The illusion of control.
@article{Langer1975TheIO,
title={The illusion of control.},
author={Ellen J. Langer},
journal={Journal of Personality and Social Psychology},
year={1975},
volume={32},
pages={311-328}
}A series of studies was conducted to elucidate a phenomenon here referred to as the "illusion of control." An illusion of control was denned as an expectancy of a personal success probability inappropriately higher than the objective probability would warrant. It was predicted that factors from skill situations (competition, choice, familiarity, involvement) introduced into chance situations cause individuals to feel inappropriately confident. In Study 1 subjects cut cards against either a…
1,758 Citations
Illusion of control by proxy: placing one's fate in the hands of another.
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- 2009
It was hypothesized that people will defer to a lucky other in games of chance to maximize winning potential, i.e. the illusion of control by proxy, and as predicted, participants were more likely to allow a gambling partner (a confederate) to spin a roulette wheel and bet more money on the outcome of the spin if they were made to believe their partner was lucky.
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Previous research has provided evidence that an individual's need for a chance-based outcome positively affects perceptions of the skill involved in attaining the outcome as well as certainty of…
Illusory Personal Control as a Determinant of Bet Size and Type in Casino Craps Games1
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Langer's (1974, 1975) theory regarding the conditions under which subjects performing a chance task will suffer from an illusion of control over the outcome has specified 6 conditions proposed to…
Illusion of Control: Effects of Participation and Involvement
- Psychology
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Summary Among the various theories for the acquisition and retention of gambling behavior, that of the illusion of control states that in a situation involving chance people behave as they would in a…
Illusion of Control Relative to Chance Outcomes
- PsychologyPsychological reports
- 2000
Participants were engaged in a computer game in which outcomes occurred independently of responses. Depending upon group assignment, positive outcomes occurred randomly on either 33% or 66% of…
Illusion of Control
- PsychologyExperimental psychology
- 2014
Those acting more often to obtain the outcome developed stronger illusions, and so did their yoked counterparts, and this work proposes that this may be due to a bias in contingency detection which occurs when the probability of the action and of the potential cause is high.
Comparing illusion of control and superstitious behavior: Rate of responding influences judgment of control in a free-operant procedure
- PsychologyLearning and Motivation
- 2018
Evaluation of the “Illusion of Control”: Type of Feedback, Outcome Sequence, and Number of Trials Among Regular and Occasional Gamblers
- Psychology
- 1984
Summary Within the framework of Langer's theory of the “illusion of control,” three experiments were conducted in order to clarify factors affecting the acquisition and maintenance of gambling…
Drawing Familiar or Unfamiliar Cards: Stimulus Familiarity, Chance Orientation, and the Illusion of Control
- Psychology
- 1992
This study examined a condition under which the effect of stimulus familiarity on the illusion of control is suppressed. According to Langer, stimulus familiarity induces a skill orientation even in…
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