Locus of control and frontal electromyographic response training

Forty-eight normal subjects from a college population, representing extreme internal and external orientations on a locus of control scale, were provided an auditory signal in a laboratory relaxation setting. For one group (feedback) the pitch of the signal varied as a function of frontal electromyographic (EMG) levels, while for another group (control) the pitch was constant. The feedback subjects acquired lower EMG potentials than did the control subjects, and the internal subjects in the feedback condition acquired lower levels than did the external subjects. In the control condition, no consistent differences in EMG levels between internal and external subjects were obtained. These results were stable across two replications, three ethnically distinct groups, and both sexes. Additional measures designed to reflect the effects of the frontal EMG training as a generalized relaxation technique for this population, including finger temperatures and a variety of postexperiment questionnaire ratings of relaxation, yielded negative results. Tests of other predictions from the locus of control construct are also discussed.This research was supported by NIMH Special Postdoctoral Fellowship No. MH58202-01.