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Happiness, 4.04 (V) Week 4 Video 4 - The Desirability for Control (DC) and Maximizer Scales

4.04 (V) Week 4 Video 4 - The Desirability for Control (DC) and Maximizer Scales

[MUSIC] Goededag, my Dutch and other friends. As we saw in the last few videos, being overly controlling is not good for happiness, or for making good decisions, but neither is not seeking any control at all. It turns out that seeking some degree of control is a good thing. As I mentioned in the very first video lecture of this week, those high in desire for control do have some things going for them. They aim higher and end up achieving more. So in other words, there's an ideal level of control that one should seek. And being well below that control ideal level is not good, but neither is being well above that ideal level. This then begs the question, how can you find out if the level of control that you seek is at the ideal level or not? One way is to ask the others around you, but most people are very polite. So, even if you're actually very overly control-seeking, they will not tell it to your face that you're that way. Another way to do it, which is the way that we're gonna use in this course, is to do a self-assessment. I'm gonna have you guys fill out two scales. The first scale taps directly into your desire for control. In fact, it's called the Desirability of Control Scale, and it was developed by a researcher named Burger, who is a psychologist now at the University of California in Santa Clara. The second scale is something that's called the Maximizer-Satisficer scale, or I simply call it the Maximizer scale for short. I will get to what this scale measures and how it leads to the desired control in a little bit. But first, let's talk about the Desirability of Control Scale. This scale has 20 items, needless to say, you wanna be totally and absolutely honest, as you're responding to each item. After all, no one but you will get to know your desire for control score, and it is you who ultimately stands to benefit the most by knowing whether you are overly controlling or not. Now that you have filled out the Desirability of Control Scale, let me have you fill out the other scale, which is the Maximizer Scale. People who are overly control-seeking tend to want to change and improve things a lot. Almost never are they totally satisfied with the way things are. They believe that things could be even better and so they're constantly in a quest for improving things. So in a sense, being overly control-seeking is related to being a perfectionist. It is also related to this tendency to be what's called a maximizer. The Maximizer Scale measures the maximizer mindset and has ten items. Once again, needless to say, you wanna be totally and absolutely honest as you're responding to the items on the scale. No one but you will get to know your score, and you stand to benefit the most by knowing your score. So here we go. Now that you've filled out both the Desirability for Control and the Maximizer scale, take a look at both scores side-by-side. Hopefully, they paint a coherent picture, that is, you find that you are either high, medium, or low on both. This brings me to how you can figure out whether you're overly controlling or not. I would say that you're definitely overly controlling if your score on the Desirability of Control Scale is over 120, and your score on the Maximizer Scale is over 50. You are most likely overly controlling if you score on the Desirability of Control scale is over 120, and your score on the Maximizer Scale is somewhere between 35 and 50. Or, if your score on the Desirability of Control Scale is over 110, between 110 and 120, and your score on the Maximizer Scale is over 50. Finally, I would say that you're probably overly controlling if you score on the Desirability of Control Scale is over 110 and below 120, and your score on the Maximizer-Satisficer Scale is over 35 and below 50. On the flip side, you're likely to be below the ideal point of control-seeking if your score in the Desirability of Control Scale is less than 80, particularly if you also scored below 25 or so on the Maximizer Scale. Your low control-seeking tendencies, if you happen to fall into that group, are also likely to cause a problem, particularly in situations in which you're forced to take control, or you have a high perceived level of control. If you then fall into any of these categories, that is you're not either overly controlling or too low in control-seeking, that's a good thing. But even if your control-seeking levels are too high or too low, don't fret, at least not yet. We have the rest of the week to fix you. And talking of fixing the tendency to be overly controlling, that's a topic to which I will get in the next video, where we'll discuss something that I call taking personal responsibility for your happiness. [FOREIGN] And see you in the next video. [MUSIC]


4.04 (V) Week 4 Video 4 - The Desirability for Control (DC) and Maximizer Scales

[MUSIC] Goededag, my Dutch and other friends. As we saw in the last few videos, being overly controlling is not good for happiness, or for making good decisions, but neither is not seeking any control at all. It turns out that seeking some degree of control is a good thing. As I mentioned in the very first video lecture of this week, those high in desire for control do have some things going for them. They aim higher and end up achieving more. So in other words, there's an ideal level of control that one should seek. And being well below that control ideal level is not good, but neither is being well above that ideal level. This then begs the question, how can you find out if the level of control that you seek is at the ideal level or not? One way is to ask the others around you, but most people are very polite. So, even if you're actually very overly control-seeking, they will not tell it to your face that you're that way. Another way to do it, which is the way that we're gonna use in this course, is to do a self-assessment. I'm gonna have you guys fill out two scales. The first scale taps directly into your desire for control. In fact, it's called the Desirability of Control Scale, and it was developed by a researcher named Burger, who is a psychologist now at the University of California in Santa Clara. The second scale is something that's called the Maximizer-Satisficer scale, or I simply call it the Maximizer scale for short. I will get to what this scale measures and how it leads to the desired control in a little bit. But first, let's talk about the Desirability of Control Scale. This scale has 20 items, needless to say, you wanna be totally and absolutely honest, as you're responding to each item. After all, no one but you will get to know your desire for control score, and it is you who ultimately stands to benefit the most by knowing whether you are overly controlling or not. Now that you have filled out the Desirability of Control Scale, let me have you fill out the other scale, which is the Maximizer Scale. People who are overly control-seeking tend to want to change and improve things a lot. Almost never are they totally satisfied with the way things are. They believe that things could be even better and so they're constantly in a quest for improving things. So in a sense, being overly control-seeking is related to being a perfectionist. It is also related to this tendency to be what's called a maximizer. The Maximizer Scale measures the maximizer mindset and has ten items. Once again, needless to say, you wanna be totally and absolutely honest as you're responding to the items on the scale. No one but you will get to know your score, and you stand to benefit the most by knowing your score. So here we go. Now that you've filled out both the Desirability for Control and the Maximizer scale, take a look at both scores side-by-side. Hopefully, they paint a coherent picture, that is, you find that you are either high, medium, or low on both. This brings me to how you can figure out whether you're overly controlling or not. I would say that you're definitely overly controlling if your score on the Desirability of Control Scale is over 120, and your score on the Maximizer Scale is over 50. You are most likely overly controlling if you score on the Desirability of Control scale is over 120, and your score on the Maximizer Scale is somewhere between 35 and 50. Or, if your score on the Desirability of Control Scale is over 110, between 110 and 120, and your score on the Maximizer Scale is over 50. Finally, I would say that you're probably overly controlling if you score on the Desirability of Control Scale is over 110 and below 120, and your score on the Maximizer-Satisficer Scale is over 35 and below 50. On the flip side, you're likely to be below the ideal point of control-seeking if your score in the Desirability of Control Scale is less than 80, particularly if you also scored below 25 or so on the Maximizer Scale. Your low control-seeking tendencies, if you happen to fall into that group, are also likely to cause a problem, particularly in situations in which you're forced to take control, or you have a high perceived level of control. If you then fall into any of these categories, that is you're not either overly controlling or too low in control-seeking, that's a good thing. But even if your control-seeking levels are too high or too low, don't fret, at least not yet. We have the rest of the week to fix you. And talking of fixing the tendency to be overly controlling, that's a topic to which I will get in the next video, where we'll discuss something that I call taking personal responsibility for your happiness. [FOREIGN] And see you in the next video. [MUSIC]