The Effect of Locus of Control on Job Performance: An Empirical Study of Executive Level Employees in a Selected Sri Lankan Apparel Organization

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of Locus of Control (LOC) on the work-related job performance in Sri Lanka. Subjects were drawn from a pool of apparel sector executives who completed a questionnaire made up of valid and reliable instruments that measured each of the variables studied. The study was conducted on a sample of 168 executive level employees that was randomly selected from a sample frame of the selected apparel organization. The data was mainly analyzed by using the analytical software SPSS version 23 that provided more meaning and validated results. The findings indicate that one aspect of an executive’s (Apparel sector) personality, as measured by locus of control, plays an important role in predicting the level of job performance in a selected apparel organization in Sri Lanka. Executives with a higher internal locus of control are more likely to have higher levels of job performance. Further it reveals that there is a significant difference between male and female executive employees with regard to degree of locus of control. Consequently, this study extends the locus of control literature by examining the relationship of locus of control with job performance and gender difference.

Key Words: Apparel Organization, Executive Employees, Job Performance, Locus of Control, Sex Difference, Sri Lanka