Locus of Control Flashcards
who came up with this theory ?
Julian Rotter
what does the internal locus of control mean ?
people with an internal locus of control are less obedient as they take more responsibility for their actions and believe that they are more in control about what happens to them.
what does the external locus of control mean ?
people that have the external locus of control are more obedient as they believe that what happens to them is controlled by chance factors.
who investigated this theory ?
Fredrick miller
what did Miller discover ?
he found that ‘internals’ are more likely to show dissent and defy orders, whereas ‘externals’ are more likely to be obedient
what did miller’s experiment involve ?
it involved two different experimenters (high status and low status), who told the ppts to grasp an electric rod.
what were miller’s results ?
‘externals’ were more obedient with the high status experimenter, however, ‘internals’ were not effected by the change, they did not obey either.
what weakness did Grete Schurz discover and how?
he discovered that the LOC does not predict defiance, he discovered this in his experiment where Austrian ppts were instructed to give painful doses of ultrasound to female students. those who were obedient and those who weren’t scored similarly on the LOC test (therefore suggests that personality has little to do with it).
where can this theory be applied ?
it can be applied to the field of Human Resources as some jobs require different levels of obedience, so it can help when picking people for certain jobs.
