Locus of Control and Persuasion, Social Influence, and Conformity: A Meta-Analytic Review

Abstract

This study is a meta-analytic review of studies on the average effect size for internal and external locus of control with persuasability, social influence, and conformity. Most research indicates that those who score higher on external locus of control tend to be more easily persuaded, socially influenced, and conforming than those who score as internal in locus of control. Therefore, it was hypothesized that people who score as external in locus of control will be more persuaded and more socially influenced and they conformed more than those scoring higher as internal in locus of control. A test of homogeneity indicated no significant differences among results of the studies included in this analysis. The average correlation was .37 for the relationship between scores of internal and external locus of control measured by various generalized locus of control measures with scores on persuasion, social influence, and conformity.