Perceived control, causality, expectations and help-seeking behaviour

Abstract

Undergraduates recruited from an introductory psychology course who were currently not seeking professional help (n=81) were compared with a comparable sample seeking professional help at a university psychological services centre (n=53). Participants answered an assessment instrument with reference to the problem currently upsetting them most. As hypothesized, those students seeking help tended to internalize causality, report lower levels of perceived control over their problems, and consider themselves more likely to expend time and energy in resolving their problem. Contrary to expectations, the groups did not differ in optimism about problem resolution. Results from an exploratory analysis of perceptions about the nature of professional and non-professional help are also reported. The findings, consistent with previous research, underscore the importance of differentiating the constructs of locus of control, causal attributions, and perceived control in studying mediators of help-seeking behaviour.