The effects of freshman orientation and locus-of-control on adjustment to college

Because the first year of college encompasses many new experiences for freshmen, adjustment to the university environment has important implications for the remaining college years. Generally considered a multifaceted process, within the confines of this study adjustment has been defined as including four facets--academic adjustment, social adjustment, personal-emotional adjustment, and goal-commitment-institutional attachment. Because the manner in which one approaches the university milieu, and in turn, the adjustment process, may vary as a function of his or her locus of control, this variable was considered as well. By virtue of definition and programming, facilitating the adjustment process is one of the primary objectives of new student orientation programs at universities across the United States. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the student's locus of control and orientation attendance on the initial adjustment of the traditional full-time freshman.;Results revealed internals scored significantly higher on the full scale score on the FTQ than externals. No significant difference was found between subjects attending orientation and those who chose not to attend.;Subjects for the study were traditional college freshmen enrolled full-time at Texas Tech University, N = 315 (157 male and 158 female). The average age was 18.2 years. Data were collected during the eighth, ninth, and tenth weeks of the fall semester, 1987 using two instruments, The Freshman Transition Questionnaire (FTQ) and Rotter's Internal-External (I-E) Locus of Control Scale. A demographic questionnaire was used as well.