Individual Control, Intensity of Reactions and Frequency of Occurrence: An Empirical Study of Cross-Culturally Invariant Relationships

Abstract

To investigate the relations between behavioral control, predictive control, intensity of reaction, and frequency of occurrence, the Multisituational-Multireaction Inventory was administered to 452 17-yr.-old youngsters in Hungary, Italy, and Yemen. Data were analyzed to allow an interpretation of the factors both as personal characteristics and situational properties. The main findings for situations were that situations frequently reported as anxiety-provoking were associated with low anxiety and high behavioral control. For individuals, those with a high sense of behavioral control also experienced lower anxiety. Individuals with a high sense of predictive control tended to report more exposures to the aversive situations. The fruitfulness of this two-way analysis of the same data (persons and situations) is emphasized.