L10- dispositional Explanations Of Resistance To Social Influence Flashcards
What is a locus of control? How is it measured?
A persons locus of control is the extent to which they believe they have control over their own behaviour. It is measured on a dimension from internal to external.
Characteristics of someone with an internal locus of control
They believe that what occurs in their life is a result of their own actions. This means they can alter their life course and what happens. They will often agree with statements such as ‘misfortune is brought on by people’s own actions’. E.g. if they fail a test, they will believe it is because they haven’t revised enough.
Characteristics of someone with an external locus of control
They will believe that what happens is based on factors outside of their control, by chance or other people so they cannot alter their life. They will agree on statements such as ‘things that make us unhappy are largely based on bad luck’ e.g. if they do bad on a test they will blame it on the teachers marking
Why are people with a high internal locus of control less likely to conform?
- more likely to be leaders
- less concerned with social approval
- more self-confident
- believe they control their own circumstance
Evaluation - (positive) Oliner and Oliner
They interviewed 406 German people who sheltered Jewish people from Nazi’s. These people had an internal locus of control which allowed them to disobey the Nazi’s.
Evaluation - (positive) - Milgram
He asked participants to deliver electric shocks to a confederate Mr.Wallace. 65% of the participants shocked Mr. Wallace up to 450V. Milgram gave the participants a questionnaire to measure locus of control and found that the 35% of participants who disobeyed were more likely to have an internal locus of control than those who disobeyed
Evaluation- (negative) Williams and Warchal
They found that conformers were less assertive than non-conformers but the two groups did not score differently on a test to determine locus of control, suggesting assertiveness is more important than locus of control in determining whether or not a person will refuse to conform/obey.
