Perceived control is the sense of personal control over one’s state, behaviors, environment, and important outcomes. High perceived control tends to soften the blows of outrageous fortune by activating action plans to make things better. Low perceived control sharpens the sting of adversity because it makes us feel helpless and hopeless. Individuals who chronically lack a sense of control tend to become angry and disengaged: there's nothing I can do to make a difference, so why bother?
A recent meta-analysis on the relationship between inequality and well-being (e.g., happiness) found the effect of inequality on well-being was mediated by hope. For instance, inequality was associated with higher happiness in countries where people felt they or their children were going places. Well-dressed rich people reminded them of their own possibilities, not of something they could never have because the system is rigged. In these countries, exposure to the good fortune of others wasn't depressing or an occasion to rage against the machine. It was inspirational: an occasion to double-down on one's resolutions. Okay, that's simplifying a bit, but you get the point.
I find a mediator like hope and wonder: okay, so what makes people hopeful? Well, lots of things, but a major biggie is - you guessed it - perceived control. For instance, researchers have found that a sense of purpose in life is associated with "the degree to which people believe they can bring about desired outcomes in their environment and avoid undesirable ones" (Ferguson and Goodwin, 2010) . Other studies have established a "reliable positive correlation between optimism and perceived control (Fontaine, Manstead and Wagner, 1993).
Hope based on perceived control makes us more likely to take on challenging tasks and difficult goals. For instance, in one study, students with high levels of perceived control were much more engaged in learning activities than their low-control counterparts, which influenced both their grades and achievement test scores. And what influenced their sense of control? As reported by the students: teachers who provided a clear set of contingencies. Meaning, it was very clear what behaviors and what levels of performance would be rewarded ( Skinner et al, 1990).
Perceived control also influences how people feel when exposed to others who are "higher" than them on some metric. Studies on social comparison have found that "upward comparison" (comparing oneself to "higher" others) was "debilitating only when accompanied by low perceived control". As the researchers put it:
"...those who believed that they had little control over their subsequent outcomes and who were exposed to upward comparisons reported greater depressive and hostile affect and persisted less on the second task relative to other subjects." Testa and Major, 1990.
So how does this all connect with the psychology of social justice? Mainly to show that there is no "natural" response to status differences and inequality. Whether we respond with resentment, depression, fear, stress, envy, anger, indignation, admiration, aesthetic pleasure, or even happiness at another's good fortune...all depends.
References:
Buttrick, N. R., S. J. Heintzelman, et al. (2017). "Inequality and well-being." Current Opinion in Psychology 18: 15-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.07.016
Feather, N. T. and R. Sherman (2002). "Envy, Resentment, Schadenfreude, and Sympathy: Reactions to Deserved and Undeserved Achievement and Subsequent Failure." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 28(7): 953-961. (Basically, low personal control = high resentment towards undeserving high achievers).
Ferguson, S. J. and A. D. Goodwin (2010). "Optimism and Well-Being in Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Social Support and Perceived Control." The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 71(1): 43-68.
Fontaine, Kevin R. , Manstead, Antony S. R. and Wagner, Hugh (1993). "Optimism, perceived control over stress, and coping." European Journal of Personality 7(4): 267-281.
Major, B., Testa, M., & Blysma, W. H. (1991). Responses to upward and downward social comparisons: The impact of esteem-relevance and perceived control. In J. Suls & T. A. Wills (Eds.), Social comparison: Contemporary theory and research (pp. 237-260). Hillsdale, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1991-97036-009
Skinner, Ellen A. et al What It Takes to Do Well in School and Whether I've Got It: A Process Model of Perceived Control and Children's Engagement and Achievement in School. Journal of Educational Psychology, v82 n1 p22-32 Mar 1990.
Testa, M. and B. Major (1990). "The Impact of Social Comparisons After Failure: The Moderating Effects of Perceived Control." Basic and Applied Social Psychology 11(2): 205-218. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15324834basp1102_7
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Note: This post is from the ETPS archive and was originally published on May 28, 2018 under the title, “The Psychology of Social Justice, Part III: Perceived Control, Hope, and Inequality” (link).