Those who were led to believe they did not have control said they felt as though they had little control. Those who were told that they had control, yet had none, felt as though they had as much control as those who actually did have control over the elevator. For example, in one study, college students were in a virtual reality setting to treat a fear of heights using an elevator. As a result, they see themselves as responsible for events to which there is little or no causal link. Instead, they may judge their degree of control by a process which is often unreliable. This has been called the introspection illusion. The illusion might arise because a person lacks direct introspective insight into whether they are in control of events. The illusion of control is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events, for example, when someone feels a sense of control over outcomes that they demonstrably do not influence. Along with illusory superiority and optimism bias, the illusion of control is one of the positive illusions. psychologist Ellen Langer and is thought to influence gambling behavior and belief in the paranormal. The illusion of control is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events.

False belief in an ability to control events

Unrealistic optimism experiments