Lack of control as a determinant of perceived physical symptoms

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the role of lack of control in determining the extent to which individuals report experiencing physical symptoms. In Experiment 1, subjects who had little control over a noise burst subsequently reported a higher incidence of physical symptoms than did subjects who could control the noise burst. Unfortunately, degree of failure may have been confounded with degree of control in Experiment 1. Thus, Experiment 2 was designed to determine if differential perceptions of control would produce differences in reported symptoms when degree of success was held constant. Greater symptoms were again reported by subjects in the no-control condition. Experiments 1 and 2 also explored questions concerning the mechanism underlying the effects of lack of control on reported physical symptoms. Both experiments failed to find evidence that subjects reported symptoms for ego-preserving reasons. Other data suggested that the symptoms reported by subjects were not related to their past experience with physical symptoms, nor were symptoms reported as a function of perceived or actual physiological arousal.