Locus of control

• Locus of control

  The extent to which individuals believe that they are responsible for events in their lives. Measured using a scale, where Ps have to agree or disagree with certain statements measuring locus of control.

  A high score means external locus and a low score means internal locus.
• Internal locus of control

  If this is high, then you believe that things occur as a result of individual choices and actions and so these can affect the outcomes of situations
• External locus of control

  If this is high, they believe in luck and other outside sources rather than themselves.
• People with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist the pressure to conform and less likely to obey than those with an external locus of control.
• People with an internal locus of control believe they control their own circumstances, and makes it more likely to perceive yourself as having the freedom to obey.
• A03- Research evidence

  Spector

  • gave the Rotter scale to 157 uni students and showed that Ps with high external score conformed more tha those with a low external score.
  • happened in situations that required NSI
• AO3- limitations

  • only uni students used and so does not show generalisability
• A03- Research support

  Holland

  • repeated Milgram's baseline experiment and showed that :
  • 37 % INTERNALS
  • 23% EXTERNALS

  DID NOT CONTINUE TO 450 V

  internals showed greater resistance