Model competence, depression, and the illusion of control

Abstract

The illusion of control has been demonstrated repeatedly in studies involving the manipulation of three of the four factors identified as important by Langer (1975): choice, familiarity, and involvement. The present study was designed to replicate and extend research on one other factor: competition or social comparison. Mildly depressed and nondepressed subjects watched a competent or incompetent model perform a novel gambling game. After learning of the model's ostensible performance level (a score equal to the chance probability), subjects predicted their own level of immediate performance and what it would be if they were given 1 week to practice the game. Subjects witnessing the incompetent model gave higher performance predictions than those witnessing the competent model, thus replicating and extending Langer's "dapper" versus "schnook" study on competition. As a group, subjects predicted better performance after practice rather than immediately, thus providing further support for the familiarity factor. Contrary to findings in past research, mildly depressed subjects showed an illusion of control and did so to a greater extent than did nondepressed subjects.