IreLee Ferguson, B.S., contributed to this article. IreLee is a research assistant in the Cognition and Affect Research and Education (CARE) Lab at McLean Hospital.
Meeting a new person for the first time induces some level of anxiety in most people. Some people begin to dread these interactions days in advance and are overcome with nervousness during the entire interaction. Other people may not feel that rise in anxiety until minutes before the meeting and the feeling of anxiousness quickly subsides during that interaction. So, what contributes to these differing levels of social anxiety?
Perception of Control
Differences in how much control someone thinks they have over their emotions and the situation is one potential explanation. Perception of control is a person’s subjective experience of whether they have control over themselves and their environment. Perceived control can be categorized into two subtypes:
- Perceived internal control: one’s ability to control their thoughts and emotions.
- Perceived external control: one’s ability to control possible stressors and threats in their environment.
Research suggests that a person’s perception of control can affect the amount of anxiety they experience (Gallagher, Bentley, & Barlow, 2014). Both a lower perception of internal control and a lower perception of external control separately contribute to higher anxiety (Wadsworth, Wessman, Beard, & Bjorgvinsson, 2019). In other words, the research shows that if one feels that they have low control over their internal feelings or the external environment in any given situation, they will experience more anxiety.
For example, consider an awkward encounter when meeting a new person. Someone with low perceived internal control and low perceived external control might fear that their heart will uncontrollably race and feel that they are at the mercy of the other person’s reaction. Someone with high perceived internal control and high perceived external control would feel that if their heart began to race, they would be able to manage it and would feel confident that they could depend on their social skills to resolve the situation.
Influences on Our Perception
So, what determines how we perceive control? Studies show that our perception of control is largely due to the environment we grew up in and our past experiences. One study, done over a nine-year period, found that more negative events in a person’s life predict a lower perception of external control (Hovenkamp-Hermelink et al., 2019). Another study showed that living in an unpredictable family environment causes a low perception of external control and results in experiencing more negative emotions and anxiety symptoms as a child (Chorpita, Brown, & Barlow, 2016). Therefore, past experiences have a large impact on how we perceive our environment.
Parenting style has also been shown to contribute to one’s perception of control. Children with parents who are consistent in their behavior and encourage independence have a higher perception of control (Chorpita & Barlow, 1998).
However, just because someone experiences negative events in their life does not mean that they are immediately bound to low perceptions of control and resulting anxiety. For example, the timing of an event can affect the extent to which the event influences the child. Children’s susceptibility to the impact of negative events largely depends on the development period during which the events occur (Chorpita & Barlow, 1998).
The development of perceived control is complex and still being understood. If family life were the only contributing factor, then siblings would have similar perceptions of control. Differences among siblings could be attributed to birth order or unshared experiences of trauma (Chorpita & Barlow, 1998). Factors contributing to perceived control may also go beyond external influences. Research suggests that a person’s attributional style and sense of self-worth also can affect their perception of control.
THE BASICS
Effect on Anxiety
While the relationship between perceived control and anxiety is well supported (Gallagher et al., 2014), research is ongoing to learn how perceived control affects anxiety. Some studies point to avoidance as the main mechanism (Korte, Unruh, Oglesby, & Schmidt, 2015; Ng & Lovibond, 2020). Avoidance is a common strategy utilized to reduce feelings of anxiety in the short term. People may avoid situations because they view themselves or the situation as uncontrollable. In time, avoidance maintains anxiety by preventing the individual from learning how to cope with and test out their anxious predictions. If a person increases their sense of control, they are less likely to avoid anxiety-provoking situations.
So how can we increase our perception of control when we are often faced with uncertain situations? Although our environment is rarely controllable, we can focus on internal control and learn to manage our reaction to feelings of stress, nervousness, and anxiety. Various psychotherapies can enhance internal perception of control, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), by teaching techniques such as mindfulness, cognitive restructuring, and exposure to feared situations. Research shows that engaging in CBT and learning these skills can increase a person’s perception of control over themselves (Gallagher et al., 2014; Qanbari Alaee et al., 2022).
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Are You in Control? The Answer May Feed Your Anxiety - Psychology Today
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