Resistance to social influence
Rotter – locus of control
- Person’s perception of personal control over their own behaviour personality
explanation
- Conducted a questionnaire out of 23, where you select which statement out of 2 apply
to you best.
Internal locus of control
- High score out of 23
- Believes their life is determined by their own decision and efforts.
- They have high levels of personal control over their lives and behaviour and take
responsibility for their behaviour.
- They are likely to actively seek out information that will help them personally and are
less likely to rely on others.
- More achievement orientated.
- Likely to resist pressure from others.
External locus of control
- Low score out of 23
- Believes their life is determined by fate, luck, and external factors.
- More likely to be influenced by others as they don’t believe they exercise personal
control over their lives.
LOC continuum people differ in the way they explain their success or failures, but it’s to just
a matter of being internal or external. There’s a continuum with high internal at one end and
high external at the other.
Resistance to social influence
- People with a high internal LOC are more able to resist social pressures to conform or
obey, they also tend to be more self-confident, more achievement orientated and have
higher intelligence and less need for social approval.
- These traits lead to a greater resistance to social influence.
- Spector found a relationship exists between LOC and leadership style, with internal
being more persuasive than internals.
EVALUATION
Research support for LOC
- To support the link between LOC and resisting obedience
- Holland (1967) repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether
participants were internals or externals.
- He found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level, whereas only
23% of externals did not continue.
Rotter – locus of control
- Person’s perception of personal control over their own behaviour personality
explanation
- Conducted a questionnaire out of 23, where you select which statement out of 2 apply
to you best.
Internal locus of control
- High score out of 23
- Believes their life is determined by their own decision and efforts.
- They have high levels of personal control over their lives and behaviour and take
responsibility for their behaviour.
- They are likely to actively seek out information that will help them personally and are
less likely to rely on others.
- More achievement orientated.
- Likely to resist pressure from others.
External locus of control
- Low score out of 23
- Believes their life is determined by fate, luck, and external factors.
- More likely to be influenced by others as they don’t believe they exercise personal
control over their lives.
LOC continuum people differ in the way they explain their success or failures, but it’s to just
a matter of being internal or external. There’s a continuum with high internal at one end and
high external at the other.
Resistance to social influence
- People with a high internal LOC are more able to resist social pressures to conform or
obey, they also tend to be more self-confident, more achievement orientated and have
higher intelligence and less need for social approval.
- These traits lead to a greater resistance to social influence.
- Spector found a relationship exists between LOC and leadership style, with internal
being more persuasive than internals.
EVALUATION
Research support for LOC
- To support the link between LOC and resisting obedience
- Holland (1967) repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether
participants were internals or externals.
- He found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level, whereas only
23% of externals did not continue.
