Individual differences independent behaviour

1) What is meant by 'locus of control'?

2) What is an internal locus of control?

3) What is an External locus of control?

4) What is the evaluation of the locus of control?

1) This is an aspect of our personality; people differ in their beliefs about the outcomes of their actions. Some believe they have an internal locus of control (it is their own fault things happen), others believe that they have an external control (events are out of their personal control).

2) This is where a person believes their behaviuor is purely caused by their own decisions.Those with a high internal locus of control want to seek their own information and don't rely on the opinion of others. They are also more achievement orientated.

3) This is where a person believes that their behaviour is only caused by fate, luck or external circumstances.

4) A meta-analysis by Twenge et al (2004) found that young Americans increasingly believe their own lives are being controlled by outside forces. In the studies used, researchers found that locus of control scores had become more external in young people between 1960 and 2002. Since 1960s societies have had more changes e.g higher divorce rates and and an increase in violent crime.

1)What is attrubutional Style?

2) What is some research for attributional style?

3) What is a negative attributional style?

4) What is a positive attributional  style?

1) This is a personality attribute that indicates how people explain to themselves why they experience a particular event.The are three components of attributional style: Personal-they blame themselves e.g 'I failed my A-level because I'm stupid'. Permanent-they situation is unchangable e.g. 'It's pointless having another go at my A-levels, I'm just going to fail again'. Pervasive-the siyuation may effect all aspects of ones life e.g 'I can't do anything right'.

2) Heaven et al. (2005) studied young teenagers in Australia to see if there was an association between attribtional style and attitude to school. They found signifcant differences between those conformed to school rules and those who rebelled against teachers. Rebels found to score lowest on positive attributional style and highest on negative. 

3) These are people who generally blame other people for negative events. They do not let the negative experience effect too many aspects of their lives.

4) These people are able to resist negative experiences.