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The spaces around us define how we feel, move, and interact with others. While the way a person moves and interacts in a space is often determined by the design of the area, the way one feels is left entirely up to the person’s individual feelings towards control theory. Control theory is the sense of control that one has over the spaces the occupy. Control theory consists of three parts 1. Behavioral control 2. Cognitive control 3. Decisional control. Together, these three parts control how we feel about the spaces we live and interact in.
Behavioral Control
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By definition, behavioral control is the ability for one to “change [their] behavior to the desired behavior” (Nugent). This means a person can change the environment that they are in. I see this in myself as a child, as I went through many different phases of toys that I loved, and would change up my bedroom to match whatever toy I wanted to play with then. When it was my Play-Dough phase, I brought up a table (don’t worry, it was a plastic kids table from my basement) and made it the center of my room. This way I could play with my Play-Dough whenever I wanted without worrying about getting it in the carpet or my pesky little brother trying to interfere. Another phase I went through was my obsession with American Girl dolls. I made it my personal mission to ask for one for every Christmas and birthday from ages 5 to 10- and you couldn’t forget all the matching accessories that you had to get as well. I rearranged all the furniture in my room, with the physical assistance from my parents of course, and designed my American Girl village right there in the middle for all to see. Without the ability to change my space, my childhood bedroom would’ve been a modge podge of different toys and stages of my life. But because I could modify the area, my room reflected me growing and changing every day.
Cognitive Control
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Cognitive control is what we use when we feel overwhelmed, over or under stimulated, or even lonely in a space. Cognitive control is the ability to make the decision to let “goals or plans influence behavior” instead of our own feelings (Cognitive Control). This is how we can change the way we conceive the environment. For me, a flaw I have is my lack of patience and nothing brings this out more than long, slow lines at the bank. I get unreasonably angry when having to wait for assistance even though it is not the tellers fault the lines are so slow. It is something I have to step back and work on every time I go and the drive thru is more than one car deep. But I have to think to myself about how I am just here for a moment and there is no reason to get so upset about the line and if I’m to be late to somewhere, well that’s just my own fault for bad time management. It is easy to be upset in the moment, but I do not want to let a long line ruin my entire day.
Decisional Control
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In our lives, we make plenty of decisions. Some big, some small, some don’t even end up mattering in the end, but having the ability to make a decision is a gift from God. Therefore, the ability to choose how you respond in a space is decisional control. If you’re a student, I’m sure you have experienced this before- you have twenty minutes in between classes and your favorite on campus restaurant is lined out the door. What do you do? Risk being late to class or just suffer through with a rumbling stomach. Well for me this situation happened a lot last semester. In my campus’ now closed “student union,” we had a Chick Fil A, my all-time favorite restaurant, but the line for Chick Fil A would sometimes be outrageous and just plain dumb to wait for. Right beside the ever popular Chick Fil A, there was a salad restaurant that never saw more than two people in line at a time. When I finally got tired of waiting for Chick Fil A, I made the decision to try the salad restaurant, and turns out I loved it. It was cheaper and healthier than Chick Fil A and I didn’t have to be late to class just to get some food. Because of decisional control, we can get things done more efficiently and can allow ourselves to be less stressed in situations
Sources
Nugent, P., Ms. (2013, April 07). What is BEHAVIOR CONTROL? definition of BEHAVIOR CONTROL (Psychology Dictionary). Retrieved from https://psychologydictionary.org/behavior-control-2/
This article is very well written! I love that you incorporated the fact that you had control from a very young age. I agree that it's important that we all step back in stressful situations (busy banks or a drive thru) and change our perception to have a more positive outlook on it.
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