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