LOCUS OF CONTROL:

• STRENGTH:

  • research evidence to support the link between LOC and resistance to obedience
  • Holland 1967 repeated Milgram's baseline study and measured whether pp were internals or externals
  • He found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level (i.e. they showed some resistance) whereas only 23% of externals did not continue
  • In other words, internals showed greater resistance to authority in a Milgram-type situation

  This shows that resistance is at least partly related to LOC, which increases the validity of LOC as an explanation of disobedience
• LIMITATION:

  • evidence that challenges the link between LOC and resistance.
  • For example, Twenge et al. 2004 analysed data from American locus of control studies conducted over a 40 year period from 1960 to 2002
  • The data showed that over this time span people became more resistant to obedience but also more external.
  • This is a surprising outcome. If resistance is linked to an internal locus of control, we would expect people to have become more internal.

  This suggests that locus of control is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence.