Resistance to social control- Locus of control and evaluation
- Created by: MollyL20
- Created on: 14-10-20 12:30
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- Resistance to social influence- Locus of control
- Rotter (1966) first proposed the concept of locus of control. It is a concept concerned with internal locus of control verses external control
- Some people (internals) believe that the tings are largely controlled by themselves. For example, if you do well in an exam its because you worked hard enough
- Other people (externals) have a tendency to believe that things happen without their own control. If they did well it was because they had a excellent textbook
- Continuum
- People differ in the way they explain their successes and failures but it isn't simply a matter of being external or internal.
- There is a continuum with high locus of control at one end and high locus of control at the other of the continuum , with low internal and low external
- Resistance to social influence
- People who have a internal LOC are more likely to be able to resist pressures to conform or obey. If a person takes personal responsibility for their actions and experiences, then they are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs and thus resist pressures from others
- Another explanation for the link with greater resistance is that people with a high internal LOC tend to be more self confident, more achievement oriented have higher intelligence and have less need for social approval
- These personality traits lead to greater resistance to social influence
- Evaluation
- Research support
- Research evidence supports the link between the LOC and resistance to obedience. Holland (1967) repeated Milgram's baseline study and measured whether participants were internals and externals. He found that 37% of internals didn't continue to the highest level where as only 23% of externals didn't continue
- Internals showed greater resistance to authority than the externals did
- This increases the internal validity of the LOC explanation and our confidence that it can explain resistance
- Research evidence supports the link between the LOC and resistance to obedience. Holland (1967) repeated Milgram's baseline study and measured whether participants were internals and externals. He found that 37% of internals didn't continue to the highest level where as only 23% of externals didn't continue
- Contradictory research
- Twenge et al (2004) analysed data from American LOC studies over a 40 years period (1960-2002). This data showed that peple have become more resistant to obedience but also more external
- If resistance were linked to an internal LOC we would have expected people to have become more internal
- This challenges the link between internal LOC and increasing resistant behaviour
- However, it is possible that the results are due to a changing society where many things are out of personal control
- Research support
- Rotter (1966) first proposed the concept of locus of control. It is a concept concerned with internal locus of control verses external control
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