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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control by deprivation | 1/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_by_deprivation | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:44:06.816666+00:00 | kb-cron |
Control deprivation is the act of not giving an individual their desires, wants and needs in a deliberate way to control that individual. It is often achieved through acts such as lacking affection, acting indifferent and detached, failing to respond, emotional distance, deliberately withholding sex, shifting blame to the individual, and by other techniques. Control deprivation can lead to a wide range of effects, such as causing depression, leading people to aggression, increased social class effects and the use of social stereotypes in making judgements on people as well as product acquisition. Lack of control over a situation can significantly affect a person, changing the way a person thinks and acts. This is often exploited by individuals, businesses and in other situations, however individuals are also very capable of finding alternative means to regain the control that was previously lost and regaining personal control.
== Definition == Control is the ability to influence and direct behaviour or events, while deprive is to stop and prevent something from happening. Control deprivation is for an individual to use their power and influence to prevent an action that will give another individual joy, whether this action is emotional, physical or any other action.
== Effects of control deprivation ==
=== Effects on depression === Systematic control deprivation can lead to depressive disorders. A study highlighted how "Parental Affection-less control" was one of the factors that lead to depression later on in life. Using 125 patients that have been classified suffering from depressive symptoms under DSM-III, as well as suffering from one highly controlling parent and one parent low care parent. The results of this study show that people with depression are more likely to have seen themselves as having over-controlling parents. These effects of Psychological abuse from an elder can lead to feelings of guilt, separation, fear and anxiety. Further the studies into Learned Helplessness reveal that in both animals and humans when submitted to unavoidable pain eventually became "normalised" to the pain, even when given the opportunity to avoid the pain. Through the lack of control that the subject is submitted to they develop depression like symptoms. The direct lack of control that an individual experiences, can directly links and cause lowered self esteem, anxiety and a lack of motivation to change the situation that they are currently in. All of these symptoms are often characterised and found in people with depressive disorders. Control deprivation can make the feelings of helplessness worse and exacerbate these feelings. The lack of control will may result in the individuals feeling more depressed and can change the emotional thought process of the individual, resulting in a negative mood. These feelings stem from uncontrollability that control deprivation brings into someones life can trigger the symptoms of depression and that of learned helplessness as a result of the control deprivation.
=== Social effects === Research has demonstrated that individuals that have suffered from Control Deprivation are more likely to use negative social stereotypes and connotations when making judgements on individuals after having been deprived control. When subjects were asked to describe an individual the subject was more likely to use negative social stereotypes when describing certain people and jobs that can be considered of lower socio-economic class jobs. In a set of studies, subjects were asked to describe a comedian and an archivist, one set of people were subject to a scenario where they were control deprived, this treatment group where more likely to describe the archivist in a negative manner relative to the control group. This causes particular issues through racial stereotyping as well as social-class effects. Studies have highlighted how institutionalised stereotypes within social classes may be exaggerated through lack of control as well as further straining the relationships between social classes highlighting that the desire for control may lead worsened social settings. Ostracism is strongly linked to control deprivation due to humans desire for companionship and friendship. Using ostracism to be able to control for control deprivation a study found that when people have the opportunity to be aggressive to the people that ostracised them they will be. The study allowed the subjects to give hot sauce to the people that ostracised them, these subjects gave 4 times the amount of hot-sauce then the individuals in the control group. A lack of control has been proven to be related to aggression, this is theorised as people may become more aggressive to regain the freedom and control that they had lost or as a method to release frustration. Individuals will use aggression as a method to restore their personal sense of power. By allowing the subjects to give out hot sauce, the amount of hot sauce given out can be seen as acting out in an aggressive and frustrated manner, both with the intention to spite the individual that subjected them to a situation where they lacked control as well as to personally feel as if they are able to regain the control that they had lost. Ostracism may directly cause these affects that will lead to aggression due to the lack of control. This is further similarly linked to Frustration-aggression hypothesis.