Locus of Control, Perceived Stress and Anxiety due to COVID-19 in Indian College Students

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus leading to the declaration of a global pandemic is one of those events that has not spared anyone of its impact. However chronic the stressor may be, the tendency of human beings to respond in unique ways have always fascinated the realm of psychology. The following study aims to identify whether variables such as locus of control, perceived stress and coronavirus anxiety operate in significant patterns among the college students of India. Despite being relatively on the safer end in being infected, emerging adults are more prone to its psychological risks. The results of the online survey taken by 154 participants between ages 18-25, reported a higher degree of externality and perceived stress in the sample. While perceived stress positively correlated with an external locus of control and coronavirus anxiety, the latter two were not related significantly. In addition to lending a hand toward further measures taken to study the current and upcoming psychological patterns due to the pandemic, this study emphasizes the vitality of adopting strategies that reduce one’s perception of stress, accurate information transmission about the virus and boost internality.