The mind on control: some effects of having an effect

The topic of human agency has tantalized scholars for centuries.Recent empirical work has attempted to document the factors and mechanisms underlying this "sense of agency" - the feeling of being in control of your actions and their effects.Focusing on implicit judgments of agency, we take a somewhat different perspective and explore the psychological outcomes of these judgments. Specifically, in this talk I will focus on the motivating aspects of having an effect and show that it behaves similarly to tangible rewards (e.g. money). I will also present recent experimental work that links control to monetary value of consumer products.