research project that was carried out to investigate the effect of health value, age and gender on health locus of control (HLOC). At the 95% level of confidence results indicate that there is a difference in male and female HLOC whereby males have a higher HLOC mean. Another finding is that individuals with high health value are likely to have higher HLOC compared to those with low HLOC, finally the influenced of age on HLOC is analyzed using the correlation coefficient, the coefficient is positive but weak, it is however statistically significant ant the 95% level of confidence indicating that as age increases HCOL also increase. Factors Affecting the Heath Locus of Control Introduction Locus is a Latin word meaning location and this can mean internal or external location, Bennett P. et al, 1998, pp 31. Internal locus means that a person feels that they can control their lives while external locus means that a person feels that their lives are controlled by the environment. Locus of control is a term used to refer to the degree to which people feel that they can manage the events that cause effect in their lives Bennett P. et al, 1998, pp 32. Locus of control is a framework for the theory of personality. The study of the effect of heath on the health locus of control has become a widely studied topic for quite sometime. Health locus of control is mostly applied in the field of health psychology. Literature review People with a high internal locus of control have a feeling that the events that occur in their lives occur primarily from their own behaviors and actions. In the society, people who have a low internal locus of control usually believe that their powerful friends, fate or luck determine the events that occur in their lives. On the other hand, people with a high internal locus of control are able to manage their behaviors well compared to their friends with a low locus of control. Such people have more political characteristics and they at most times tend to influence those with a low locus of control. According to Bennett P. et al, 1998, pp 26 health locus of control involves three statistically independent dimensions of perceived control in relation to health: internal, chance and powerful others. Individuals who score highly on the internal dimension regard their health as largely within their control. People scoring high in the chance dimension believe that their health is independent of their behavior and such people may engage in health damaging behaviors. Those who believe in the powerful others may show receptivity to health messages endorsed by medical practitioners. According to studies done concerning the relationship between health locus of control and engaging in health related behaviors, there is a positive relationship between scores on the internal dimension and health promoting behaviors. More so, there is a negative relationship between scores on the chance dimension and positive health behaviors. People who place a high value on their health will have a strong and consistent relationship between their health locus of control and their behavior Bennett P. et al, 1998, pp 30. The perceived control of one’s life and behavior shows the internal control of the events occurring in one’s life. Studies show different types of expectancy shifts where people may feel that their life events are determined by powerful others, chance or the people themselves. The people who feel that events in their lives are controlled by themselves attribute the results of any event in their lives to themselves Bennett P. et al, 1998, pp 29. On the other hand those believing in chance and powerful others associate the outcomes of their life events to external circumstances. People who believe in the powerful others cannot have control over fate. They end up being stressed and also depressed. People usually explain their successes and failures in their lives depending on whether they associate them to internal or external control, Wolf M. 2002, pp 103. When health locus of control is studied in conjunction with health value, it makes it easier to predict health related behaviors. This means that the value people attach to their health is an important variable in the study of health locus of control. Internal locus of control is believed to lead to improved mental and physical health hence assisting in improving the quality of life of those suffering from various diseases. High internal locus control may increase till middle age and start decreasing immediately one goes past middle age Nadia M. 2003, pp 89. In later life, people tend to experience more externality than internality. Below the middle age, people usually have a high control over their environments. People who have a high internal locus of control normally have high levels of self-esteem and they are motivated to succeed in their lives. Locus control differs with gender where men are believed to have a higher internal locus in some things in life than women. In a study examining the locus of control, it was found out that Tuberculosis patients who had internal locus of control beliefs knew more about their disease Nadia M. 200, pp 58. They would question their doctors more and they seemed unsatisfied with the information they got from the hospitals than the external locus patients. According to Allison, K. 1991, pp 141, a study of people with diabetes showed that people with internal control knew more about their lives than those with external locus control. Investigating locus control in relation to specific heath behaviors is one of the aspects of heath locus control. Individualizing patient treatment based on locus of control beliefs is very important in the study of health locus control. When a behavior specific measure of health locus control is used, a stronger and a consistent relationship are found between health value and health locus of control Lau R and Ware J. 1998, 1149. There may be different kinds of internal locus of control beliefs referring to self-mastery, its prevention, illness management and self blame. In alcohol drinking, people with high scores on measures of externality reported high levels of intoxication than internals at the same level of alcohol consumption and that high external performance of motor skills was more affected than that of internals Calnan, M. 2000, pp 133. An approach of addressing higher level beliefs such as self-efficacy or individuals beliefs in their ability to control their health can be used to know the effect of health value on the health locus of control. This approach can encourage people to be more actively involved in improving their own health. The present study focuses on issues regarding the effect of health value on health locus of control Allison, K. 1991, pp 151. Rationale This research will be focusing on the value different people place on their health and how this affects their health locus control. In the past time, fewer researches have examined the relationship between health value, age and gender and health locus control. Most researches that have focused on health value have always used generalized expectancy beliefs on health value, Thomson G. 2001, pp 87. The research will study the perceptions of the participants on their heath locus control based on the value they place on their health. Hypothesis Hypothesis 1: In this study, it is hypothesized that people with high health value will have a higher health locus control while those with low health value will have lower health locus control. Hypothesis 2: According to Christopher P. et al. (2005, pp 127) There is no gender difference in health locus of control, this means that our second hypothesis will aim at finding out whether there is a difference in HLOC between male and female. Hypothesis 3: Christopher P. et al. (2005, pp 127) also states that Heath locus of control will decreases with increase in age, therefore this hypothesis will aim at determining whether there is a difference in HLOC as age increases. Method Participants 20 participants (10 male and 10 female) were randomly selected and placed in one of the two groups; high health value or low health value. In this research a total of twenty participants were used. A multi-stage cluster design was used to measure the relationship between heath value and health locus of control. Each of the selected participants was interviewed and demographic details were obtained. In addition, a questionnaire was administered to each of the participants to get more information concerning health value of each participant. Apparatus In the study, a health locus of control equipment was used to measure the effect of health value on health locus of control and questionnaires that was used in colleting data. Measures Participants were asked to answer questions concerning their age in years, gender, state the group and finally the health locus control collected. The completed questionnaires were then analyzed and stored in MS excel and later to SPSS for analysis. Results: The variables in this study include Gender which is quantified as (1 = male, 2 = female), age which is a scale variable, HLOC which indicates health locus and health value which indicates 1= high value and 2 = low value. The variables: Gender: 50% of the participants were male and 50% were female, the diagram below shows this distribution: This means that gender was balanced and therefore results were not biased whereby including more male of female would lead to a study that portrays the male or female effects. Health value: The health value was either high or low, those with high health value were 50% and the remaining 50% were in the low health category, the diagram below summarizes the results: From the above analysis the equal categories enabled appropriate comparison of low and high health value individuals. Age: Age indicated the age of participants in years; the following table summarizes the descriptive statistics: Statistics AGE N Valid 20 Missing 0 Mean 28.4000 Median 27.5000 Mode 40.00 Std. Deviation 7.12593 Variance 50.779 Skewness .388 Std. Error of Skewness .512 Minimum 18.00 Maximum 40.00 From the above analyses it is evident that the average age of the participants was 28.4, median was 27.5 and mode 40. This means that this variable is not normally distributed; this is also supported by the skewness value which is less than 1. The standard deviation value indicates that age values deviated 7.12 units from the mean. Finally the participant with the lowest age value was aged 18 while the individual with the highest age value was aged 40. The histogram below summarizes the frequencies: From the above histogram that has a normal distribution curve indicate that the age variable is not normally distributed, majority of the individuals were aged 25 to 35 years. Health locus: Health locus variable was also analyzed; the table below summarizes the values Statistics HLOC N Valid 20 Missing 0 Mean 48.0500 Median 45.5000 Mode 44.00 Std. Deviation 13.55486 Variance 183.734 Skewness .755 Std. Error of Skewness .512 Minimum 30.00 Maximum 80.00 From the table the mean health locus value is 48.05, the median is 45.05 and the mode is 44. Standard deviation value is 13.55 meaning that values deviate 13.55 units from the mean. The minimum health locus value is 30 while the maximum locus value is 80. Frequencies are summarized in the chart below: From the above chart it is evident that more individuals have a locus value between 30 and 50, the chart also indicates that the variable is not normally distributed. Gender and HLOC: The relationship between gender and HLOC is analyzed below: Case Summaries HLOC GENDER N Mean Median Std. Deviation Kurtosis MALE 10 49.5000 49.5000 9.84604 -.336 FEMALE 10 46.6000 40.0000 16.91942 .215 Total 20 48.0500 45.5000 13.55486 .098 From the above table the male HLOC mean is greater (49, 50) than the female HLOC mean (46.60) the male HLOC distribution is almost normally distributed whereby the median and mean are equal. For female the mean is greater than the median and therefore the distribution is not normally distributed. These values are summarized in the chart below: Hypothesis 1: This hypothesis tends to test whether there is a difference in HLOC value between male and female: In order to test this hypothesis a T test is performed and this is done at the 95% level of confidence: Hypothesis: H0: male HLOC mean = female HLOC mean H1: male HLOC mean ≠female HLOC mean The following results show the test statistics SPSS output: Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t Df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference HLOC Equal variances assumed 2.517 .130 .468 18 .645 2.90000 Equal variances not assumed .468 14.469 .646 2.90000 The above results show that the 2 tail significance value or p value = 0.645, the alpha value was 0.05 given that a 95% confidence level is used. P value > alpha value This therefore means that H0: male HLOC mean = female HLOC mean is rejected and the alternative accepted. This means that there is a significant difference in HLOC means values between male and female where male have a higher HLOC value. Health value and HLOC: The relationship between health value and HLOC is analyzed below: Group Statistics HEALTHVALUE N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean HLOC high 10 53.3000 14.79527 4.67868 low 10 42.8000 10.37947 3.28228 From the above table the high HLOC mean is greater (53.3) than the low HLOC mean (42.8). Hypothesis 2: This hypothesis tends to test whether there is a difference in HLOC value between high and low health value In order to test this hypothesis a T test is performed and this is done at the 95% level of confidence: Hypothesis: H0: high HLOC mean = low HLOC mean H1: high HLOC mean ≠low HLOC mean The following results show the test statistics SPSS output: Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference HLOC Equal variances assumed 1.270 .274 1.837 18 .083 10.50000 Equal variances not assumed 1.837 16.131 .085 10.50000 The above results show that the 2 tail significance value or p value = 0.083, the alpha value was 0.05 given that a 95% confidence level is used. P value > alpha value This therefore means that H0: high HLOC mean = low HLOC mean is rejected and the alternative accepted. This means that there is a significant difference in HLOC mean values between high and low health value whereby the high health value individuals are likely to have a higher HLOC value. Age and HLOC: The relationship between age and HLOC is analyzed; given that the two variables are scale variables then other methods will be used including correlation and regression analysis: Correlation: The table below shows the correlation between the two variables: Correlations HLOC AGE HLOC Pearson Correlation 1 .119 Sig. (2-tailed) . .619 N 20 20 AGE Pearson Correlation .119 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .619 . N 20 20 The correlation coefficient is 0.119, this value indicates a weak but positive relationship between the two variables, further analysis on the significance of this variable indicates that the significance of this value which is 0.619 and given that this value is greater than 0.05 then the coefficient is statistically significant ant the 95% confidence level. This means that as age increases from 18 to 40 individuals are likely to experience an increase in HLOC value, this study did not include ages greater than 40 years and therefore it does not indicate the real impact of age on HLOC for older individuals. Conclusion: From the above analysis it is evident that the HLOC value is influenced by a number of factors including age, gender and health value. Earlier research indicate that the difference in HLOC is not significant between the gender groups, however in this case the difference is significant, therefore further research should be aimed at studying this difference using a different or a larger sample. References: Allison, K. 1991. Theoretical issues concerning the relationship between perceived Control and preventive health behavior. Health education research. Volume 6. pp 141-151 Bennett P. et al. 1998. Beliefs about alcohol health locus of control, values for health and Reported consumption in a representative population sample. 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