An analysis of the irrational beliefs and locus of control of 7th and 8th grade primary school students according to their emphatic tendencies

The purpose of this thesis is to show whether or not there is a differentiation between irrational beliefs and locus of control of 7th and 8th grade primary school students according to their emphatic tendencies.The research is conducted on 774 students studying in seven primary schools in Sultangazi district of the city of Istanbul. 392 of these students are in 7th grade and 382 of them are in 8th grade. The tools for the data collection in the research are Personal Information Form, Empathic Tendency Scale (Dökmen, 1988), Nowicki-Strickland Internal/External Locus of Control Scale, and the Irrational Beliefs Scale for Adolescents (IBSA) (Çivitçi, 2006).Single Direction Variance Analysis is the method that was used in the research to test differences in average points between low, middle, and high level locus of control of the students and the minimum irrational beliefs scale for adolescents. The differences between these groups are determined by using the Scheffe Multiple Comparison Test.This research enabled us to found that students with high level empathic tendencies are more self-controlled in their locus of control, family and peer relations, success, and fate in a comparison with those students who have low level empathic tendencies. Besides, it was not found a meaningful difference between superstition and locus of control based on the level of empathic tendencies of the students.Furthermore, the research show us that irrational beliefs of those students with low level empathic tendencies in demand for success and comfort are in a higher degree than those students with high level empathic tendencies. In contrast, irrational beliefs of those students with high level empathic tendencies in demand for respect are in a higher degree than those students with low level empathic tendencies.