Abstract:
Low perceived control is associated with adverse physical and mental health outcomes. As such, the main objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between perceived control, and its component parts, personal mastery and perceived constraints, with affect in community-dwelling adults. Additionally, the potential buffering effect of a third variable, regularity of the duration of time spent on daily activities, was examined. The sample for the current study was derived from the Midlife in the United States longitudinal follow-up study, MIDUS-II. Findings corroborated the relationship between a general sense of perceived control and positive and negative affect. Further, daily regularity was found to moderate the relationships of perceived control and both positive and negative affect, as well as perceived constraints and positive and negative affect. In each case, the findings suggest that individuals who scored lower on perceived control or higher on perceived constraints measures were more likely to have positive affective outcomes when they demonstrated greater regularity in daily activities. Implications of the findings are discussed.
