Locus of control, neuroticism, and stressors: Combined influences on reported physical illness

The extent to which locus of control beliefs influence reported physical illness may depend on the moderating effects of neuroticism and Stressors. In a test of this theory, 173 community-dwelling 35–55 year-old men and women completed self-report questionnaires assessing general locus of control, neuroticism, stressors, coping behaviors, and a symptom-free illness scale. Results showed that external locus of control was associated with high levels of neuroticism, experiencing many stressors, using more emotion-directed and fewer problem-directed coping behaviors, and experiencing high levels of perceived stress. Cross validation hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that the strongest predictor of reported illness was a complex interaction term of nonlinear neuroticism, nonlinear locus of control, and stressors. The main effect of stressors added further independent variance to the illness prediction. There appears to be a reliable influence on illness of extremely external locus of control beliefs, high levels of neuroticism that is independent of symptoms that overlap with illness, and stressors.