Julian Rotter facts for kids

Julian B. Rotter (born October 22, 1916 – died January 6, 2014) was an American psychologist. He is famous for creating the idea of social learning theory and for his research on something called "locus of control". He taught at Ohio State University and later at the University of Connecticut. A study in 2002 said he was one of the most important and often-quoted psychologists of the 20th century.

About Julian Rotter

Julian Rotter was born in 1916 in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He was the third son of parents who had moved to the U.S. As a schoolboy, he became very interested in psychology and philosophy by reading books.

His Education and Early Career

Rotter went to Brooklyn College in 1933. He studied chemistry there, even though he found psychology more interesting. He thought chemistry would help him earn more money. While at Brooklyn College, a psychologist named Solomon Asch helped him learn a lot. Another important person who influenced him was Alfred Adler. Adler even invited Rotter, who was still a student, to attend his special training clinic.

After Brooklyn College, Rotter earned a master's degree at the University of Iowa. There, he studied with Kurt Lewin, a famous psychologist. Lewin's ideas about goals and barriers clearly influenced Rotter's later work.

Rotter then worked at Worcester State Hospital. This was one of the only places where you could get special training in clinical psychology at the time. He met Clara Barnes there, who he later married. He also became interested in how people set goals for themselves.

He continued his studies at Indiana University. He earned his doctorate degree in 1941. Throughout his education, Rotter was influenced by several important thinkers. These included Alfred Adler, Clark Hull, B.F. Skinner, and Edward Tolman.

Working as a Psychologist

After getting his doctorate, Rotter had trouble finding a job at a university. This was because of unfair treatment against Jewish people at the time. He took a job at Norwich Hospital instead. Soon after, he joined the United States Army during World War II. In the Army, Rotter worked as a psychologist.

After the war, he briefly returned to Norwich Hospital. Then, Ohio State University asked him to join their team. At Ohio State, Rotter worked with George Kelly. During this time, Rotter published two very important works. One was the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank (1950). The other was his main book, Social Learning and Clinical Psychology (1954). Many of his key studies on "locus of control" also happened while he was at Ohio State.

In 1963, Rotter moved to the University of Connecticut. He became the director of their clinical psychology program. He stayed there for the rest of his career. He retired in 1987 but kept teaching graduate classes for several more years. Rotter also led several important psychology organizations.

He passed away at the age of 97 on January 6, 2014, in Mansfield, Connecticut.

Incomplete Sentences Blank

During his time in the military, Rotter had to figure out if soldiers were emotionally ready to go back to duty. He used a quick test where people finished sentences. This helped him find those who needed more help.

After the war, he made this test better and more standard. It was called the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank (RISB) and came out in 1950. The test has 40 sentence beginnings, like "My biggest worry is..." or "I wish...". The person taking the test has to finish each sentence with their true feelings.

Trained experts can look at the completed sentences to understand a person's feelings. Rotter also created a way to score the test. This made it more reliable and less about just one person's opinion. The RISB is still one of the most used sentence completion tests today.

Social Learning Theory

When Rotter was a young psychologist, many people in America studied behaviorism. This idea focused only on what people did, not what they thought or felt. Rotter liked how behaviorists were very careful in their studies. But he felt their ideas were too simple to explain how humans act in social situations.

He also liked the ideas of gestalt psychology, which looked at how people understand things as a whole. But he found these ideas not clear enough. Rotter wanted to create a theory that combined the best parts of both. This became his Social Learning Theory (SLT).

Rotter's SLT suggested that our behavior is shaped by two main things:

• Expectancy: This is how much you believe a certain action will lead to a certain result. For example, if you study hard, do you expect to get a good grade?
• Reinforcement value: This is how much you want that result. Do you really want a good grade?

So, you are most likely to do something if you believe you can succeed and you really want the outcome. Both your expectations and what you value are learned from your experiences. These ideas can also spread to new situations. For example, if you do well in many sports, you might expect to do well in new athletic activities too.

Rotter's theory was special because it could be used to predict what people would do. It showed that our behavior is influenced by our social surroundings and what we learn from them, not just by our inner thoughts. His ideas also helped lead to what is now called cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Locus of Control

An important part of Rotter's Social Learning Theory was the idea of "locus of control". This looks at how much people believe they control their own lives.

People with an internal locus of control believe that their own efforts and actions are the main reasons for what happens to them. They feel they are in charge of their own success or failure.

People with an external locus of control believe that outside forces, like luck, fate, or other powerful people, control what happens to them. They might feel less in control of their own lives.

In 1966, Rotter published his famous I-E scale. This test helped measure if someone had an internal or external locus of control. This paper became one of the most referenced works in social science. Rotter himself was surprised by how popular this idea became. He said it was like lighting a cigarette and seeing a forest fire!

Rotter's Impact

Julian Rotter is seen as one of the most important psychologists of the 20th century. His studies on internal versus external locus of control led to a lot of research. This research explored how people make choices and how they feel about having control. His new ideas about social learning changed how people thought about personality and clinical psychology.

Rotter and his wife, Clara Barnes, had two children. He was married from 1941 until his wife passed away in 1985.