Control orientation and the illusion of control

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Locus of control (LOC) describes an individual's generalized expectancy about the extent to which they control outcomes.
• External LOC individuals believe outcomes are due to chance or external forces, while internal LOC individuals believe outcomes are controllable.
• The illusion of control is the tendency to overestimate one's ability to influence events, particularly when they are noncontingent.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test if individuals with an external locus of control (LOC) avoid the illusion of control when faced with noncontingent outcomes.
• To investigate whether internal LOC individuals are more susceptible to the illusion of control than external LOC individuals.

Main Methods:

• One hundred thirty-eight students rated their perceived control over a noncontingent green light.
• Participants were assigned to either a 25% or 75% green light onset condition.
• The onset of the green light was independent of participant responses.

Main Results:

• Both internal and external LOC individuals demonstrated the illusion of control.
• Participants in both groups perceived greater control when the green light occurred more frequently (75% vs. 25%).
• This occurred despite the objective noncontingency between responses and the green light's onset.

Conclusions:

• The study challenges the hypothesis that external LOC individuals are immune to the illusion of control in noncontingent situations.
• External LOC individuals showed a susceptibility to perceived control, even when objectively absent.
• Findings suggest external LOC individuals may abandon their typical response-outcome independence bias when environmental cues suggest control, even if illusory.