THE RELATIONSHIP OF LOCUS OF CONTROL AND VIVIDNESS OF IMAGINATION MEASURES TO SIMULATION PERFORMANCE


Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 15, 1988 

 134

THE RELATIONSHIP OF LOCUS OF CONTROL AND VIVIDNESS OF IMAGINATION MEASURES TO 
SIMULATION PERFORMANCE 

 
Walter J. Wheatley, The University of West Florida 
William P. Anthony, The Florida State University 

E. Nick Maddox, Stetson University 
 
ABSTRACT 
 

This research project investigated the relationship of 
locus of control and vividness of imagination measures on 
simulation performance criteria. It was hypothesized that an 
internal locus of control and a vivid imagination measure 
would have a positive relationship with simulation 
performance, group, peer evaluations, and team quality. 
Utilizing a large sample size and controlling for the demand 
characteristic bias the research design did not produce 
results which would support the hypotheses. However, an 
unexpected finding of the study suggests that gender 
differences may significantly impact simulation 
performance. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 

Researchers have known for some tine that particular 
aspects of thinking and personality that differ between 
people influence the mannerisms in which they tackle 
business related situations. For example, in developing 
strategic plans, the roles of individuals along with their 
decision making styles and their judgements, will greatly 
influence how they prepare their plans for the future 
(Loveridge, 1979). Two aspects of thinking and personality 
which have received a great deal of attention in the 
Management literature are locus of control (Miller, Kets de 
Vries, and Touhouse, 1982) and vividness of imagination 
(Anthony, Wheatley, and Maddox, 1985). These two 
particular cognitive aspects greatly impact the behaviors of 
today’s executives. According to the Management literature 
an internal locus of control facilitates innovation and more 
dynamic strategies while a vivid imagination provides for a 
greater level of creative decisions. In addition, there is more 
than ample evidence existing in the literature that states that 
these cognitive aspects can be enhanced through training 
and practice in the business management classroom. Thus, 
the purpose of this piece of research was to gain a better 
understanding of the relationship of locus of control and 
vividness of imagination measures to business simulation 
performance. A discussion of the theoretical underpinnings 
of these two cognitive aspects are presented next followed 
by a presentation of the research project and its findings. 
 
LOCUS OF CONTROL 
 

The locus of control notion states that work behavior 
can be explained by whether employees perceive outcomes 
as controlled internally or externally (Luthans, 1981). It has 
practical implications for business management practices 
because those individuals who have an internal locus of 
control are more likely to engage in more innovation than 
their counterparts who exhibit an external locus of control 
(Miller, Kets de Vries, and Touhouse, 1982). 

The roots of locus of control theory can be traced to the 
writings of F. Heider (1958) who believed that both internal 
forces (ability, effort, and fatigue) and external forces (rules, 
weather, etc.) combine to determine behavior. He stressed 

that it is the perceived, not the actual determinants, that are 
important to behavior. The actual development of the locus 
of control theory is attributed to-J. B. Rotter (1966) who 
developed the Locus of Control instrument. Rotter 
formulated his theory around the role of reinforcement in 
determining behavior because he felt that an individual 
could perceive reinforcement as a consequence to his/her 
own behavior (internal) or as a function of factors beyond 
his/her control (external) 

Weiner (1972) developed Rotter’s theory further by 
suggesting that individuals act as “naive psychologists and 
are motivated to examine the causes of an event to obtain a 
cognitive explanation of the causal structure of their 
environment” (p. 356). Building upon these works, many 
important aspects of the locus of control theory have 
developed in order to better understand human behavior in 
the work place. 

First, there is the tendency of individuals to attribute 
success to internal causes (ability and effort) and to attribute 
failure to external causes (Fitch, 1970; Weiner and Kubla, 
1970). Secondly, high achievers will attribute task success 
more to ability than will low achievers and, conversely, low 
achievers will attribute failure more to ability than will high 
achievers (Kubla, 1972). Finally. there are some serious 
implications for future behavior. An individual is more 
likely to believe that he/she will succeed in the future if 
present success is attributed to a stable cause (ability or an 
easy task) or if present failure is attributed to an unstable 
cause (insufficient effort or bad luck). Failure attributed to a 
stable factor, on the other hand, has been found to result in 
the person not attempting the task again, because he/she has 
no reason to expect to do any better in the future (Frieze, 
Kubla, Reed, and Rosenbaum, 1971). 

The importance of locus of control to business 
management behavior is that internals are more likely to 
exhibit those entrepreneurial qualities that are necessary for 
the survival and growth of a business enterprise than are 
externals (Durand and Shea, 1975; Shapern, 1975). Studies 
conducted by Miller, Kets de Vries, and Toulouse (1982) 
have revealed that internals will more often introduce new 
products and services, invent more production technologies, 
and make more dramatic changes to product lines than will 
externals. Therefore, it was a hypothesis of this study that 
those students with an internal locus of control would 
perform better in a business simulation than would those 
students with an external locus of control. 

 
VIVIDNESS OF IMAGINATION 
 

One of the major deficiencies currently existing in the 
business management process is the lack of imagination 
(Steiner, Kunin, and Kunin, 1983; Wilson, 1981; Bennis, 
1981). Thus, a strong capacity for imagination would have 
practical implications for the business management process. 
Although imagination means many things to many people, 
for purposes of this study imagination is defined as 
divergent



Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 15, 1988 

 135

thinking, i.e., the ability to entertain many different and 
diverse ideas and concepts. Imagination is considered to be 
one of the highest of mental functions (Rhodes, 1982). 
Many researchers accord creative greatness to imagination 
(Parnes, 1977; Arieti, 1976; Khatena, 1976; Leonard and 
Lindauer, 1973). In writing on the relationship of creativity 
to imagination Leuner (1977) states that imagination is the 
basic element of the creative process. 

Although there are many aspects of imagination, one 
measure that has been empirically tested is vividness of 
imagination (Rhodes, 1982; Freidman and Krus, 1983). 
Vividness of imagination is the richness of detail imagined 
by the individual or the amount of information imagined 
(Klinger, 1978). The notion of vividness of imagination can 
be traced to Galton’s breakfast table questionnaire (1880), 
however, major credit for developing a method of 
measurement is attributed to G. H. Betts (1909). Bett’s scale 
for measurement contains seven dimensions of vividness of 
imagination ranging from perfectly clear and as vivid as the 
actual experience (vivid) to recognizable but dim to no 
image present at all; you only know that you are thinking of 
the object (vague). 

Like locus of control vividness of imagination differs 
in degree from individual to individual ranging from high to 
low (Rader and Telligun, 1981). “The ability to translate 
stimuli into vivid images is indicative of a continuously 
rather than typologically distributed skill” (p. 155). On the 
high side, Wilson and Barber (1981) found that some 
individuals imagined images as vivid as reality “. they 
appear to experience what they fantasize fn the same way 
that they experience reality” (p. 141). However, not 
everyone has this degree of vividness of imagination and 
unfortunately, the absence of vivid imagination does not 
lend itself to efficient processing (Stroksahl and Ascough, 
198]) or to effective business management behavior. 
Therefore it was hypothesized by this study that students 
with a vivid imagination would perform better in the 
business simulation than would students with a vague 
imagination. 
 
RESEARCH DESIGN 
 
Sample Population 

Data were collected from 196 graduate students 
seeking a Masters of Business Administration degree from a 
medium, Southeastern university. All students who 
happened to enroll in the Fall 1986 and Spring 1987 sections 
of Business Policy and Planning took part in the research 
project 

The simulation employed in this research project is a 
modified version of the original Carnegie-Mellon game. It is 
one of the most complex simulations of business enterprises 
in a competitive industry known to exist today. It is 
designed to provide students with a compressed and 
integrative, but realistic experience in the management and 
operations of a medium sized, multinational, publicly held 
corporation. In this two semester, intensive course, the 
students are exposed to the problems, uncertainties, stress 
and opportunities which arise in managing a company for a 
simulated period of two years. The simulation program 
duplicates not only the actual manufacturing, marketing, and 
financial transactions encountered in competitive business 
operations, but also the internal problems of operating in a 
management group under conditions of limited time and 
resources, rewards and penalties, and high stress. The 
students who complete this Management simulation should 
possess a far higher level of skill in the management of 
organization than could ever be acquired through traditional 
classroom work.  

 
Performance Variables 

Three performance variables were employed in this 
study: firm ranking, firm quality, and firm internal peer 
performance evaluations. Firm rankings were determined by 
a composite of firm financial performance criteria which 
included traditional measurements such as return on sales, 
return on investment, dividend policy, market share, etc. An 
overall score Incorporating all of these measures was 
determined and assigned to each firm at the end of the 
competition. Firms finished first, second, etc. 

Firm quality was a measure of the firms ability to 
submit correct input, to meet deadlines, to accurately 
prepare statements, etc. Quality points were awarded for 
these activities and again firms finished first, second, etc. 

Finally, all members of each firm completed a peer 
performance evaluation form where they assigned 
evaluation points for the performance of each of their firm 
members. Those members whose performance was deemed 
very good received high scores while those whose 
performance was deemed to be poor received lower scores. 
These scores were collected and an average evaluation of 
performance was obtained for each student. 
 
Control for the Demand Characteristic 

In this type of research, a common cause of serious bias 
comes from respondents telling researchers the things the 
researchers seem to want to hear (Rosenthal, 1976). This 
“demand characteristic" poses a special threat when using 
students as subjects. Students love to play games and will try 
to “win” if they can figure out the objective of the exercise. 
To minimize the effects of demand, the Rotter’s locus of 
control questionnaire and the Bett’s vividness of 
imagination instruments were administered along with other 
“bogus pipeline” instruments to eliminate any demand 
compliant responses (Rosnow and Davis, 1977). In addition, 
at no tine was the true intent of the study revealed to the 
students. 
 
RESULTS 
 
Analysis 

Figure 1 reflects the distributions resulting from the 
administration of the locus of control and vividness of 
imagination Instruments. These distributions appear to be 
quite normal and of the same magnitude of prior research 
projects utilizing these instruments. The locus of control 
sample was divided into Internals and externals and the 
vividness of imagination sample was divided into vivid and 
vague. This process is also congruent with research projects 
utilizing these instruments. 

Table 1 reflects the results of the analysts of variance 
performed on the three main performance variables and the 
three dependent variables of locus of control, vividness of 
imagination, and gender. Gender was included due to the 
researchers ongoing research on gender differences in 
business education. There is no evidence to suggest that an 
internal locus of control has any effect upon any of the main 
performance variables (firm performance - p-value .409; 
firm quality p-value .687; firm peer performance evaluation 
p-value .214). There is also no evidence to suggest that a 
vivid imagination has any effect upon any of the main 
performance variables (firm performance - p-value .436; 
firm quality p-value .623; firm peer performance evaluation 
p-value. .197) However while there is no evidence to 
suggest that gender has any effect on the firm performance 
(p-value .379); there is evidence to suggest that gender does 
have an effect upon firm quality (p-value - .096) and firm 
peer performance evaluation (p-value .094). 



Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 15, 1988 

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Discussion 
It was an obvious surprise to these researchers to find 

that two very well accepted and tested cognitive aspects of 
Management theory had no significant effect upon the 
performance variables defined for the simulation employed. 
One possible answer may be the team influence. The 
synergism generated by the teams may overcome individual 
proclivities such as locus of control and vividness of 
imagination. Thus in team situations it may be necessary to 
examine other types of performance variables in order to 
isolate the effect of locus of control and vividness of 
imagination. Other possible answers may lie in some 
theoretical and/or methodogical limitations to this study 
which are currently unknown to the researchers. 

The somewhat serendipitous finding of the effect of 
gender on both firm quality and firm peer performance 
evaluation is of interest to all involved in the utilization of 
simulations. Those teams that had a majority of females in 
their composition did a significantly better lob of meeting 
deadlines, correctly entering their input data, and in insuring 
the accuracy of their work. However, on a less brighter side, 
there was a significant tendency for females to score other 
female team member much lower on the peer performance 
evaluation than they scored their male team members. Both 
of the areas are in dire need of future research to explain 
these gender related phenomenon. 
 
CONCLUSION 
 

The purpose of this study was to investigate the 
relationship of locus of control and vividness of imagination 
measures to simulation performance variables. The study, 
utilizing a large sample size and controlling for demand 
bias, was unable to detect a significant relationship of either 
cognitive aspect on the simulation performance variables. 
However, the study did find a significant effect of gender 
differences in the team quality and peer performance 
evaluation variables. 

 
Future studies, of this nature, should examine other 

types of team performance variables that take into account 
team synergism. In addition, the gender differences must 
certainly be pursued if we are to fully understand the 
efficacy of team participation in business simulations. 



Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 15, 1988 

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	Table of Contents
	Volume 15, 1988
	The Role of Experiential Knowledge and Human Information Processing in Decision Making
	A Semantic Differential Instrument to Evaluate Experiential Teaching Methods
	A Comparison of Two Approaches to Management Skill-Building in an Organizational Behavior Course: A Replication
	Integrating Simulations: A Model for Business Policy Success
	Capstone Renaissance = Simulation + Interaction + DSS
	A Hybrid Method of Executing a Management Simulation: Combining the Best of Mainframes and Microcomputers
	Providing an Experiential Dimension to Cost/Managerial Accounting Courses
	Utilization of Computerized Tax Research Services in the Tax Research Curriculum
	Using and Expert System Based Decision Aid in Accounting Information Systems
	Event-Extended Entity-Relationship Diagrams for Understanding Simulation Model Structure and Function
	Multiple Objectives in the Development of the Gordon Macro Game
	A Comparative Study of Strategic Performance Factors in Actual and Simulated Business Environments
	An Empirical Investigation of Integrated Spatial-Proximity MCDM-Behavioral Problem Solving Technology Group Decision models
	Computer Simulation of Human Interaction
	The Role of Experiential Learning and Simulation in Teaching Management Skills
	Expert Systems - The New Business Simulation Tool
	Integrating Prolog into and Undergraduate Logistics Course
	Simulating Material Requirements Planning on Lotus 1-2-3
	Innovation in Management Education: The Impact of the AACSB
	Experiential Learning in the International Environment
	Educational Testing with the Microcomputer
	A Simulation of Investment Analysis, Portfolio Management and Reporting Using Lotus 1-2-3
	The Use of an Expert System to Develop Strategic Scenarios
	Two Exercises for Teaching about Motivation
	Sex Roles and the Good Manager
	A Form and Process for Nonconfidential Peer Evaluations
	Simulation and the Recalcitrant Student
	Employee Rights-Student Rights: A Classroom Exercise
	Computer Simulated Competition: An Alternative to Team Play Management Simulation
	The Relationship of Locus of Control and Vividness of Imagination Measures to Simulation Performance
	Formal Planning, Simulation Team Performance, and Satisfaction: A Replication
	Experimental Analysis of Magnitude and Source of Students' Inequitable Classroom Perceptions in Three Reward Conditions
	Strategy Design, Process and Implementation in a Stable/Complex Environment: An Exploratory Study
	Matching a Strategy Simulation to the Business Policy Literature: A Black Box Approach to Simulation Development
	An Evolutionary Classroom Experiential and Computer Simulation Model of a Corporate Strategic Planning System
	Collective Bargaining in the City of Elson: A Public Sector Experience
	Should Students Play Games in Labor Relations?
	Applying Cognitive Educational Objectives to Business Management Cases
	Grading as a Teaching and Feedback Mechanism: Involving Students in the Grading Process
	Teaching Controversies: A New Approach to Computer-Assisted Instruction and Simulation Packages
	Simulating Demand in and Independent-Across-Firm Management Game
	Advertising Response in the Gold and Pray Algorithm: A Critical Assessment
	A Model for Pricing Decisions in First Period Marketing Simulation Games
	Jog Your Right Brain: An Exercise for the Classroom and for Research
	Six Thinking Hats: An Exercise to Combat Confusion and Develop Thinking Skills
	Communicating in Context: A Simulation for Learning Business Communication
	A Simulated Consulting Service for the Compete Marketing Simulation Game
	Action Exams in the Consumer Behavior Class
	Using Focus Groups to Teach Problem Definition in Basic Marketing Research
	The Use of Journals in Management Simulations: A Literature Review and an ABSEL Response
	An Initial Step Towards Developing and Using an Expert System with a Business Simulation
	Self-Managed Learning: An Experiential Course Design Using the QWL Paradigm
	A Review of Current Developments in Experiential Learning
	Bring the Real World into the Classroom
	Assessing Student Performance on a Business Simulation Experience
	Minimizing Startup Anxiety: Case Studies of Simulation Experiences
	A Tale of Two Shepards Or Using Simulation in a Class Without Walls
	Enhancing Business Simulations Through the Utilization of Experiential Activities Involving Local Community Executives
	Simulation with Integrated Spreadsheets: The Design and Development of a Conversational Marketing Concepts Decision Game
	Introducing INMART: An International Marketing Simulation
	Using a Computer-Based Business Plan Assistant in Conjunction with a Marketing Simulation Game
	Overview of the ABSEL Guide to Experiential Learning and Simulation Learning