CONTROLLING SELF AND OTHERS - A THEORY OF ANXIETY, MENTAL CONTROL, AND SOCIAL-CONTROL

This address integrates social and personality variables by studying t he impact of social structure on basic human motivations and anxiety. When situations threaten the ability to meet basic human needs, people become anxious and attempt to restore control Social structures of po wer threaten people's sole control over meeting basic needs for compet ence, self-esteem, and a benevolent world. Depending on the need under threat, people may cope with their anxiety in different ways. For exa mple, anxiety over different threatened needs may cause powerless peop le either to be hypervigilant toward those in power or to discount neg ative information about them and align with them. Just as people who a re anxious because of social powerlessness may attempt to restore cont rol by social cognitive processes, trait-anxious people may attempt to restore control by their impression formation strategies.