DISPOSITIONAL FACTOR

• DISPOSITIONAL FACTOR AFFECTING RESISTANCE TO SOCIAL INFLUENCE?

  locus of control
• WHAT IS LOCUS OF CONTROL?

  extent to which people believe they have influence in their own lives
• INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL?

  control your own destiny
• EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL?

  others control your destiny
• RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR LOCUS OF CONTROL?

  OLINER AND OLINER

  • interviewed groups of non-Jewish people
  • lived through Holocaust
  • compared characteristics (those who protected Jews vs those who did not)
  • those who rescued (disobeyed Nazis) more likely to have internal locus of control than non-rescue group
  • suggests locus of control important dispositional factor influencing whether an individual will disobey or conform
• CRITICAL POINTS OF LOCUS OF CONTROL?

  FAILS TO CONSIDER SITUATIONAL FACTORS

  • social support can influence resistance
  • MILGRAM (resistance increased from 35% to 90% when supporters added)
  • ASCH (resistance increased from 63% to 95% when supporter added)
  • cannot alone explain resistance

  FAILS TO BE CONSISTENTLY SUPPORTED

  • Schurz
  • measured locus of control of Austrian participants
  • give increasingly painful bursts of ultrasound (told can cause skin damage) to learner
  • 80% obeyed
  • no link between locus of control and obedience (except internal took more responsibility for actions)