This article examines the impact of receivers' locus of control on their evaluations of speakers exhibiting powerful or powerless speech. The results indicated that those with an external locus of control evaluated a high-power message more positively than did those with an internal locus of control. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that a speaker using a powerful style is threatening to receivers and causes them to bias their speaker evaluations positively. The results also address the apparent paradox between the positive evaluations received by a high-power message and the negative connotations associated with power and dominance.
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