Lesson 11: Resistance to Social Influence: Locus of Control

Question 1

Who proposed the idea of locus of control

Answer 1

Julian Rotter (1966)

Question 2

What is locus of control

Answer 2

• refers to a persons perception of the degree of personal control they have over their behaviour
• external locus of control believe that their future relies on factors outside their control e.g. luck or fate
• internal locus of control feel a stronger sense of control over their life and show more resistance to social influence

Question 3

Why do people with internal LOC resist social pressures?

Answer 3

They take more responsibility for their actions so are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs and thus resist pressures from other people.

Question 4

Supporting evidence for Locus of Control- holocaust study

Answer 4

Oliner and Oliner (1988)
- interviewed two groups of non-Jewish people who had lived through the holocaust
- compared 406 people who protected and rescued Jews from the Nazis and 126 people who had not done this
- found that group who rescued had internal LOC, so study suggests that people who have an internal LOC are likely to act rather than leave situation to fate

Question 5

Holland (1967) evidence supporting locus of control

Answer 5

• repeated Milgrams baselines study and measured whether participants were internal or external
• found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock (showed resistance)
• whereas 23% of externals did not continue
• this research increases the validity of the LOC explanation and our confidence that it can explain resistance to social influence

Question 6

Weaknesses of the locus of control theory

Answer 6

Conflicting research evidence
- Twenge (2004) analysed data from American obedience studies over a 40 year period (1960-2002)
- data showed that over the time span, people became more resistant to obedience but also show more external locus of control

Poor method of measuring LOC
- Julian Rotter devised a questionnaire in 1967 where society had very different view points and there had been a world war only 22 years before
- brings about question of whether the questionnaire is relevant today
- questionnaire therefore may lack temporal validity