PERCEIVED CONTROL - DISTINCT BUT RELATED LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

Some have argued that as so many constructs are either based on, are s ub-components of, or correlates of perceived control, that the term pe rceived control can be treated in a generic fashion. Others, however, have drawn a number of theoretical distinctions between constructs rel ated to perceived control, such as beliefs and attributions about perc eived control. This paper offers an empirical test of these and other distinctions made with regard to constructs related to perceived contr ol. Based on a sample of 468 recently blind individuals, 6 measures re lated to perceived control were subjected to LISREL confirmatory facto r analysis. Results indicated that a distinction between constructs re lated to perceived control beliefs and attributions was empirically ju stified. It is argued that researchers in the future should note this and state whether or not they are dealing with attributions or beliefs . In addition the validity of the attributional style construct and Sh erer's self-efficacy scale was questioned, with the data indicating th at these were both related to beliefs and not attributions.