ABSTRACT
Control understanding, in the broadest sense, can be defined as people's generalized beliefs about who or what produces important events in their lives. This generalized understanding can be likened to a set of "causal models," in which the sufficient causes for the occurrence of a certain outcome are specified. And like causal models, which may include both direct and indirect relationships, control understanding may include the sufficient conditions for the occurrence of the causes as well. The causal models relevant for control understanding are constructed from the perspective of the actor and therefore usually include a delineation of the actor's role in producing the causes and/or outcomes. In sum, control understanding includes specification of a general causal sequence leading to desired and undesired outcomes (Connell, 1985) as well as one's own capacity to enact the sequence (Skinner, Chapman, & Baltes, 1982a).
