Illusion Of Control Bias: What It Is, Consequences And Examples
People often feel like they have control over what they actually own. In general, for example, they feel that they have a better chance of winning a lottery if they choose the numbers themselves. This fact is known as the illusion of control. The more we believe that we are able to avoid harmful effects, thanks to our skill and the control we can exercise, the less risky we consider a substance, activity or technology.
It is a cognitive illusion, since people do not seem to realize that the outcome of certain events does not depend on their ability, but on chance or luck. In this PsychologyFor article, we will talk about What is illusion of control bias, its consequences and some examples so you better understand how it works.
The illusion of control in psychology is the false sense of having influence on events through one’s own action. Ellen Langer first studied the illusion of control in the mid-1970s. The psychologist observed that people, when placed in situations where what objectively happens is attributed primarily to chance, behave in the same way as if they were. Whether it happened depended on your skills, although some basic skills are necessary to participate in some risky activities.
How the Illusion of Control Bias Works
The illusion of control bias is determined by a distorted perception of causal relationships< The results of numerous investigations carried out in the 80s and 90s reveal this prevalence of the illusion of control mechanism in the face of a generalized attitude of unrealistic optimism.
Consequences of the illusion of control bias
The illusion of control bias influences situations in which the outcome is determined mostly by chance and to a lesser extent by one’s own abilities. In these cases, when evaluating the chances of success, there is a tendency to overestimate personal abilities, so it is perceived that these will determine the final result. Nothing could be further from the truth, since chance ends up being the factor that determines the outcome of these situations.
Experience and familiarity with a specific task increase the feeling of power achieve a favorable result. These factors are associated with greater performance on skill tasks, but not on random tasks. This is an aspect that people tend to forget, even in skill-related tasks. For example, a car accident is a situation that depends mostly on chance in the sense of being in the place and at the specific time when the event occurs.
Examples of illusion of control
There is nothing better to understand a cognitive bias such as the illusion of control than to see some examples of it. Discover them below.
Example 1: Earthquake
An example that very describes the illusion of control bias is the following:
A man is opening the rusty door of his garage and, suddenly, an earthquake occurs that devastates the entire region.
Maybe it’s time to fix it,” the man reflects. This form of illusion is a overconfident assessment of the covariation between the action that wants to develop and the event that has just taken place.
The earthquake is considered a product of the intention to fix the door.
Example 2: Kung Fu Panda
The Kung Fu Panda movie also contains an example of the illusion of control bias. At one point, Master Oogway tells Master Shifu, “You will never face your destiny until you give up the illusion of control.”
What does that mean? It refers to the fact that we have the illusion of being able to control our life< We want it to go in a certain direction and we try to pilot it moved by a totally rational and calculating propensity. Then, inexorably, something happens that alters our plans, that forces us in some way to take note that this control is not possible.
Example 3: Disease
The illusion of control can be applied to everyday life and we are all victims, even Steve Jobs. As Don A. Moore, PhD in Organizational Behavior, says, when the founder of Apple was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003, he believed he too could control your illness itself. He said no to emergency surgery and chemotherapy, to cure himself with acupuncture, natural remedies and diet.
Nine months later he agreed to undergo surgery, but by that time the cancer had spread beyond repair and they could not cure it. “Overestimating our control capabilities can lead us to make tragic and costly mistakes,” says Moore, such as refusing medical treatment.
This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
Arielli, E. (2000). Immagini dell’uomo. Introduction to social psychology
Sbattella, F., Tettamanzi, M. (et al.) (2013). Fondamenti di psychology dell’emergenza. Milan: Franco Angeli.
