Employees A and B work together on the same project team. When the team faces a complex and difficult problem, the team leader usually asks Employee…

Employee A’s initiative, information‐seeking, and belief that outcomes are controllable are hallmarks of an internal locus of control, whereas Employee B’s preference for structure and belief that luck controls outcomes indicate an external locus of control. Research shows internals seek information and act proactively, while externals avoid uncertainty and favor clearly defined tasks. Therefore, the only statement that correctly characterises both workers is the one identifying A as having an internal locus and B as having an external locus.

A – Reverses the locus-of-control descriptions; internals do not attribute results to luck.

C – Machiavellianism concerns manipulative behaviour, not information seeking or luck beliefs.

D – Authoritarianism relates to rule orientation, not control over outcomes.

1. Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2022). Organizational Behavior (19th ed.), pp. 108-109 (“Locus of Control”).

2. Luthans, F. (2021). Organizational Behavior (14th ed.), pp. 128-129 (“Internals vs. Externals”).

3. Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80(1), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0092976