Control (psychology)

Perceived control in psychology is a “person’s belief that [they] are capable of obtaining desired outcomes, avoiding undesired outcomes, and achieving goals.” High perceived control is often associated with better health, relationships, and adjustment. Strategies for restoring perceived control are called Compensatory control strategies.[1] One's perception of perceived control is influenced by the past and future as well as what the desired outcome of an event may be. Perceived control is often associated with the term locus of control.[2] Perceived control can be broken down into two different categories including primary and secondary perceived control which deal with one's perception of control over the environment or their wishes within that environment.[3]

Control desire applies to any subject, circumstance, or relationship that an individual may want to have some degree of control over.[4] In the context of a sales relationship, control desire refers to the amount of control a customer wants within the relationship.[5] Control desire is often associated with perceived control, and studies focused on individuals with lower control desire show a correlation with greater psychological problems.[4]

Cognitive control in psychology describes “the ability to control one’s thoughts and actions.” It is also known as controlled processing, executive attention, and supervisory attention. Controlled behaviors, behaviors over which one has cognitive control, are guided by maintenance, updating, and representing task goals, and inhibiting information irrelevant to the task goal.[6] Cognitive control is often developed through reinforcement as well as learning from previous experiences. Increased cognitive control allows individuals to have increased flexibility in their ability to choose between conflicting stimuli.[7] Cognitive control is commonly tested using the Stroop color-word task as well as the Eriksen flanker task.[8]

Emotional control is a term from literature on self-regulatory psychology and refers to “the ability to self-manage or regulate attitudes and feelings that directly affect participant receptiveness to, and implementation of, training activities.”[9] Emotional control is often referred to as emotional regulation and is the process the brain undergoes to regulate and control emotional responses throughout the day.[10] Emotional control manages and balances the physiological as well as psychological response to an emotion.[11] The opposite of emotion regulation is emotional dysregulation which occurs when problems arise in the emotional control process that result in the inability to process emotions in a healthy manner.[10] Emotional control contains several emotional regulation strategies including distraction, cognitive reappraisal, and emotional action control.[11]

Motivational control in psychology “refers to the self-regulatory mechanism by which individuals are able to act on prescribed behaviors to implement training activities.” It can be explained by the analogy of a student who studies for an hour each morning for two months before a test, whether or not the student likes studying.[9]

Inhibitory control or “IC” in psychology refers to another type of self-regulation defined as “the ability to inhibit prepotent thoughts or actions flexibly, often in favor of a subdominant action, typically in goal-directed behavior”.[12] There are two types of IC: hot and cold. Hot IC involves activities or tasks related to emotion regulation, and cold IC involves abstract activities or tasks. A lack of inhibitory control can lead to difficulties in three main areas of life including motor, attentional, and behavioral control. Inhibitory control is also involved in the process of helping humans correct, react, and improve social behavior.[13]

A lack of inhibitory control can be connected with several mental disorders including Behavioral Inhibition, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Alcohol and drugs also influence one's inhibitory control.[13]

Social control is learning psychology and “refers to an individual’s skills in engaging the social environment in ways that help to support and reinforce his or her learning activities.”[9] Social control can be influenced by several factors including the control that society places on individual actions and behaviors[14] as well as the control an individual can exert over their own behaviors in public.[15] The definition of social control has changed over time to include the social control groups of people have in addition to individuals.[15]

Ego control in psychology refers to the efforts of the individual to control "thoughts, emotions, impulses or appetites… task performances [and] attentional processes.”[16] Failure of ego control is seen as a central problem in individuals who suffer from substance abuse disorders.

Situational control in psychology is part of leadership psychology that refers to “the degree to which the situation provides the leader with potential influence over the group’s behavior”.[17]

Effortful control in psychology refers to a type of self regulation. It is a broader construct than inhibitory control, and encompasses working memory and attention shifting.[18] Effortful control works by allowing individuals the ability to start or stop behaviors they may or may not want to do through attention management.[19] Effortful control is theorized to be involved in the process of problem solving as well as behavior regulation due to the top down processing involved.[20] Effortful control often interacts and is central in other forms of control such as emotional control and inhibitory control.[20]