Internal Locus of Control and Psychological Goal-Setting
RCTReview
Job seekers who believe external factors dictate their employment prospects often reduce search effort and succumb to discouragement. Overcoming this external locus of control requires structured psychological strategies to restore search motivation.
Picture this
Think of a student who believes exam grades depend entirely on luck and stops studying as a result. Teaching the student a concrete goal-setting method breaks the daunting subject into daily practice targets, rebuilding confidence that hard work directly produces passing grades.
What the evidence says
Teaching structured behavioral goal-setting strategies to unemployed workers significantly increased total job application submissions and restored job search activity by shifting perceived control over labor market outcomes.
- Who was studied
- Unemployed job seekers participating in public employment assistance programs in Germany and international field sites.
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) evaluating psychological goal-setting frameworks (such as WOOP - Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) aimed at altering perceived control and search persistence.
What to do
Embed psychological goal-setting exercises into job counseling sessions to help unemployed individuals build structured search routines and counteract discouragement.
From the source
"In addition, an evaluation in Germany showed that teaching innovative behavioral strategies to increase the chance of goal achievement helped increase job applications."
ENG_Job-search-assistance.pdf