How Controlling Influences People?

Why are some people so controlling? Do they enjoy taking responsibility for others? How commanding influences our lives?

Back in the seventies, psychologists once again proved that they can conduct experiments without thinking about the consequences.

Houseplants were given to residents of nursing homes. Some older people were told that they were now responsible for the flowers, others that the plants would be monitored by staff. At the end of 6 months, the mortality rate in the second group was twice as high.

"Aha," psychologists said, "the hypothesis that people like to control, to be responsible for something and to manage is confirmed!"

And they launched a validation study with student volunteers instead of plants. Elderly people either could control the time and duration of their arrival (say something like: "drop in on Thursday evening for an hour") or could not control them at all.

Indeed, those retirement home residents who had the ability to control volunteer visits were more active and more fun.

Only a few months after the end of the experiment, significantly more people died in this group than in the control group.

So, the psychologists came to conclusion that, we do like the feeling that we are in control of the events of our lives. We love to control other people and events. But the main idea is that it is better for people not to have control at all rather than to have it and then lose it.