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 rightswithout being manipulated by others or manipulating others for building effective socialrelationships. Pertinent literature proposes that locus of control and perceive social support playimportant role in fostering one’s level of assertiveness. The present study proposed a mediating roleof perceived social support between locus of control and assertiveness among universityundergraduates.Method. A sample of 314 undergraduates from the University of Sargodha was purposivelyrecruited 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, andperceived social support and internal locus of control positively predicted assertiveness. Moreover,perceived social support positively mediated the relationships between internal locus of control andnegatively between external locus of control and assertiveness.Conclusion. Our findings indicated the differential mediating role of perceived social supportbetween internal/external locus of control and assertiveness. Therefore, we may conclude thatpeople 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 morelikely to perceive low degree of social support, which may in tum reduces their chances of beingassertive.