Personal control and collective control orientations : People's preference and its relationship with psychological and social adaptation

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Control is defined as "bringing out desired outcome". The target of control is the environment or the self. It has been claimed in previous research in the West that individuals attempt to change the self rather than the environment (secondary control) in East Asia including Japan, whereas individuals attempt to change the environment (primary control) in the West. The present investigator argued against such stereotypical view and showed based upon comprehensive literature review that : (a) People attempt primary control even in East Asia; (b) Collective control is preferred to personal control in East Asia relative to North America ; (c) Control strategies in East Asian tend to give priority to the maintenance of interpersonal harmony rather than one's sense of autonomy ; (d) collective control orientation can contribute to psychological well-being. In a follow-up laboratory experiment, it was demonstrated that individuals are affected by negative feedback on their performance to a lesser extent when they are with their friend, as compared with when they are alone. This result indicates that individuals tend to perceive that they are more efficacious when they are with their friend, as compared with when they are on their own. The relationship between individual differences in control orientation and other possibly related psychological processes were not revealed. More research needs to be conducted on this issue.