Locus Of Control – internal/external (Obedience)

• Developed by Rotter (1966), it measures individual's perception of personal control over life and behavior, it ranges from high internal to high external, studies shows it is a crucial factor in an individual's capacity to disobey or defy social norms
• Strong internal locus of control: belief in personal control, achievement-oriented, independent in thought and active information seekers, they are resistant to authority and less vulnerable to social influence
• Strong external locus of control: belief in luck/fate and a passive or fatalistic attitude, resulting in less independence and more acceptance of social influence; take less personal responsibility for their actions
• Twenge et al. (2004): People are more external than they used to be (meta-analysis); young Americans increasingly believed their fate was determined by luck and the powerful rather than their own actions; locus of control scores became substantially more external in student and child samples (1960-2002); blame misfortunes on outside forces
• Hutchins and Estey (1978): In a simulated prisoner-of-war situation, internals were better at resisting interrogator’s attempts to gain information, the more intense the pressure, the greater the difference between the internals and externals