Locus of control - resistance to social influence

what are the two types of locus of control

internal and external

what is internal locus of control

where a person believe they control things in their lives

what is external locus of control

where a person believes other factors controls their lives such as fate

which type of locus of control is more resistant to social influence and why

internal because they believe they control their own lives and wont follow others

who did the study on locus of control

Rotter

what method did Rotter use to investigate locus of control

meta-analyis

what was the procedure of the study

participants were given two statements and had to choose 1 which he called the internal-external scale

what were the results from the study

internals preferred certainties and more resistant to social influence whereas externals prefer risky gambles and are less resistant

research support - evaluation

Holland repeated Milgram’s study and found 37% of internals didn’t go to the highest level compared to 23% of externals didn’t go to the highest level

opposing research - evaluation

Twenge analysed data from American locus of control studies and found over a forty years period, people are more external but also more resistant

limited role of locus of control - evaluation

Rotter said there may be other more important factors affecting resistance to social influence as he said locus of control is only important in new situations