The Context Matters

Abstract

Carver et al. challenge the importance assigned to personal control over desired outcomes as a determinant of distress in stressful situations. The authors contend that it is the expectancy of a positive outcome, and not control over achieving that outcome, that matters. The authors argue that both outcome and control expectancies can matter with respect to distress or psychological well-being; their relative importance is determined by dimensions of the person-environment context including the importance of the outcome, dispositional preferences regarding control, the contingency between personal control and the outcome, self-efficacy expectancies, and the consequences of exercising control for other areas of one’s life.