Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Langer and Rodin Model Answers
Aims and Context
The context of this study is that the link between control and well-being had already been
established – but the specific factors and their proportionate effects involved in the
relationship remained unknown
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Stotland and Blumenthal (1964) studied the effects of choice on anxiety reduction
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Half the
participants were able to choose the order in which they took the tests; the other half were
told the test order was fixed
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This implies that something as pure as control
(even when it will make no actual physical difference) reduces anxiety – which can
negatively affect health, so even the illusion of control will provide comfort
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It was predicted these residents would
benefit both physically and mentally from being given increased responsibility and the
opportunity to make their own decisions
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Langer and Rodin aimed to investigate the effects of enhanced personal responsibility and
choice in a group of nursing home residents
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has generalised beneficial effects, which in turn
positively affect physical and mental alertness, activity, sociability and general satisfaction
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Two of
the four floors were randomly selected for study because the residents on these floors were
similar in physical and psychological health, as well as being similar in their backgrounds
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91 elderly residents took part in the study which lasted three weeks
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The experimental group, who resided on the 4th floor, received a talk on how they
were given increased responsibility and choice
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4th floor residents were given the opportunity to select a small plant and care for it
themselves (all chose a plant); they were given a choice of movie night rather than have it
scheduled for them
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By contrast, it was emphasised to 2nd floor residents that the staff made almost all the
decisions for them
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Residents would be
informed when they were scheduled to see the movie
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Questionnaires were designed to assess the effects of increased responsibility and choice on
the residents
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This questionnaire was administered a week before the talks
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All nurses were unaware of the experiment’s hypothesis
(double blind procedure), and they rated resident’s happiness, alertness, dependency,
sociability and activity levels on a 10 point scale (10 highest)
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) Behaviour was measured, for example ‘Movie Night’ attendance
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Residents on the 4 th floor reported
significant increases in happiness and levels of activity (48%)
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Nurses found the 4th floor residents had improved greatly in
alertness, active participation, and general sense of well-being compared with those
residents on the 2nd floor
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Their movie attendance was significantly higher, and in the jelly-bean
contest 10 fourth-floor residents took part while only 1 resident from the 2nd floor
participants
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These residents were assessed by themselves and by their
nurses as happier and more active
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The findings from this study suggest that giving people a greater sense of responsibility for
themselves and perhaps for their environment has beneficial effects on both their physical
and psychological health
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An interesting observation is that in the pre-experimental talks, the control
group reported having more feeling of control – which is impossible as they were having
choices taken from them
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Opportunities to make
choices, have some responsibility for themselves and for their environment should be built
into the lives of those living in residential care
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Evaluation of the Methodology
In their research to investigate the effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility
for the aged, Langer and Rodin used a field experiment
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This means it is true to life (has ecological
validity), and this is strength because valid results can be gathered as in this study
questionnaire results are taken from patients in a real nursing home in the USA
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For example, only the IV differed between the two groups
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Also both
groups were given a similar talk by the same person
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) In fact, the responsibility group had been assessed as happier and more active
than the control group
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The reliability of the observations was demonstrated by the reasonably close correlations
between the observations made by two nurses
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A potential problem with the sample is that the experimental group and the control group
contained similar numbers of participants, but both groups contain far fewer men than
women
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A major problem with this research is its ethics
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e
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The residents were also unaware
they were participating in research, so did not give their informed consent
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But does the end justify the means? This research clearly shows how the
psychological well-being of residents can be affected by just minor changes in their
perceived ability to control their living conditions
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Alternative Evidence
In 1977 Langer and Rodin (LR) conducted a follow-up study and found that mortality rates
between the two groups were very striking
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This seems to
indicate that the enhanced responsibility and control set in motion in the original study had
prolonged beneficial effects, thus supporting the conclusions in Langer and Rodin (1976)
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This
supports LR because it also shows that increased feelings of control lead to greater
happiness and physical health – and in this case vice versa
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In his study
residents in one group could control when and for how long they were visited by college
students whereas in other groups the visits were not controlled, random or there were no
visits
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This supports LR as they
also showed that there are significant benefits to believing you are in control
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Studies completed more recently such as the Berlin ageing study (2000) and the German
Ageing study (2007) reveal that mortality rates can almost be predicted from self-ratings of
control, happiness, alertness etc
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This supports LR
because it suggests that the main factor in longevity in old age (to a point) is perceived

control – and the fact that these studies take place roughly 30 years after the original
further proves the reliability of the study
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