<P> This new, dimensional theory meant that one could now attribute outcomes to ability (an internal stable cause), effort (an internal unstable cause), task difficulty (an external stable cause) or luck (an external, unstable cause). Although this was how Weiner originally saw these four causes, he has been challenged as to whether people see luck (for example) as an external cause, whether ability is always perceived as stable, and whether effort is always seen as changing . Indeed, in more recent publications (e.g. Weiner, 1980) he uses different terms for these four causes (such as "objective task characteristics" instead of "task difficulty" and "chance" instead of "luck"). Psychologists since Weiner have distinguished between stable and unstable effort, knowing that in some circumstances effort could be seen as a stable cause (especially given the presence of words such as "industrious" in English). </P> <P> Regarding locus of control, there is another type of control that entails a mix among the internal and external types . People that have the combination of the two types of locus of control are often referred to as Bi-locals . People that have Bi-local characteristics are known to handle stress and cope with their diseases more efficiently by having the mixture of internal and external locus of control . People that have this mix of loci of control can take personal responsibility for their actions and the consequences thereof while remaining capable of relying upon and having faith in outside resources; these characteristics correspond to the internal and external loci of control, respectively . An example of this mixed system would be an alcoholic who will accept the fact that he brought the disease upon himself while remaining open to treatment and / or acknowledging that there are people, mainly doctors and therapists, that are trying to cure his / her addiction, and on whom he should rely . </P> <P> The most widely used questionnaire to measure locus of control is the 23 - item (plus six filler items), forced - choice scale of Rotter (1966). However, this is not the only questionnaire; Bialer's (1961) 23 - item scale for children predates Rotter's work . Also relevant to the locus - of - control scale are the Crandall Intellectual Ascription of Responsibility Scale (Crandall, 1965) and the Nowicki - Strickland Scale . One of the earliest psychometric scales to assess locus of control (using a Likert - type scale, in contrast to the forced - choice alternative measure in Rotter's scale) was that devised by W.H. James for his unpublished doctoral dissertation, supervised by Rotter at Ohio State University; however, this remains unpublished . </P> <P> Many measures of locus of control have appeared since Rotter's scale . These were reviewed by Furnham and Steele (1993) and include those related to health psychology, industrial and organizational psychology and those specifically for children (such as the Stanford Preschool Internal - External Control Index for three - to six - year - olds). Furnham and Steele (1993) cite data suggesting that the most reliable, valid questionnaire for adults is the Duttweiler scale . For a review of the health questionnaires cited by these authors, see "Applications" below . </P>

A shift from an active to a passive orientation would most likely affect