THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOCUS OF CONTROL AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL IN THE SOUTH-EASTERN REGION OF NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between locus of control and aggressive behavior among adolescents in secondary schools in the South-Eastern region of Nigeria. A correlational research design was used in the study. 123,003 pupils from public secondary schools in the South East area of Nigeria will make up the study's population. The study included a sample of 400 students, and the data was gathered using a stratified random sampling approach. The study was led by two research questions and two hypotheses. The instrument for data collection is titled “Locus of Control and Aggressive Behavior Questionnaire (LCABQ)" Two eminent academics in the field of educational psychology and two measurement and evaluation specialists validated the instrument. The reliability of the instrument was determined using the test-retest reliability method. This produced a reliability coefficient of 0.74 for Locus of Control and Aggressive Behaviour yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.86. In order to reply to the two research questions and test the relevant null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance, data was gathered and Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to evaluate it. The results showed a moderate but significant association between violent behavior and external locus of control among secondary school students in South East Nigeria. Similarly, “there is a significant low relationship between internal locus of control” and aggressive behaviour among secondary Schools adolescents in South East region of Nigeria. Among others, it was recommended that classroom teachers should enforce the deliberate use of reinforcement and punishment to challenge students to take responsibility for their own actions and decisions.