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A Four‐Factor Model of Perceived Control: Avoiding, Coping, Obtaining, and Savoring
Author(s) -
Bryant Fred B.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1989.tb00494.x
Subject(s) - psychology , coping (psychology) , feeling , perceived control , cognition , confirmatory factor analysis , distress , social psychology , subjective well being , coping behavior , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , structural equation modeling , happiness , statistics , mathematics , neuroscience
This study provides evidence that people evaluate their control over events and over feelings separately with respect to both positive and negative experiences Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that subjects made separate self‐evaluations of control regarding their ability to (a) avoid negative outcomes, (b) cope with negative outcomes, (c) obtain positive outcomes, and (d) savor positive outcomes In addition, beliefs about avoiding and obtaining were more highly correlated (r = 50) than were beliefs about coping and savoring ( r = 27) It is argued that coping and savoring involve different sets of cognitive and behavioral skills Multiple regression analyses generally indicated that beliefs about avoiding and coping related more strongly to measures of subjective distress, whereas beliefs about obtaining and strongly related more strongly to measures of subjective well‐being These four control beliefs are discussed in relation to other conceptual models of control, and ways in which savoring may promote perceived control are described