Internal-external control and its relationship to attitude change under different social influence techniques.

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Abstract
Used Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale to select 30 internal and 30 external locus of control undergraduates. Ss then either read persuasive messages or were induced to write counterattitudinal essays. As predicted, an interaction between locus of control and social influence technique was revealed-internals changed significantly more following discrepant behavior while persuasive messages produced somewhat more change in externals. These results support the notions that attributed responsibility for negative consequences and lack of external justification are critical for producing change via discrepant behavior while feelings of ineffectiveness in dealing with the environment lend effectiveness to persuasive communications. Implications for understanding both the internal-external control construct and various mechanisms of attitude change are discussed. (2l ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

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