Locus of control : perceived institutional constraints and morale in the institutionalized elderly

The purpose of this study was to examine locus of control, perceived institutional constraints and morale in the institutionalized elderly. Self-care abilities and perceived health status were included as variables of interest. The 22 subjects were non-psychiatric, intermediate care nursing home residents 73 to 93 years of age.

This study was based on Rotter's locus of control concept, developed from social learning theory, and King's Theory of Goal Attainment. Both Rotter and King stress the role of perception in influencing behavior.

The research design was a descriptive correlational and cross-sectional study. Five multiple item questionnaires and one single item questionnaire were used for data collection. The questionnaires included: the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, Rotter's Internal-External Scale, the Barthel Index, a Perceived Institutional Constraint Index and a researcher-developed demographic questionnaire. Perceived health was measured by response to a single question. Data analysis included measures of central tendency, frequency distributions, Pearson's correlation and multiple regression analysis.

Five research questions were formulated and tested. An alpha level of .05 was used as the criterion of statistical significance for the study. Locus of control, perceived institutional constraints and perceived health status were significantly related to morale. Multiple regression analysis showed that perceived institutional constraints accounted for 41.13% of the variance in morale.

Results of the study support Rotter's social learning theory and King's theory of goal attainment. The findings suggest that perception does influence behavior. Implications for nursing include the need to become more aware of the importance of perception. Thorough perceptual assessments and encouragement of the expression of feelings may assist in the identification of specific situations which are perceived inaccurately or viewed as too constraining by institutionalized elderly individuals.