locus of control

• P: spector measured locus of control and predisposition to normative and informational influence in 157 undergraduate students

  E: he found a correlation between locus of control and predisposition to normative social influence with externals more likely to conform to this form of influence than internals. however, he found no relationship for predisposition to informational social influence, with locus of control not appearing to be a significant factor int his type of conformity
• link for spector

  L: spector concluded that externals would conform more than internals in situations of normative pressure but would not conform more in situations of informational pressure
• link for twenge

  L: twenge interprets this trend towards increasing externality in terms of the alienation experienced by young people and the tendency to explain misfortunes on outside forces
• There is research evidence to support the idea that locus of control can influence resistance to social influence. For example, Twenge et al. (2004) conducted a meta-analysis of obedience studies over a 40-year period and found that young Americans have increasingly developed a more external locus of control. This suggests that people are becoming more likely to believe their behaviour is controlled by external forces such as luck or other people. As a result, they may be less likely to resist pressures to conform or obey authority figures. This supports the idea that individuals with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist social influence because they feel more personally responsible for their actions and confident in their own decisions.