Sources and Levels of Stress in Relation to Locus of Control and Self Esteem in University Students

Abstract

This study reports an investigation into the sources and levels of stress in relation to locus of control and self esteem in university students. Two stress questionnaires (ASQ and LSQ) were used to assess students’ stress. The first deals with academic sources of stress, and the second assesses the student's life stress levels. The achievement scale of the Multidimensional Multi‐attributional Scale Causality (MMCS) was used to measure locus of control, and the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale to assess students’ self esteem. The study sample consisted of 675 (202 males and 473 females) second‐year undergraduate students. The results indicated that examination and examination results were the highest causes of stress in students, followed by studying for exams, too much to do and the amount to learn, respectively. Results showed that 77.6% and 10.4% of the students fall into the moderate and serious stress categories, respectively, and that there were significant differences between females and males students in both academic and life stress, with female students more stressed than males. Results also indicated a significant positive correlation between locus of control and academic stress, suggesting that students with external beliefs are more stressed than those with internal. A significant negative correlation between self esteem and both academic and life stress emerged, indicating that students with high self esteem are less stressed than are those with low.