Social Influence L11

Question 1

Who proposed the idea of ‘locus of control’ as a factor for resistance to social influence?

Answer 1

Julian Rotter (1966)

Question 2

Locus of control definition

Answer 2

It refers to a person’s perception of the degree of personal control they have over their behaviour

Question 3

What are the 2 types of locus of control?

Answer 3

1. Internal locus of control
2. External locus of control

Question 4

External locus of control defintion

Answer 4

• People with an external locus of control see their future and actions as a result of factors outside of their control such as luck or fate
• E.g: ‘ I had a rubbish teacher. My little brother kept interrupting me when I tried to revise. The exam was on a really bad day’

Question 5

Internal locus of control definition

Answer 5

• People with an internal locus of control feel a stronger sense of control over their lives compared to people with an external locus of control
• They are more active seekers of information, rely less on the opinions of others, and are more likely to resist pressure from others
• Therefore, they are more likely to show resistance to social influence as they take responsibility for their actions
• Also, they tend to be more self-confident, more achievement-orientated, have higher intelligence, and have less need for social approval
• E.g: ‘ I really should have studied more. I know that I didn’t put as much effort into revision as I could have’

Question 6

What is a strength for locus of control as an explanation for resistance?

Answer 6

1. It has supporting evidence
   - Oliner & Oliner (1988) interviewed 2 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 had rescued the Jews had scores demonstrating an internal locus of control on Rotter’s locus of control questionnaire
   - This suggests that people who have an internal locus of control (LOC) are likely to act rather than just leave the situation to fate
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   - Holland (1967) repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants were internal or external
   - He found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock (showed resistance), however 23% of externals did not continue
   - This increases the validity of the locus of control (LOC) explanation and our confidence that it can explain resistance to social influence due to the research support

Question 7

What is a weakness of locus of control as an explanation for resistance to social influence?

Answer 7

1. It has conflicting research evidence
   - Twenge (2004) analysed data from American obedience studies over a 40 year period (1960 to 2002) and found that people have become more resistant to obedience over this time, but also show a more external locus of control
   - We would expect people to have become more internal if resistance were linked to an internal locus of control (LOC)
   - This challenges the link between internal locus of control (LOC) and being resistant to social influence, especially obedience
   - This also questions how locus of control (LOC) is being measured — Julian Rotter devised a questionnaire in 1967 where society had different viewpoints and there was a World War only 22 years before
   - Therefore it questions whether the locus of control (LOC) questionnaire devised in the 1960s is relevant in today’s world
   - Therefore Rotter’s questionnaire that measures the person’s locus of control (LOC) may lack temporal validity and not be relevant in today’s society