Locus of control, educational attainment, and college aspirations: the relative role of effort and expectations

Szabó-Morvai, Ágnes and Kiss, Hubert János ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3666-9331 (2024) Locus of control, educational attainment, and college aspirations: the relative role of effort and expectations. Education economics . DOI 10.1080/09645292.2023.2273220

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/09645292.2023.2273220

Abstract

We study the relationship between locus of control and both educational attainment and college aspirations in adolescence, focusing on the potential channels through which locus of control may influence these outcomes. Even after controlling for a comprehensive set of socio-demographic factors and cognitive skills, there remains a strong correlation between locus of control, college aspirations, and attendance. We show that effort is an essential channel through which locus of control operates. Mediation analysis further reveals that this mechanism is more influential than future expectations in determining high-school graduation, college aspirations, and attendance.

Item Type:

Article

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Educational attainment; college aspirations; effort; expectations; locus of control; machine learning; PDS lasso

JEL classification:

D91 - Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
I21 - Analysis of Education
I23 - Higher Education; Research Institutions
I24 - Education and Inequality
I26 - Returns to Education

Divisions:

Institute of Economics

Subjects:

Education

Funders:

Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office NKFIH, Lendület programme of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Projects:

K119683 and FK131422, LP2018-2/2018 and LP2021-2

DOI:

10.1080/09645292.2023.2273220

ID Code:

10484