The study of the relationship between the level of subjective control and the activity of participation in personality development trainings based on the scales of internality-externality of the Rotter USK personality questionnaire. The study showed a significantly higher USC among the participants of the trainings, especially the trainings of the Sinton shopping center.
1. Introduction
Recently, some journalistic sources have formed an attitude towards personality development trainings as manipulative measures that reduce the control and personal responsibility of the individual, which causes understandable protest and objections from practical psychologists.
The study was aimed at resolving the question of the extent to which people who have undergone psychological training have a more or less high level of subjective control.
2. Hypothesis
We assumed that USC, described by J. Rotter, has a fairly clear connection with the responsibility and independence of the individual, the ability to independently set tasks and make decisions. We also assumed that people who are interested in or have received training are also particularly interested in social success.
The null hypothesis in this case assumes that there is no such relationship or it is negative.
3. Methods
The study involved 767 respondents, including 515 women aged 12 to 70 years and 253 men aged 16 to 57 years. 512 respondents have never taken any personal development trainings, 73 respondents have taken various trainings at the Sinton shopping center, 125 respondents have taken various trainings from other training organizations, 33 respondents have taken trainings from both the Sinton shopping center and other training organizations. Training dates ranged from two weeks to 7 years prior to the study.
Testing was carried out by presenting stimulus material through a website (own development), during testing, personal data of respondents and phone numbers were necessarily recorded. Anonymous responses and responses with inadequate personal data were excluded from processing as raising doubts about their reliability.
4. Results
The data were stenised in accordance with the methodology, however, the stereotyped unevenness of the profiles suggested that the table of stenosis proposed by the method was apparently of little use for this sample.
For each group, the average scores for all scales of the Rotter questionnaire were calculated. In order not to depend on the interpretation of the stenized values, the average values for respondents who did not undergo any training were chosen as baseline, and only the deviations of the averages of other groups of respondents from these levels were further considered.
Table 1. Average values of internality scales for different groups of respondents
Table 2. Deviation of the mean values of the internality scales of the Rotter questionnaire for different groups of respondents from the mean values for the group that did not undergo any training
Coefficients of statistical significance for all obtained values, except those in italics, p<.01.>
The data in Table 2 are shown in the graph for clarity.
5. Interpretation of results
All significant deviations have a positive sign, which indicates the confirmation of the main hypothesis — the passage of personality development trainings is accompanied by increased internality.
The group of respondents who have been trained by Sinton, as the largest training center with methodically developed programs, shows somewhat higher values of increasing internality compared to trainings from other training organizations, especially Io, which suggests not just a connection, but a functional dependence — more elaborated trainings can give more pronounced effect on USC.
As expected, the largest deviations are shown by the scales associated with social success — Id, Ying and Ip, while the scales Is, Im and From show significantly lower deviations, if not insignificantly negative.
6. findings
The passage of personality development trainings is accompanied by increased USC.
Additional research is required to test the hypothesis of the dependence of internality on the passage of personality development trainings.
Apparently, the Rotter questionnaire needs to be revised in the stening table for modern Russian realities.
Trainers and methodologists of personality development trainings can be recommended to pay special attention to the development of internality in the training participants in the field of interpersonal relations and health.