Evaluation

• Research support

  • Holland repeated Milgram's baseline study and measured whether participants were internals or externals
  • He found that 37% of internals did not continue and 23% of externals didn't - i.e. internals showed greater resistance to authority in a Milgram-type situation
  • Therefore resistance is linked to LOC, which increases the validity of LOC as an explanation of disobedience
• Contradictory research

  • Limitation - evidence that challenges the link between LOC and resistance to obedience
  • Twenge et al - analysed data from American LOC studies conducted over a 40-year period
  • 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 could expect people to have become more internal
  • This suggests that LOC is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence
• Limited role of LOC

  • Rotter points out that LOC is not necessarily the most important factor in determining whether someone resists social influence - LOC's role depends on the situation
  • A person's LOC only significantly affects their behaviour in new situations
  • If you have conformed or obeyed in a specific situation in the past, the chances are you will do so again in that situation regardless of whether you have an internal or external LOC