Control Means Different Things to Different People

The political and media hyperbole around the election has convinced many Americans that it will be a traumatic event. In one poll, two-thirds of those polled feared it would lead to violence. People on both sides of the political spectrum are afraid that if their side loses, it will be the end of democracy as we know it.

There are a number of reasons for the heightened emotions around this event. Our political system is clearly divided right now in terms of ideology, policy, and where we get our information. Media outlets on both the left and the right are filling their 24-hour-a-day airtime with discussions of how bad things are, how much worse they could get, and how terrible the folks on the other side of the political aisle are.

This constant flow of divisive information has polarized our politicians, our communities, and our families. Rather than taking the time to listen to each other, many of us are trying to calm ourselves by paying attention to sensational repetitive news sources that we already agree with. The farther we are sucked into these dramatic portrayals of our country as a dismal place, populated by people who by definition are scary because they think differently than we do, the more we are likely to demonize the people we disagree with, not just their ideas.

But are things really as bad as we are being led to believe, or are we allowing politicians and the media (regardless of our political affiliation) to hijack our emotions by making us feel scared and out of control?

Why Control Is So Important

It turns out that control is a nuanced concept. Psychological research suggests that our control beliefs impact our daily choices, our attributions about why things happen to other people, and our political beliefs and choices.

Some of us have what psychologists call an internal locus control, meaning that we believe our own actions influence our destiny. As a result, we often focus on preventing or preparing for adverse events, make efforts to control the things that happen to us, and prefer to make our own decisions. Those who have a more external worldview may believe that their future is under the control of either other more powerful people, or a powerful other such as God.

An individual’s sense of control develops over time and is a function of our personality, temperament, and life experiences. When faced with surgery, one individual might feel compelled to read everything they can about their condition and to make their own decisions about what treatment to pursue. A more external person might argue that they are going to trust in the expertise of the surgeon, or to take comfort in their faith since they don’t believe their own actions will change things.

When it comes to politics, internal folks are more likely to believe that voting will impact their future. However, if your life experiences have led you to believe that your actions can do little to change the economy, society, or your own circumstances, you may not be invested in spending the time to follow elections.

But the way you think about the amount of control other people have over their lives matters too. People who identify as more ideologically conservative tend to believe that people get ahead in the world as a result of their actions, while those who are more liberal believe that environmental factors and social inequities can impede or advance your goals. As a result, more conservative people tend to believe that those who don’t prosper aren’t trying hard enough, while more liberal folks argue that we can’t blame people for not exceeding if the playing field is uneven.

The reality is that no matter our control attributions, life is uncertain. In some situations, our actions do matter, and in others, they have no effect—so there is a time and a place for both approaches. It is also the case that hard work is necessary for success but not everyone who tries hard will actually succeed. So, we all need to think more about how our control beliefs are influencing our mental health in this politically divided time and how we could change patterns that aren’t serving us well.

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People with an internal locus of control, regardless of their political affiliation, may be able to manage their anxiety by getting involved politically or working to promote or defend the social causes they care about. But they also need to avoid assuming they are responsible for fixing every problem they see or not holding people realistically accountable for their choices.

Self-identified external locus of control folks may need to think about whether they are actually ceding too much power to others, or effectively relying on their faith to change things that are under their control. They might also benefit from paying more attention to the ways in which people’s circumstances hinder or enhance their ability to reach their goals.

In the end, I believe that Americans are resilient, and it is always difficult to judge the severity of events in real time. But the bottom line is that democracy often appears messy because it allows us to hold and express different points of view.

That doesn’t mean we should spend our energy trying to control others, or to force them to see things the way we do. Instead, we need to focus on how to communicate and create a society that enables all of us to have a sense of control over our future.