The illusion of control is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to
control events. It was named by U.S. psychologist Ellen Langer and is thought to influence
gambling behavior and belief in the paranormal.
Along with illusory superiority and optimism bias, the illusion of control is one of the positive
illusions. The illusion of control is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to
control events, for example, when someone feels a sense of control over outcomes that they
demonstrably do not influence.
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The illusion is more common in familiar situations, and in situations where the person
knows the desired outcome. Feedback that emphasizes success rather than failure can increase the
effect, while feedback that emphasizes failure can decrease or reverse the effect. The illusion is
weaker for depressed individuals and is stronger when individuals have an emotional need to control
the outcome. The illusion is strengthened by stressful and competitive situations, including
financial trading.
Although people are likely to overestimate their control when the situations are heavily
chance-determined, they also tend to underestimate their control when they actually have it, which
runs contrary to some theories of the illusion and its adaptiveness. People also showed a higher
illusion of control when they were allowed to become familiar with a task through practice trials,
make their choice before the event happens like with throwing dice, and when they can make their
choice rather than have it made for them with the same odds. People are more likely to show control
when they have more answers right at the beginning than at the end, even when the people had the
same number of correct answers. (資料來源)