Negative reactions to increases in perceived personal control.

Abstract

Much research and theory suggests that an increase in perceived personal control is preferred and will result in positive reactions, whereas a decrease in personal control is not desired and will result in negative reactions. However, there are many negative as well as positive consequences to changes in personal control that contribute to one's reaction to increases in perceived control. 1 review re-search that identifies conditions under which increases in perceived control result in a tendency to relinquish personal control, negative affect, and a poorer performance on subsequent tasks. Three mediators are suggested for these effects. Changes in perceived personal control are said to result in changes in concern for self-presentation, changes in the perceived likelihood of obtaining desired outcomes, and changes in perceived predictability. Under certain conditions, each of these may lead to negative rather than positive reactions to increased control. Over the past few decades, the concept of perceived personal control has played an important role in research and theory on a large number of topics in psychology. In general, the pattern of these research findings suggests that the perception of personal control results in positive reactions, whereas the perception of