Perceived versus desired control: Relation to negative affect and perceived quality of life.

Two primary objectives guided this work: (a) examine the structure of control, assessing whether three sources of control (internal, others, chance) in two life domains (emotions/feelings and personal life) could be measured comparably for perceived and desired control; and (b) examine the relationships between control (including misfit between perceived and desire control) and several social-psychological outcomes. Respondents included 622 men and women who participated in a 6-month longitudinal study examining the social-psychological effects of Valium use. Stratified random sampling procedures were used to select individuals from pharmacy records such that a broad array of social/demographic characteristics were represented. Preliminary analyses indicated no notable differences between Valium users and nonusers on the control measures; thus, subsequent analyses were conducted with users and nonusers combined. Structural equation results indicated that perceived control could be differentiated across life domains but that desired control could not, although the two domains examined may not have provided a very powerful test of the domain differentiation hypothesis. Perceptions about the different sources of control related to outcomes differently in the two life domains. Perceived internal control over personal life was more strongly associated with both negative affect and quality of life than was internal control over emotions/feelings; however, perceived control by others produced stronger correlations in the emotions/feelings domain than in the personal life domain. In general, control by others produced the strongest correlations followed by internal control and then by chance control. Findings also provided support for applying Person-Environment Fit theory to research on control. Misfit on all three sources of control accounted for significant variance beyond that accounted for by perceived and desired control. The relationships between P-E fit on control and strain generally supported the hypothesis that either too much or too little perceived control relative to the amount desired is associated with more strain. The lowest strain was consistently seen at zero misfit. Applying P-E Fit theory in research on control provides a useful model for examining control within a broad theoretical formulation for integrating concepts and mechanisms considered important for psychological adjustment and functioning.PhDPsychologySocial psychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/128504/2/9023536.pd