Title: The Paradox of Control: Gelassenheit, Stoicism, Personal Control and God
1The Paradox of Control Gelassenheit, Stoicism,
Personal Control and God
- Thomas V. Merluzzi
- University of Notre Dame
- Notre Dame, Indiana USA
- tmerluzz_at_nd.edu
2Thanks to
- Steve Fredman for discussions on ancient
philosophy and galessenheit - Niels for friendship, colleagueship, and an
invitation to Denmark
3Overview
- Historical Perspectives
- Psychological Perspectives on Control
- Development of Control Beliefs
- Primary and Secondary Control
- Faith and Control
- Types of Religious Problem Solving
- Integrating Types and Control Theory
4Lao Tsu
- Tao Te Ching
- Wei wu wei
- doing not-doing
- Less and less do you need to force things, until
finally you arrive at non-action.
5Lao Tsu
- Can you coax your mind from its wandering and
keep to the original oneness? - Can you let your body become supple as a newborn
childs? - Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see
nothing but the light? - Can you love people and lead them without
imposing your will? - Can you deal with the most vital matters by
letting events take their course? - Can you step back from your own mind and thus
understand all things?
6Stoicism
- Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius
- Filtered through Pierre Hadot
- Happiness consists in the demands of good
- Happiness is accessible to all within this life
- World view
- Fatalism external causes and fate
- However, what does depend on us is to will to do
good and act in conformity with reason. - Referred to as coherence
7Stoicism
- Coherence sounds paradoxical
- Sets stage for detachment from outcomes
- Stoics espouse a process model
- Do good and detach from externals
- Everything outside moral intention is indifferent
- Helps us navigate in an uncertain world
8Stoics
- Seneca
- Disaster is virtues opportunity.
- Not opposed to goals or confidence
- Efficacy in moral intention and behavior with no
expectations about the outcomes
9Meister Eckhart
- Late 13th early 14th century Dominican
- Wrote many sermons, which are now becoming more
popular - Moral liberation is also intellectual liberation
- Gelassenheit
- Detachment, serenity
- from suffering and pain
- Teachings are in line with Christian asceticism
10Martin Heidegger
- Secular version of Gelassenheit
- A phenomenonological experience that represents a
process by which we arrive at releasement - Active waiting
- Was interested in translating the TaoTe Ching but
never was able to complete it.
11Modern Conceptions of Gelassenheit
- Mindfulness
- Focus on the here and now
- Heightened awareness
- Used with chronic pain patients
- Pain becomes intimately intertwined with self
and the social context (John Kabat-Zinn) - Transform identity from a pain patient to a
person with pain - Make peace with their pain
12 Niebuhr
- Serenity Prayer
- God grant me the strength to change the things I
can change, accept the things I cannot change and
the wisdom to know the difference - 12 step programs first step is to accept that
there is a power greater than mine
13Personal Control
- Buddism
- Doing not-doing
- Stoicim
- Control over our intentions and behavior
- Moral imperative
- Outcomes not controllable
- Gelassenheit
- Detachment
- Releasement
14Modern Western Perspectives on Psychological
Control
- Rather pervasive concept in mental and physical
health - Self-control
- Self-regulation
- Self-reliance
- Self-efficacy
- Agency
- All typically associated with positive coping and
adjustment to illness
15Control and Western Concepts of Health
- Derived from male sex role characteristics
- Definition of health is socially and culturally
informed
16Psychological Control
- Opposite of control not valued in our society
- Passivity
- Withdrawal
- Submissiveness
- Helplessness
- Impulsivity
- Behavior Excesses
17Control Psychology versus Faith?
- Psychological perspective
- Emphasis on personal control
- Positive outcomes related to degree of personal
control - Perceived, illusory control (S. Taylor)
- Faith perspective
- Emphasis on deferring control
- Positive outcomes related to the relinquishing of
control - Trust in God
- Turn it over to God
- Niebuhrs serenity prayer
- Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
18Approaches to Psychological Control in the
Context of Illness
19Psychological Control Self-Regulation
- Self-control
- Self-regulation
- In children
- emotional self-regulation
- ADHD
- In adults
- Independence
- Problem solving
- Dysregulation addictions
- Premise is that our behavior affects the world
- Actions?Outcomes (Carver Scheier, 1998)
- Alternative to self-regulation no relation
between our actions and outcomes - Stoics, Zen
20Psychological Control Learned Helplessness
- Learned Helplessness (Seligman, 1975)
- Motivational, cognitive, and emotional deficits
due to prolonged exposure to non-contingent
events - Actions are uncorrelated with outcomes
- However, we retain the belief that they should be
correlated - Contrast with Stoicism, Gelassenheit
- Construct that accounts for depression (Levenson,
1973) - Suspension of means-ends beliefs (E. Skinner et
al., 1988) - Premise that certain actions produce desired or
prevent undesired outcomes is repeatedly
disconfirmed - Can we appreciate the complex relation between
actions and outcomes?
21Psychological Control Self-Efficacy
- Self-efficacy
- Beliefs/Expectations about our ability to execute
actions (behaviors, thoughts) (Bandura, 1997) - Two types of expectancies
- 1. Behavior (Actions) expectancy (self-efficacy)
- 2. Outcome expectancy
- What is the likelihood of Y if I do X at this
level of competence
22Self-Efficacy
- Choose behaviors that will maximize outcomes
- Persist in behaviors where the outcome is valued
- Cause-effect relation may be illusory
- May not reflect actual physical relationships in
the world - We force correlations between our behavior and
desired outcomes - Perceived control paradigm
- Seneca and self-efficacy
23Failures of Control
- Type A behavior pattern (Friedman Rosenman,
1974) - High risk for MI and repeat MI
- Anger and cynical hostility
- Misattributions about others
- antagonistic or threatening
- Control to counteract perceived control by others
- Unmitigated Agency (Helgeson Lepore, 1997)
- Agency (excessive control) unmitigated by
communion (connection with others) not an
effective coping strategy
24Failures of Control
- The Bernie Siegel Effect
- Attributing the cause of recurrence of cancer to
lack of control over negative thoughts - The prison of positive thinking (D. Spiegel)
- High personal control/ High personal
responsibility - Too much control attributed in the face of
uncertainty - Self-blame ensues
25Development of Control Beliefs
- Not a static concept
- Changes throughout the lifespan
26Early Adulthood (22-35) Hyper-Control
- Personal Fable in adolescence
- Belief in complete control
- Perceived invulnerability
- May actually perceive danger but also willing to
take risks - Low incidence of fatal diseases
- Dominant factors in life satisfaction
- Family life (independence from family)
- Standard of living
27Middle Age (35-44) Career Control
- Attainment Success in career and material
world.but also. - Come to terms with aging (Sheehy, 1995)
- Develop/Revisit/Refine value orientation
- Dominant factors in life satisfaction
- Standard of living
- Family life (quality of relationships spouse,
children)
28Late Middle Age (45-64) Control in Transition
- Balance work and relationships
- Moral aspects of work and social responsibility
- Reflection on the bigger picture
- Generativity helping the formation of the next
generation - Experiences losses
- Deaths as well as physical stamina
- Rapid increase in mortality due to heart disease,
cancer, etc. - Caregiving
- Men may become more nurturing and accepting of
care
29Late Middle Age (45-64) Cont Transition
- Dominant factors in life satisfaction
- Family life
- SATISFACTION WITH HEALTH
- Standard of living
- Cognitive shift in health consciousness
- Attempts to maintain, regain, or grieve loss of
health (Merluzzi Nairn, 1999)
30Late Adulthood (65)Limits of Control
- Come to terms with limitations of control
- Much more illness
- Expected versus Unexpected illness
- Come to expect more illness with aging
- Termination of employment
- Loss of independence
- Dominant factors in life satisfaction
- Family life
- Standard of living
- SATISFACTION WITH HEALTH
31Developmental Context of Control Beliefs
Summing Up
- Early and middle adulthood
- Emphasis on controllability
- Unexpected illness more devastating
- Older adults
- Reconciliation of control beliefs with reality
- Does not result in total loss of control
- Compensatory strategy (Freund Baltes, 2002)
- Selection, Optimization, Compensation
- Relative norming compared to others
- Reality changes across the lifespan
- Unexpected becomes more expected
32Two Forms of Control
- Primary Control
- Change the environment
- Secondary Control
- Change ourselves
33Primary and Secondary Control
- Primary Control
- Bringing the environment in line with our wishes
- Imposing control
- Oriented to outcomes
- Early Adulthood and Middle Age
- Higher demand for control in young adulthood
- Secondary Control
- Bringing ourselves in line with environmental
forces - Coming to terms with the limits of control
- Outcomes are not controllable OR
- Outcomes are internal
- Late adulthood
34Secondary Control
- Types of Secondary Control
- Attributions of outcomes to
- Severe limited ability (negative outcomes)
- Luck or chance (positive or negative outcomes)
- Secondary control that may be faith-based
- Powerful others forces beyond our control
(positive or negative outcomes) - God referenced control
- Interpretive control seek to understand and
derive meaning from uncontrollable events
(transform negative to positive) - Meaning referenced control
35Faith and Control
- Faith Perspectives on Control (Pargament, 1997)
- Self-Directing (Primary Control)
- God gives people freedom to direct their own
lives - I have control
- Collaborative (Primary and Secondary Control)
- Problem solving process held jointly by the
individual and God - Shared control with God
- Deferring (Secondary Control)
- God is the source of all solutions
- God has control
36Research on the Structure of Religious Control
- Healthy group of church members
- (Hathaway Pargament, 1990)
- Found 3 distinct control styles
- Collaborative, Deferring, Self-directing
- Although Collaborative and Deferring somewhat
correlated - Persons with cancer (Nairn Merluzzi, 2003)
- Found that the Collaborative Deferring styles
are very highly correlated - Thus, just two control styles found
- Collaborative/Deferring and Self-Directing
- highly negatively correlated
37Relation of Religious Control to Coping and
Adjustment
- Pargament et al., 1988
- (Healthy church members)
- Self-Directing
- High personal control
- Moderate self-esteem
- Collaborative
- High personal control
- High self-esteem
- Deferring
- Low personal control
- Low self-esteem
38Relation of Religious Control to Coping and
Adjustment
- Nairn Merluzzi, 2003
- (Persons with cancer)
- Self-Directing
- Lower social support
- Lower adjustment
- Collaborative/Deferring
- Higher self-efficacy for coping
- Effects of collaborative/deferring style on
adjustment to cancer mediated by self-efficacy
for coping
39Comparison of Collaborative/Deferring and
Self-Directing
- Collaborative/ Self-Directing
- Deferring
- Self-Directing (-) 7.52 11.86
- Self-Directing () 21.70 20.64
- Attend Religious Services 4.28 3.40
- Pray, how often 7.24 4.25
- How religious 4.10 3.00
- SP Well Being (Faith) 13.21 9.35
- SP Coping Efficacy 76.31 62.28
-
40Comparing C/D and SD
- Collaborative/ Self-Directing
- Deferring
- SP Well Being (Meaning) 34.24 34.27
- Coping Self-efficacy 97.38 102.53
- Quality of Life (FACT)
- Physical 12.87 12.04
- Social/Family 28.23 29.00
- Emotional 11.65 10.40
- Functional 27.12 29.09
- Mindfulness 64.79 69.32
41Profiles in Control
- Typology
- Are there types of people who have different
patterns of the three religious control
strategies? - YESgtgtgtgt
42Three Types Of People
30 20 10
Collaborative/ Deferring (CD)
Collaborative
Deferring
H
L
H
Self-Directing
30 20 10
Self-Directing (SD)
H
L
L
30 20 10
Paradox-ers CD SD
H
H
H
43Differences in the Three Types
- Paradox-ers highest on all scales of the Cancer
Behavior Inventory (agentic coping) - Maintaining Activity and Independence PgtC/DSD
- Coping with Side Effects PgtC/DSD
- Positive Attitude PgtCDgtSD
- Seeking Medical Information PgtC/DSD
- Emotional Regulation PgtC/DSD
- Seeking Support PgtC/DgtSD
- Religiousness P CD gt SD
- Trends
- Social Support CDgtSDgtP
- Adjustment PCDgtSD
44Contextualizing of Control
- Optimizing Health
- For a well population in terms of esteem and
adjustment - Self-Directing and Collaborative
- for prevention of illness and promotion of
health - For those coping with serious illness
- Self-Directing less effective
- Collaborative and Deferring correlated and more
effective - Paradox-ers approach most effective? Most
flexible? - Able to live with the seemingly opposing
strategies
45Continuum of Control
Primary Control Secondary Control Engagement
Detachment
Health/ Acute Illness Chronic Illness
Self-Directed Deferring
Prevention Acceptance
Younger Older
Paradox-er is able to move along this continuum
depending upon the context of coping
46Integrating Types and Control Theory
- Self-Directing Type
- Control over Behavior and Outcome expectancy
- High correlation of behavior (action) and outcome
expectancies - High expectations for certain outcomes
- Works for prevention
- Cause Effect attribution
- Rigid perspective of God as uninvolved
47Integrating Types and Control Theory
- Collaborative/Deferring Type
- Increasing recognition of the uncertainty of
outcomes - Secondary control (trust in a powerful God) is a
hedge against hopelessness - Effective when coping with serious disease
- God as partner or completely in control
48Integrating Types and Control Theory
- Paradox-ers
- Most flexible most adaptable to all situations
- High behavior expectancies
- Likely to engage in coping behaviors, BUT..
- Flexible outcome expectancies based on
uncertainty of the situation - Flexible perspective on God
- OR they are merely pragmatists
49Questions
- Should people who are ill be indifferent to the
outcomes as the Stoics suggest? - When does Gelassenheit have value?
50More Questions
- Is illness a reality check on the limitations
of personal control? - Does moving from health to illness change our
perspective on control AND our relationship with
God? - Does serious illness cause a convergence of
collaborative and deferring problem-solving or
coping styles? - Is the Paradox approach the most flexible and
most effective? - Need for qualitative and longitudinal research
- How do they live with the paradox of control and
deferring?