The Motivational Impact of Perceived Control on Behavioral Intentions

This research explores the moderated influence of perceived control and its underlying motivational processes. Perceptions of control can change one's motivation to engage in deliberative or nondeliberative processing when forming a behavioral intention. Studies were designed to test the moderated relationships of perceived control on decision theoretic variables (Study 1), to provide experimental evidence of differences in processing relative to levels of perceived control (Study 2), and to examine how levels of control induce motivation to engage cognitive resources toward a decision (Study 3). Findings support predictions that lower vs. higher levels of control result in the formation of behavioral intention based on deliberative rather than nondeliberative processing. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.