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Illusion of Control
Definition
The illusion of control (also known as illusory control) refers to the tendency for people to exaggerate their ability to produce a desired outcome. Even when it comes to controlling random events, people believe they have control.
Factors That Influence Illusory Control
Traditionally, people assumed accurate self-knowledge was crucial for survival and health. In this formulation, people possessed the ability to correctly judge control over their environments; accurate knowledge of when one's actions produced particular outcomes—and when they did not—was thought to be critical for functioning effectively in the world. In a broad sense, this is true. For example, mentally healthy people know they cannot control whether the sun rises and sets each day. At the same time, though, a feeling of being in control is vital ...
- Action Control
- Action Identification Theory
- Adaptive Unconscious
- Apparent Mental Causation
- Approach-Avoidance Conflict
- Authenticity
- Auto-Motive Model
- Autonomy
- Behavioral Contagion
- Choking Under Pressure
- Control
- Controlled Processes
- Decision Making
- Delay of Gratification
- Drive Theory
- Ego Depletion
- Excitation-Transfer Theory
- Extrinsic Motivation
- Feedback Loop
- Free Will, Study of
- Goals
- Grim Necessities
- Guilty Pleasures
- Habits
- Helplessness, Learned
- Home-Field Advantage and Disadvantage
- Hormones and Behavior
- Implementation Intentions
- Intrinsic Motivation
- Ironic Processes
- Learned Helplessness
- Learning Theory
- Locus of Control
- Mental Control
- Meta-Awareness
- Mindfulness and Mindlessness
- Modeling of Behavior
- Nonconscious Processes
- Overjustification Effect
- Procrastination
- Reasoned Action Theory
- Regulatory Focus Theory
- Risk Taking
- Rubicon Model of Action Phases
- Scripts
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Control Measures
- Self-Defeating Behavior
- Self-Determination Theory
- Self-Discrepancy Theory
- Self-Efficacy
- Self-Handicapping
- Self-Regulation
- Social Facilitation
- Social Learning
- Social Loafing
- Stereotype Threat
- Stress Appraisal Theory (Primary and Secondary Appraisal)
- Temporal Construal Theory
- Theory of Planned Behavior
- Zeal
- Antisocial Behaviors
- Aggression
- Antisocial Behavior
- Aversive Racism
- Betrayal
- Bobo Doll Studies
- Bullying
- Catharsis of Aggression
- Cheater-Detection Mechanism
- Conflict Resolution
- Date Rape
- Deception (Lying)
- Displaced Aggression
- Frustration–Aggression Hypothesis
- GRIT Tension Reduction Strategy
- Hostile Masculinity Syndrome
- Intimate Partner Violence
- Media Violence and Aggression
- Milgram's Obedience to Authority Studies
- Moral Hypocrisy
- Narcissistic Reactance Theory of Sexual Coercion
- Ostracism
- Rape
- Rejection
- Sexual Harassment
- Social Exclusion
- Stanford Prison Experiment
- Terrorism, Psychology of
- Threatened Egotism Theory of Aggression
- Attitude
- Anticipatory Attitude Change
- Attitude Change
- Attitude Formation
- Attitude Strength
- Attitude–Behavior Consistency
- Attitudes
- Balance Theory
- Beliefs
- Brainwashing
- Cognitive Consistency
- Cognitive Dissonance Theory
- Dual Attitudes
- Effort Justification
- Elaboration Likelihood Model
- Forced Compliance Technique
- Forewarning
- Heuristic-Systematic Model of Persuasion
- Implicit Attitudes
- MODE Model
- Motivated Reasoning
- Polarization Processes
- Satisficing
- Theory of Planned Behavior
- Values
- Culture
- Collective Self
- Collectivistic Cultures
- Cultural Animal
- Cultural Differences
- Culture
- Culture of Honor
- Erotic Plasticity
- Ethnocentrism
- Ideology
- Independent Self-Construals
- Interdependent Self-Construals
- Moral Development
- Mortality Salience
- Objectification Theory
- Pornography
- Relational Models Theory
- Sexual Economics Theory
- Terror Management Theory
- Emotions
- Affect
- Affect Heuristic
- Affect Infusion
- Affect-as-Information
- Ambivalence
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Arousal
- Awe
- Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Affect
- Buffering Effect
- Companionate Love
- Decision and Commitment in Love
- Disgust
- Elevation
- Embarrassment
- Emotion
- Emotional Contagion
- Emotional Intelligence
- Empathy
- Envy
- Facial Expression of Emotion
- Facial-Feedback Hypothesis
- Fear Appeals
- Forgiveness
- Gratitude
- Guilt
- Happiness
- Hedonic Treadmill
- Hope
- Independence of Positive and Negative Affect
- Intergroup Anxiety
- Intergroup Emotions
- Jealousy
- Loneliness
- Love
- Mere Exposure Effect
- Moral Emotions
- Nonconscious Emotion
- Opponent Process Theory of Emotions
- Positive Affect
- Regret
- Romantic Love
- Shame
- Social Anxiety
- Stress and Coping
- Surprise
- Unrequited Love
- Visceral Influences
- Evolution
- Affordances
- Cheater-Detection Mechanism
- Cultural Animal
- Dominance, Evolutionary
- Ecological Rationality
- Error Management Theory
- Ethology
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Fight-or-Flight Response
- Genetic Influences on Social Behavior
- Kin Selection
- Sexual Selection
- Sexual Strategies Theory
- Sociobiological Theory
- Sociobiology
- Groups
- Brainstorming
- Bystander Effect
- Close Relationships
- Cohesiveness, Group
- Collective Self
- Communal Relationships
- Conformity
- Contact Hypothesis
- Contingency Model of Leadership
- Crowding
- Deindividuation
- Deviance
- Diffusion of Responsibility
- Discontinuity Effect
- Distributive Justice
- Entitativity
- Gossip
- Group Cohesiveness
- Group Decision Making
- Group Dynamics
- Group Identity
- Group Performance and Group Productivity
- Group Polarization
- Groups, Characteristics of
- Groupthink
- Ingroup-Outgroup Bias
- Intergroup Anxiety
- Intergroup Emotions
- Intergroup Relations
- Jigsaw Classroom
- Leadership
- Minimal Group Paradigm
- Minority Social Influence
- Optimal Distinctiveness Theory
- Organizational Behavior
- Other–Total Ratio
- Outgroup Homogeneity
- Polarization Processes
- Power
- Procedural Justice
- Realistic Group Conflict Theory
- Ringelmann Effect
- Risky Shift
- Robbers Cave Experiment
- Roles and Role Theory
- Rumor Transmission
- Scapegoat Theory
- Self-Categorization Theory
- Self-Stereotyping
- Sex Roles
- Social Compensation
- Social Dominance Orientation
- Social Identity Theory
- Social Impact Theory
- Social Justice Orientation
- Social Loafing
- Social Power
- Socioeconomic Status
- Subtyping
- System Justification
- Territoriality
- Token Effects
- Health
- History
- Influence
- Compliance
- Conformity
- Debiasing
- Door-in-the-Face Technique
- Fear Appeals
- Foot-in-the-Door Technique
- Forced Compliance
- Forewarning
- Heuristic-Systematic Model of Persuasion
- Influence
- Informational Influence
- Ingratiation
- Ingratiator's Dilemma
- Inoculation Theory
- Mere Exposure Effect
- Milgram's Obedience to Authority Studies
- Minority Social Influence
- Normative Influence
- Norms, Prescriptive and Descriptive
- Persuasion
- Reactance
- Reciprocity Norm
- Reference Group
- Resisting Persuasion
- Scarcity Principle
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
- Sleeper Effect
- Social Power
- Stealing Thunder
- Supplication
- Interpersonal Relationships
- Attachment Theory
- Betrayal
- Close Relationships
- Communal Relationships
- Companionate Love
- Complementarity, of Relationship Partners
- Decision and Commitment in Love
- Dependence Regulation
- Empathic Accuracy
- Equity Theory
- Exchange Relationships
- Forgiveness
- Gossip
- Interdependence Theory
- Interpersonal Cognition
- Intimacy
- Intimate Partner Violence
- Loneliness
- Love
- Marital Satisfaction
- Matching Hypothesis
- Mimicry
- Need to Belong
- Nonverbal Cues and Communication
- Ostracism
- Pornography
- Propinquity
- Rejection
- Romantic Love
- Romantic Secrecy
- Self-Disclosure
- Self-Evaluation Maintenance
- Self-Expansion Theory
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
- Sex Drive
- Sexual Desire
- Sexual Economics Theory
- Similarity-Attraction Effect
- Social Exchange Theory
- Social Exclusion
- Social Support
- Social Value Orientation
- Teasing
- Transactive Memory
- Triangular Theory of Love
- Trust
- Unrequited Love
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Behavioral Economics
- Decision Making
- Fast and Frugal Heuristics
- Free Will, Study of
- Grim Necessities
- Group Decision Making
- Group Polarization
- Hindsight Bias
- Hot Hand Effect
- Hyperbolic Discounting
- Illusion of Transparency
- Illusory Correlation
- Ingroup-Outgroup Bias
- Integrative Complexity
- Law of Small Numbers
- Loss Aversion
- Mental Accounting
- Mere Ownership Effect
- Naive Cynicism
- Naive Realism
- Omission Neglect
- Overconfidence
- Planning Fallacy
- Pluralistic Ignorance
- Preference Reversals
- Prisoner's Dilemma
- Prospect Theory
- Public Goods Dilemma
- Recency Effect
- Representativeness Heuristic
- Risk Taking
- Risky Shift
- Satisficing
- Sequential Choice
- Simulation Heuristic
- Simultaneous Choice
- Social Dilemmas
- Spreading of Alternatives
- Sunk Cost
- Visceral Influences
- Methods
- Autobiographical Narratives
- Behavioral Economics
- Bennington College Study
- Big Five Personality Traits
- Bobo Doll Studies
- Bogus Pipeline
- Content Analysis
- Control Condition
- Critical Social Psychology
- Cross-Lagged Panel Correlation
- Deception (Methodological Technique)
- Demand Characteristics
- Discursive Psychology
- Dynamical Systems Theory
- Ecological Validity
- Ethnocentrism
- Experimental Condition
- Experimental Realism
- Experimentation
- Experimenter Effects
- Falsification
- Forced Compliance Technique
- Identity Status
- Implicit Association Test
- Individual Differences
- LISREL
- Logical Positivism
- Lost Letter Technique
- Meta-Analysis
- Mundane Realism
- Nonexperimental Designs
- Operationalization
- Order Effects
- Path Analysis
- Placebo Effect
- Quasi-Experimental Designs
- Reductionism
- Research Methods
- Self-Reports
- Semantic Differential
- Social Desirability Bias
- Social Relations Model
- Sociometric Status
- Structural Equation Modeling
- Thematic Apperception Test
- Twin Studies
- Personality
- Achievement Motivation
- Agreeableness
- Androgyny
- Attachment Styles
- Authoritarian Personality
- Babyfaceness
- Big Five Personality Traits
- Central Traits Versus Peripheral Traits
- Control Motivation
- Curiosity
- Defensive Pessimism
- Depression
- Expertise
- Extraversion
- Gender Differences
- Genetic Influences on Social Behavior
- Hardiness
- Hostile Masculinity Syndrome
- Identity Status
- Implicit Personality Theory
- Individual Differences
- Introversion
- Locus of Control
- Masculinity/Femininity
- Metatraits
- Narcissism
- Narcissistic Entitlement
- Need for Affiliation
- Need for Closure
- Need for Cognition
- Need for Power
- Neuroticism
- Personalities and Behavior Patterns, Type A and Type B
- Personality and Social Behavior
- Power Motive
- Rejection Sensitivity
- Self-Complexity
- Self-Concept Clarity
- Self-Control Measures
- Self-Esteem
- Self-Esteem Stability
- Self-Monitoring
- Sensation Seeking
- Sex Drive
- Sex Roles
- Shyness
- Social Desirability Bias
- Testosterone
- Thematic Apperception Test
- Traits
- Uniqueness
- Prejudice
- Problem Behaviors
- Prosocial Behaviors
- Altruism
- Altruistic Punishment
- Attraction
- Bystander Effect
- Compassion
- Cooperation
- Decision Model of Helping
- Distributive Justice
- Empathic Accuracy
- Empathy
- Empathy–Altruism Hypothesis
- Gratitude
- GRIT Tension Reduction Strategy
- Helping Behavior
- Negative-State Relief Model
- Positive Psychology
- Prisoner's Dilemma
- Prosocial Behavior
- Public Goods Dilemma
- Reciprocal Altruism
- Religion and Spirituality
- Search for Meaning in Life
- Volunteerism
- Self
- Actor–Observer Asymmetries
- Apparent Mental Causation
- Barnum Effect
- Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRGing)
- Brainwashing
- Close Relationships
- Collective Self
- Contingencies of Self-Worth
- Deindividuation
- Downward Social Comparison
- Ego Shock
- Egocentric Bias
- Escape Theory
- Executive Function of Self
- Exemplification
- Facial-Feedback Hypothesis
- Identity Crisis
- Illusion of Control
- Illusion of Transparency
- Impression Management
- Independent Self-Construals
- Ingratiator's Dilemma
- Interdependent Self-Construals
- Introspection
- Looking-Glass Self
- Mental Control
- Mere Ownership Effect
- Misattribution of Arousal
- Moral Development
- Mortality Salience
- Name Letter Effect
- Objectification Theory
- Optimal Distinctiveness Theory
- Overjustification Effect
- Personal Space
- Phenomenal Self
- Positive Illusions
- Procrastination
- Projection
- Psychological Entitlement
- Reactance
- Regulatory Focus Theory
- Roles and Role Theory
- Schemas
- Self
- Self-Affirmation Theory
- Self-Attribution Process
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Categorization Theory
- Self-Complexity
- Self-Concept
- Self-Concept Clarity
- Self-Control Measures
- Self-Deception
- Self-Defeating Behavior
- Self-Determination Theory
- Self-Disclosure
- Self-Discrepancy Theory
- Self-Efficacy
- Self-Enhancement
- Self-Esteem
- Self-Esteem Stability
- Self-Evaluation Maintenance
- Self-Expansion Theory
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
- Self-Handicapping
- Self-Monitoring
- Self-Perception Theory
- Self-Presentation
- Self-Promotion
- Self-Reference Effect
- Self-Regulation
- Self-Reports
- Self-Serving Bias
- Self-Stereotyping
- Self-Verification Theory
- Social Comparison
- Social Identity Theory
- Spotlight Effect
- Stigma
- Symbolic Self-Completion
- Terror Management Theory
- Threatened Egotism Theory of Aggression
- Uniqueness
- Value Priorities
- Zeal
- Social Cognition
- Accessibility
- Accountability
- Action Identification Theory
- Actor–Observer Asymmetries
- Adaptive Unconscious
- Alcohol Myopia Effect
- Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic
- Assimilation Processes
- Associative Networks
- Attention
- Attribution Theory
- Attributional Ambiguity
- Attributions
- Automatic Processes
- Availability Heuristic
- Bad Is Stronger Than Good
- Barnum Effect
- Base Rate Fallacy
- Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRGing)
- Belief Perseverance
- Blaming the Victim
- Central Traits Versus Peripheral Traits
- Confirmation Bias
- Consciousness
- Contrast Effects
- Controlled Processes
- Correspondence Bias
- Correspondent Inference Theory
- Counterfactual Thinking
- Creativity
- Curiosity
- Debiasing
- Defensive Attribution
- Depressive Realism
- Diagnosticity
- Dilution Effect
- Discounting, in Attribution
- Distinctiveness, in Attribution
- Downward Social Comparison
- Dual Process Theories
- Egocentric Bias
- Emotional Intelligence
- Encoding
- Excuse
- Expectancy Effects
- Expectations
- Eyewitness Testimony, Accuracy of
- False Consciousness
- False Consensus Effect
- False Uniqueness Bias
- Focalism
- Fundamental Attribution Error
- Gain–Loss Framing
- Gambler's Fallacy
- Halo Effect
- Heuristic Processing
- Heuristic-Systematic Model of Persuasion
- Hostile Attribution Bias
- Hostile Media Bias
- Hot Hand Effect
- Illusory Correlation
- Implicit Personality Theory
- Inference
- Integrative Complexity
- Interpersonal Cognition
- Justice Motive
- Just-World Hypothesis
- Kelley's Covariation Model
- Lay Epistemics
- Lowballing
- Matching Hypothesis
- Meaning Maintenance Model
- Memory
- Metacognition
- Mimicry
- Mind-Wandering
- Misattribution of Arousal
- Moral Emotions
- Moral Reasoning
- Motivated Cognition
- Motivated Reasoning
- MUM Effect
- Nonconscious Processes
- Norms, Prescriptive and Descriptive
- Omission Neglect
- Person Perception
- Personality Judgments, Accuracy of
- Person-Positivity Heuristic
- Positive–Negative Asymmetry
- Primacy Effect, Attribution
- Primacy Effect, Memory
- Priming
- Projection
- Prototypes
- Recency Effect
- Responsibility Attribution
- Risk Appraisal
- Salience
- Satisficing
- Schemas
- Scripts
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
- Self-Reference Effect
- Self-Serving Bias
- Self-Verification Theory
- Shifting Standards
- Similarity-Attraction Effect
- Social Categorization
- Social Cognition
- Social Cognitive Neuroscience
- Social Comparison
- Social Impact Theory
- Social Projection
- Spontaneous Trait Inferences
- Spreading of Alternatives
- Subliminal Perception
- Subtyping
- Symbolic Interactionism
- Theory of Mind
- Thin Slices of Behavior
- Three-Dimensional Model of Attribution
- Transactive Memory
- Value Pluralism Model
- Subdisciplines
- Applied Social Psychology
- Consumer Behavior
- Critical Social Psychology
- Discursive Psychology
- Environmental Psychology
- Ethology
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Eyewitness Testimony, Accuracy of
- Forensic Psychology
- Health Psychology
- History of Social Psychology
- Organizational Behavior
- Peace Psychology
- Personality and Social Behavior
- Political Psychology
- Positive Psychology
- Religion and Spirituality
- Social Cognitive Neuroscience
- Social Neuroscience
- Social Psychophysiology
- Sociobiology
- Sociological Social Psychology
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