SI- Dispositional explanations of resistance to SI Flashcards
Who proposed the locus of control?
Julian Rotter (1966)
What did Rotter argue?
Rotter argued that a person’s personality determines whether they conform and obey or resist social influence.
What does a person’s locus of control refer to?
A person’s locus of control refers to the extent to which they believe they have control over their own behaviour.
How is locus of control measured?
Locus of control continuum, a scale and individuals vary in position on it. so high internal LOC on on end and low external LOC on other end, low internal and external are in the middle.
What do people with an internal locus of control believe?
- People with an internal locus of control believe that what occurs in their life is the result of their own behaviour and actions.
- They can therefore alter what happens to them. If they do badly on a test, for example, they consider it to be the result of their own inadequate revision.
What do people with an external locus of control believe?
- People with an external locus of control believe strongly that what happens in their lives is outside of their control.
- They think what occurs in their lives is determined by chance or other people so they have no ability to alter it. If they do badly on a test they will blame it on bad luck or inadequate teachers.
Why are people with a high locus of control less likely to conform and obey?
People with a high internal locus of control are less likely to conform and obey because they;
- Are more likely to be leaders rather than followers. 2. Are less concerned with social approval.
- Are more self-confident.
- Believe that they control their own circumstances.
Why are people with an internal locus of control less likely to conform?
People with a high internal LOC tend to be more self-confident, more achievement orientated, have higher intelligence and have less need for social approval. These personality traits lead to greater resistance to social influence.
People with a high internal locus of control are less likely to conform and obey because they;
- Are more likely to be leaders rather than followers. 2. Are less concerned with social approval.
- Are more self-confident.
- Believe that they control their own circumstances.
Evaluate the locus of control. (ADVANTAGES)
1) Oliner and Oliner (1988) interviewed two groups of non-Jewish people who had lived through the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. They compared 406 people who had protected and rescued Jews from the Nazis and 126 people who had not done this.They found that the group that rescued the Jews had scores demonstrating an internal locus of control. This study suggests that people who have an internal LOC are likely to act rather than just leave the situation to fate.
2) Milgram (1974) gave the participants a questionnaire to measure their locus of control and found that the 35% who had disobeyed were far more likely to have an internal locus of control than those who had obeyed.
3) Holland (1967) repeated milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants were internal or external LOC. He found that 37% of internals did not continue to highest shock level (they showed resistance) whereas only 23% of externals did not continue (showed less resistance to social influence than internals) . Shows resistance is partly related to LOC, which increases validity of LOC as an explanation of disobedience.
Evaluate locus of control. (DISADVANTAGES)
1) Twenge (2004) analysed data from American obedience studies over a 40 year period
- The data showed that, over this time span, people have become more resistance to obedience but also more external.
- If resistance were linked to an internal LOC, we would expect people to have become more internal – this challenges the link between internal LOC and increasing resistant behaviour
- It is also possible that the results are due to a changing society where many things are out of personal control.
2) Williams and Warchal (1981) found that conformers were less assertive than non-conformers but that the two groups did not score differently on a test to determine their locus of control.
- This suggests that assertiveness is more important than locus of control in determining whether or not a person will refuse to conform/obey
