ABSTRACT
THE perception that one has some measure of personal control over the important areas of his or her physical and social Situation has emerged as a fundamental prerequisite of psychological well-being and social adjustment (see Garber & Seligman, 1980; Langer, 1983; Lefcourt, 1973, 1981, 1982). More than two decades of research supports the proposition that the expectation that important life outcomes are attainable through personal effort is psychologically adaptive, and a belief in the primacy of fate, powerful others, or “the system” leads to maladaption and is characterized by various cognitive, motivational, and behavioral deficits (see Lefcourt, 1982). Although one’s perception of personal control may or may not correspond to an objective appraisal of the way things actually are (see Langer, 1983) even a specious sense of control is in many situations more life enhancing than its absence. This state of affairs has prompted Lefcourt (1973) to remark that even if personal control or freedom of choice has been relegated to the status of “illusion” by the doctrines of modern behavioral science, it is nonetheless an important illusion in terms of its consequences.
