Relationship of Internal External Control and United States Suicide Rates, 1966-1973

Annual variations in scores on the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale by college students btwn 1966-73 were related to concomitant annual variations in suicide rates for the total US populations & for 8 separate age groups. Results suggest perceptions of internal-external control did not change among older persons as they did among younger persons, perhaps because older persons might be less susceptible to cultural influences that affect the perceived control of younger persons.