Topic for Feb. 8. ( Thur )

[Alex !]

Illusion of Control 

The illusion of control is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events, for example, when someone feels a sense of control over outcomes that they demonstrably do not influence.

For example, in one study, college students were in a virtual reality setting to treat a fear of heights using an elevator. Those who were told that they had control, yet had none, felt as though they had as much control as those who actually did have control over the elevator. Those who were led to believe they did not have control said they felt as though they had little control.

Another example, Wearing a lucky baseball cap to “help” your favorite team win is one example of this phenomenon.wearing a specific lucky item or participating in rituals such as prayer to ensure that your favorite team wins a game.

The illusion of control can affect people in a wide variety of contexts and situations. You are probably falling prey to this illusion anytime you think your actions influence an event outside your individual control. 

The illusion of control helps to maintain and enhance self-esteem. People feel better about themselves when they believe that something they wanted to happen is due to their own actions.

People have a need for control, so viewing uncontrollable events as being within their control helps support mental well-being. Research has found that when people perceive things as uncontrollable, they may be more likely to experience negative emotions and decreased motivation.

The illusion of control enhances self-esteem and improves motivation, it is often framed as an example of a self-serving bias. It helps protect people from perceiving the events of their lives as being outside of their control.

One important factor that contributes to the illusion of control is the degree to which people are personally involved in the situation. The more likely a person will be affected by what happens, the more likely they are to believe that a good outcome was due to their actions.

People tend to have a natural bias toward positivity known as the optimism bias. In general, people tend to overestimate the likelihood that good things will happen to them and underestimate the likelihood that bad things will occur. This bias toward positivity may contribute to the illusion that people have more influence than they truly do.

When people receive feedback emphasizing success, they are more likely to feel they are in control. When feedback focuses on failure, however, people tend to feel less in control of the situation.

When people are very familiar with a situation and outcome, it is more common to experience an illusion of control.

The effect is lessened among people who have depression. Depressed people are more likely to make negative judgments about their ability to influence what happens. Doing well at the beginning of a task often leads people to think they have more control than they actually do.

Instead of only depending on your own thinking, consider information from the external world that might play a role in the outcome. Scientific thinking was the best way to avoid falling for the illusion of control. People can reduce erroneous beliefs about causality and control to make better judgments by thinking through situations more scientifically.

If you are concerned that you are assuming too much personal responsibility to influence the outcome of something in your life, consider asking others for their opinions. This can be a great way to gain some outside perspective and consider other causal factors that you perhaps hadn’t thought about.