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Examined critically studies that claim that internals are more successful in nondirective therapy and externals in directive therapy. Deficiencies in the design statistical analysis, and outcome measures employed in these studies led to the conclusion that only slim support exists currently for the interaction hypothesis. Rotter's (1975) discussion of common misunderstandings of the locus of control construct and misuses of the Internal‐External Locus of Control Scale provided one context within which to explain the equivocal results. Finally, the ingredients of a research design considered adequate to test the interaction hypothesis were presented.

Friends' influence on achievement‐related choices in female adolescents was investigated using the Thematic Apperception Test (H. Murray, 1943), in the context of self‐in‐relation theory (J. V. Jordon, A. G. Kaplan, J. B. Miller, I. P. Stiver, & J. L. Surrey, 1991). Two hypotheses were tested: (1) Achievement‐related stimuli will elicit stories with more unfavorable and conflicted outcomes than will affiliation stimuli; (2) Thematic representation of achievement will be more homogeneous in more highly cohesive peer groups. A multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures yielded significant results for Hypothesis 1. Thematic analysis of stories supported Hypothesis 2, showing peer group influence on achievement strivings in female adolescents.

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