Locus of Control and Parenting Styles as Correlates of Academic Performance in Socially Disadvantaged Undergraduate Students

The education of Schedule Castes and Schedule tribes and other backward classes in India has been the focal point of concern in the post-independent India. Although visible progress has occurred in the life of these students, the educational system failed to enable and encourage them to take full advantage of the available opportunities On social level, the parent's occupational status, educational level, parent's educational and occupational aspirations for their children, their attitudes and values and the demand of the school affected the performance adversely. Locus of control is one of the most studied variables in psychology(Rotter1990). Research has documented the important role internal locus of control plays in academic achievement. One of the variables that might contribute to variations in locus of control is parenting styles. Research conducted has shown links between locus of control and parenting styles. This study examined locus of control, parenting styles and academic performance of socially disadvantaged groups. Locus of control and parenting styles were used to determine which of these correlate with academic performance. 30 SC,30 ST and 30 General undergraduate students within the age of 18 to 21 yrs from 2 Govt. colleges of Jammu were selected as a sample. Data was collected by administering Rotter's locus of control scale while parental authority questionnaire by Buri was used to measure perceived parenting styles of college students, the overall average percentage achieved by them in class 5th, 8th, 10th , 12th was taken as their academic performance. Random sampling technique was used in the present study. The data obtained was analysed statistically and the study revealed that there is a significant difference in the locus of control, permissive, authoritarian parenting styles of SC, ST and General undergraduate students. Also a significant correlation was found between locus of control, parenting style and academic performance of undergradute Students.