Compensatory Control

Kay, Aaron C.; Whitson, Jennifer; Gaucher, Danielle; Galinsky, Adam D.

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01649.x

Cited by 423 publications

(192 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Compensatory control theory proposes that one reason why desire for personal control is so encompassing is because it is a subgoal of a larger motivation to see the world as structured, orderly, and predictable (Kay, Gaucher, Napier, Callan, & Laurin, 2008;Kay, Whitson, Gaucher, & Galinsky, 2009). That is, the notion that one's life circumstances might be randomly determined often provokes anxiety (e.g., Glass, Singer, & Friedman, 1969;Laurin, Kay, & Moscovitch, 2008;Pennebaker & Stone, 2004) and belief that one has personal control is an especially effective means of affirming that the world is structured rather than random.…”

Section: Compensatory Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeking structure in social organization: Compensatory control and the psychological advantages of hierarchy.

Friesen

Kay

Eibach

et al. 2014

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Hierarchies are a ubiquitous form of human social organization. We hypothesized that 1 reason for the prevalence of hierarchies is that they offer structure and therefore satisfy the core motivational needs for order and control relative to less structured forms of social organization. This hypothesis is rooted in compensatory control theory, which posits that (a) individuals have a basic need to perceive the world as orderly and structured, and (b) personal and external sources of control are capable of satisfying this need because both serve the comforting belief that the world operates in an orderly fashion. Our first 2 studies confirmed that hierarchies were perceived as more structured and orderly relative to egalitarian arrangements (Study 1) and that working in a hierarchical workplace promotes a feeling of self-efficacy (Study 2). We threatened participants’ sense of personal control and measured perceptions of and preferences for hierarchy in 5 subsequent experiments. Participants who lacked control perceived more hierarchy occurring in ambiguous social situations (Study 3) and preferred hierarchy more strongly in workplace contexts (Studies 4–5). We also provide evidence that hierarchies are indeed appealing because of their structure: Preference for hierarchy was higher among individuals high in Personal Need for Structure and a control threat increased preference for hierarchy even among participants low in Personal Need for Structure (Study 5). Framing a hierarchy as unstructured reversed the effect of control threat on hierarchy (Study 6). Finally, hierarchy-enhancing jobs were more appealing after control threat, even when they were low in power and status (Study 7).

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Section: Compensatory Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeking structure in social organization: Compensatory control and the psychological advantages of hierarchy.

Friesen

Kay

Eibach

et al. 2014

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Self Cite

175

140

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“…For example, people might also turn to god (Kay, Whitson, Gaucher, & Galinsky, 2009) or isolate focal scapegoats (Rothschild, Landau, Sullivan, & Keefer, 2012) to restore feelings of control. Future research should explore the likely relationship between sources of control (personal, familial, cultural, etc.…”

Section: Individual Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grabbing Your Bootstraps: Threats to Economic Order Boost Beliefs in Personal Control

Goode

Keefer

2015

Curr Psychol

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Why are people motivated to support social systems that claim to distribute resources based on hard work and effort, even when those systems seem unfair? Recent research on compensatory control shows that lowered perceptions of personal control motivate a greater endorsement of external systems (e.g., God, government) that compensate for a lack of personal control. The present studies demonstrate that U.S. citizens' faith in a popular economic ideology, namely the belief that hard work guarantees success (i.e., meritocracy), similarly increases under conditions of decreased personal control. We found that a threat to personal control increased participants' endorsement of meritocracy (Studies 1 and 2). Additionally, lowered perceptions of control led to increased feelings of anxiety regarding the future, but the subsequent endorsement of (Study 2) or exposure to (Study 3) meritocracy attenuated this effect. While the compensatory use of meritocracy may be a phenomenon unique to the United States of America, these studies provide important insight into the appeal and persistence of ideologies in general.

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“…Accordingly, this group of people might be motivated to deploy some sort of compensatory control strategy (see Kay, Whitson, Gaucher, & Galinsky, 2009), in which a low perception of control over the social context is compensated by a higher perception of self-control (in this case: selfefficacy). In this way, in the case of the low class where the appearance of a relative lack of resources (less money, fewer opportunities, poorer conditions) was made clear in comparison with other groups, these people could experience a lower sense of control over their social context, and as a consequence, they might try to retrieve the sense of control by means of increasing their self-efficacy perception.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relación entre clase social subjetiva y autoeficacia: efecto de la comparación social

et al. 2018

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Título: Relación entre clase social subjetiva y autoeficacia: efecto de la comparación social. Resumen: La clase socioeconómica es una variable relevante en el proceso de jerarquización social. Se ha encontrado que la clase social subjetiva (CSS) se relaciona positivamente con la autoeficacia de las personas. En la presente investigación, de tipo mixto y realizada con 380 participantes, se intentó replicar estos resultados operacionalizando la CSS de dos formas: a) a través de una manipulación experimental -pidiéndole aleatoriamente a los participantes que se compararan con quienes quedaron abajo o arriba de ellos en una escala de jerarquía social-y b) a través de la medición de la CSS como diferencia individual. Los resultados no mostraron efectos de la manipulación experimental, pero si evidenciaron que la CSS, medida como diferencia individual, se relaciona positivamente con la autoeficacia general. Asimismo, y a nivel cualitativo, se analizaron las descripciones que los participantes hicieron sobre las características de las personas de clase alta y baja, encontrando que en ambos casos prevalecen características de tipo situacional (frente a características disposicionales), pero con una mayor valencia positiva en los de clase alta. Se concluye que la CSS es un factor importante en la autoeficacia y modera los efectos de la comparación social. Palabras clave: clase socioeconómica; clase social objetiva; clase social subjetiva; comparación social; autoeficacia; sensación de control.Abstract: Socioeconomic class is a relevant variable with regard to the process of social hierarchization; specifically, subjective social class (SSC) has been found to correlate positively with the self-efficacy of persons. In the present study, with mixed methodology and a population size of 280 participants, we attempted to replicate these results by operationalizing SSC in the two following manners: (a) through experimental manipulation --randomly requesting that participants compare themselves with those who are above or below them in a social hierarchy scale--and (b) through measuring SSC as individual difference. The results show no effects due to experimental manipulation, but do support that SSC, measured as individual difference, positively correlates with general self-efficacy. Regarding qualitative analysis, when the participant's descriptions of common characteristics in members of the upper and lower class were studied, we found that situational characteristics predominated (over dispositional characteristics), but with greater positive valence when describing the upper class. We conclude that SSC is an important factor in self-efficacy and that it moderates effects of social comparison.

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Compensatory Control

Cited by 423 publications

References 17 publications

Seeking structure in social organization: Compensatory control and the psychological advantages of hierarchy.

Seeking structure in social organization: Compensatory control and the psychological advantages of hierarchy.

Grabbing Your Bootstraps: Threats to Economic Order Boost Beliefs in Personal Control

Relación entre clase social subjetiva y autoeficacia: efecto de la comparación social

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