Previous research has shown a statistically significant correlation between life change stress and physical illness. To examine the relationship between locus of control and the rating of life events and to examine the relationship between responsiveness to threat and ratings, a sample of 274 college students answered a series of four questionnaires, including the college-modified Social Readjustment Rating Questionnaire, the Rotter Internal-External Scale, the Byrne Repression-Sensitization Scale, and the Learning Strategies Questionnaire. Results indicated that perception of an event, as influenced in some events by locus of control, influenced the response to the event to a certain extent. In addition, though, it was likely that locus of control may have influenced the response of an individual to certain events, the ratings of which showed no influence from locus of control. The relationship between event-ratings and the response-to-threat construct of repression-sensitization was only partially upheld. The findings confirm the existence of systematic differences in individual perception and rating of life change events. (JAC)