An examination of the relationship between self-esteem, locus of control and competitive attitude in organizational context

This study examines the relationship between self-esteem, locus of control and competitive attitudes of people working at public, private and participation banks. The aim of the study is to determine the extent to which the concepts of self-esteem and locus of control explain employees' competitive attitudes in the organizational context. The two basic hypotheses of the study are: 1) There is a relationship between employees' self-esteem and competitive attitudes, and 2) There is a significant difference between employees' locus of control and competitive attitudes. Sample of the study consists of 322 employees working at 53 different branches of public, private and participation banks located in the city center of Kastamonu and its 20 districts. Participants' self-esteem, locus of control and competitive attitude scores were measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1963), Rotter's Locus of Control Scale (1966), and Akbayırlı's Competitive Attitude Scale (1998), respectively. Findings of the study show that employees' self-esteem has an effect on competitive attitude and on competition pleasure, result-orientation and comparison, which are subdimensions of the competitive attitude scale. Findings of the study also show that there is no significant difference between employees' locus of control and competitive attitudes.