Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions

by Gerd Gigerenzer

The Internal-External Locus of Control Scale is a questionnaire that measures how much people believe to be in control of their own fate, as opposed to being controlled by others. The questionnaire was given to children aged nine to fourteen from 1960 to 2002. During that time children’s belief that they have control over their own destinies substantially declined. In 2002 the average child reported higher external control than 80 percent of their peers in 1960. When children experience little internal control over their lives, they tend to become anxious in the face of uncertainty: I’m doomed; there’s no point in trying. The light at the end of the tunnel is that people who report more internal control tend to fare better in life than those who don’t. They play a more active role in their communities, take better care of their health, and get better jobs. We may have no control about whether people find our clothes or skills or appearance attractive. But we do have control over internal goals such as acquiring languages, mastering a musical instrument, or taking responsibility for small children or our grandparents. The shift toward external goals is not a biological fact engraved in stone; it is possible for all of us to refocus on internal goals and shed excessive anxiety about everyday risks and uncertainties.