How taking control increases happiness and health despite financial stress

I just read something fascinating about how believing that you can control your life is linked to less depression and better physical health.  People with a high sense of control and mastery agree with statements like:

• ·         I can do just about anything I set my mind to;
• ·         When I really want to do something I usually find a way to succeed at it;
• ·         Whether or not I am able to get what I want is in my own hands; and
• ·         What happens to me in the future largely depends on me.

Those who have a high belief in their ability to overcome obstacles to achieving their goals tend to disagree with items such as:

·        

•       Other people determine most of what I can and cannot do;
• ·         There is little I can do to change most of the important things in my life;
• ·         I often feel helpless in dealing with the problems of life;
• ·         What happens in my life is often beyond my control; and
• ·         There are many things that interfere with what I want to do.

What I found most fascinating is that having these beliefs seems to protect people against the ravages of low income.  People with lower incomes are much more likely to get depressed and physically ill and die early than those with higher incomes.  Those of us suffering financial hardship are also less likely to believe that we can control our lives and overcome obstacles to achieving goals.

But this study found that even when income is low and realistic obstacles to achieving goals are high, believing one can control personal circumstances and overcome constraints is associated with better health and less depression.  Those people with low incomes (below US$25,000) who believed they could control aspects of their lives and overcome barriers were less likely to be depressed than low-income people who had a low sense of control.  In fact, their level of depression was similar to medium (US$25,000-49.999) or even high income (US$50,000+) folks.  The same was true for physical health.

Who was most likely to be depressed?  Those with incomes under US$25,000 who believed their lives were controlled by others and they could not overcome external barriers to achieving their goals and dreams.  Who was most likely to feel satisfied with their life?  Those who felt a high level of mastery and control, regardless of their income.  That means that a high sense of control cancels out the negative effects of low income.

As someone on a low income due to ill health, I find this study heartening.  It’s just a snapshot at one point in time, and I’d like to see a study that followed people over a period of years to be sure that one thing really led to another.  But I know from personal experience that when money is tight, life can be very stressful and small problems become magnified out of all proportion.  This study confirms my strategy of trying to control what I can in my life, and work hard to achieve my dreams despite the barriers that ill health and low income create.

I find this study particularly interesting because it reminds me of a discussion I had with fellow students in a psychology class at university years ago.  We were studying locus of control, that is, the degree to which people believe that ‘I control me’ or ‘they control me’.  Believing ‘I control me’ is associated with many life benefits.  Despite this, many of my classmates, and even our lecturer, wondered if people who were poor and disadvantaged might not be better to accept their current reality and not aim high.

After the class I mused on people who have grown up in poverty, even homeless, and made their way to a better kind of life.  It seemed to me that if one is poor and disadvantaged in other ways, it is EVEN MORE important to believe that it’s possible to control at least some circumstances and overcome barriers, because you need even more motivation than the average person to work hard enough to do so.

What do others think? Is it possible to overcome barriers of poverty and disadvantage to achieve dreams and goals with hard work?  Do you have any inspiring stories of people who have done this?

P. S. For those interested in reading the original study it’s by Lachman and Weaver, published in 1998, called ‘’The Sense of Control as a Moderator of Social Class Differences in Health and Well-Being”.  If you search on Google Scholar there’s a free pdf version available.  For more on health and positive psychology, there is a very good chapter in ‘Applied Positive Psychology’ by Donaldson et al, which is where I first read about this study.