Internal-external control, power position, and satisfaction in task-oriented groups

On the basis of a conceptualized congruency between expected locus of control and preference for locus of control in a given situation, it was hypothesized that in a task-oriented communication network, satisfaction with power position would be determined by the interaction of the personality dimension of internal-external control and the actual degree of power possessed. This hypothesis was tested via an experimental design in which 52 undergraduates, whose goal was to complete a group task with maximum efficiency, were led to believe that they possessed either high or low power in a triadic communication network. All Ss had completed Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale. Ss' responses to a postexperimental questionnaire supported the hypothesis for males but not for females. Results support the conceptualized relation between expected locus of control and preferred locus of control. (17 ref)