SOCIAL
INFLUENCE
Locus of control
Social Psychology
Miss Bird
What is ‘Locus of Control?’
A person’s perception of personal
control over their own behaviour.
Measured along a dimension of ‘high
internal’ to ‘high external.’
Locus of control
High internals perceive themselves as having a
great deal of personal control over their behaviour
and are therefore more likely to take personal
responsibility for it.
What state can we link to high internals?
High externals perceive their behaviour as being
caused more by external influences and therefore
are less likely to take personal responsibility for it e.g.
fate or luck.
What state can we link to high externals?
Locus of control
Internal
A person believes their
behaviour is caused
primarily by their own
personal decisions and
efforts.
LOCUS OF CONTROL
External
A person believes their
behaviour is caused
primarily by fate, luck or
by other external
circumstances
Locus of control
Characteristics of high internals:
1.
2.
3.
Active seekers of information that is useful to them
(less likely to rely on the opinions of others).
More achievement-orientated and consequently
are more likely to become leaders.
Better able to resist pressure from others.
Therefore if you have a high internal locus of control
you are more likely to show independent behaviour.
Research
For or against LoC?
Read the two studies and the evaluation
paragraph in your booklet.
In pairs, discuss whether the research is
supporting evidence for LoC or contradictory.
Explain why in the box below the study and
answer the questions.
You have 10 minutes.
Evaluation
The LoC scale includes 6 filler items which do
not measure LoC.
+ These help to avoid demand characteristics
and indicates that the scale has internal
validity.
- However it could also be argued that the
scale is low in internal reliability.
RECAP: Research methods
What is internal validity?
Does it measure what it intended to measure?
What is internal reliability?
Is something consistent within itself?
E.g. are all the questions on the locus of control
scale measuring the same thing?
Individual differences
Gender
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Survey data.
2,600 Russian employees.
Significant gender differences.
Men - internal locus of control and a need
for challenge.
Women - external locus of control and a
need for affiliation.
Plenary
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Answer the past-exam question.
It is worth 4 marks.
This is to be done in silence!
You have 5 minutes!
Explain what is meant by locus
of control (4 marks)
Mark scheme
1 mark = brief outline of what the ‘locus of control’ is.
3 marks = elaboration on key terms including ‘dimension,’
‘internal’ and ‘external.’
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1 mark – explain what locus of control is.
2 marks – measured along a scale/dimension from
internal to external.
3 marks – explain what is meant by internal locus of
control.
4 marks – explain what is meant by external locus of
control.
Explain what is meant by locus
of control (4 marks)
Exemplar answer
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Locus of control refers to a person’s perception of
personal control over their own behaviour.
This is usually measured along a dimension with internal
control at one end and external control at the other.
Internal control refers to those people who see that
they have a great deal of control over their own
behaviour and will take responsibility for their actions.
External control refers to those who believe that their
behaviour is controlled by other external (outside)
forces such as luck or fate.