Mediating Role of Perceived Social Support between Locus of Control and Assertiveness among University Undergraduates
Abstract
Background. Assertiveness is one’s capacity to stand for one’s views, opinions, and rights
without being manipulated by others or manipulating others for building effective social
relationships. Pertinent literature proposes that locus of control and perceive social support play
important role in fostering one’s level of assertiveness. The present study proposed a mediating role
of perceived social support between locus of control and assertiveness among university
undergraduates.
Method. A sample of 314 undergraduates from the University of Sargodha was purposively
recruited for this study. Levenson Multidimensional Locus of Control Scale (Levenson, 1973),
Self-Assertiveness Scale (Zahid, 2003), and Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (Cohen,
Mermelstein, Kamarck, & Hoberman, 1985) were used to operationalize locus of control,
self-assertiveness, and social support respectively.
Results. Multiple regression analysis provided empirical support for the proposed model, and
perceived social support and internal locus of control positively predicted assertiveness. Moreover,
perceived social support positively mediated the relationships between internal locus of control and
negatively between external locus of control and assertiveness.
Conclusion. Our findings indicated the differential mediating role of perceived social support
between internal/external locus of control and assertiveness. Therefore, we may conclude that
people with internal locus of control are more likely to perceive high degree of social support,
which in turn make them more assertive. In contrast, people with external locus of control are more
likely to perceive low degree of social support, which may in tum reduces their chances of being
assertive.
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References
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