ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R

Advances in Psychological Science ›› 2013, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (5): 857-866.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.00857

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Control or Fit: Two Orientations of Secondary Control Research

YANG Shenlong;GUO YongYu;LI Jing;BAI Jie   

  1. (School of Psychology, Central China Normal University; Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, and Hubei Human Development and Mental Health Key Laboratory, Wuhan 430079, China)
  • Received:2012-11-06 Online:2013-05-15 Published:2013-05-15
  • Contact: GUO YongYu

Abstract: Secondary control is a kind of coping strategies when we are faced with threats to our motivation for perceived control. It was first defined as an attempt to fit in with the world and to “flow with the current”. During its development, however, different explanations arose, leading to the so-called divergence of control-focus versus fit-focus orientation. The control-focus and fit-focus hold different views on the relationship between secondary control and primary control, the relationship between secondary control and perceived control, and cultural influences in secondary control. Recently Compensatory Control Model and the researches on health offer possibility to integrate the two orientations conceptually and functionally. Future research should be engaged in integrating the definition further, extending our research fields, as well as exploring its influential factors by an increasing use of experimental methods.

Key words: secondary control, control-focus, fit-focus