A life-span theory of control.

TLDR: An analysis of extensive and diverse literatures spanning infancy through old age shows that trade-offs between primary and secondary control undergo systematic shifts across the life course in response to the opportunities and constraints encountered.

Abstract: A life-span theory of development is presented that is based on the concepts of primary and secondary control. Primary control refers to behaviors directed at the external environment and involves attempts to change the world to fit the needs and desires of the individual. Secondary control is targeted at internal processes and serves to minimize losses in, maintain, and expand existing levels of primary control. Secondary control helps the individual to cope with failure and fosters primary control by channeling motivational resources toward selected action goals throughout the life course. Primary control has functional primacy over secondary control. An analysis of extensive and diverse literatures spanning infancy through old age shows that trade-offs between primary and secondary control undergo systematic shifts across the life course in response to the opportunities and constraints encountered. In this article, we present a life-span theory of development based on the concept of control. Research on life-span development has become an increasingly active area of inquiry in the last two decades and has the potential of yielding fundamental theories about the emergence and transformation of human behavior over the life course (e.g., P. B. Baltes, 1987). However, as noted by Birren and Bengtson (1988), the field of life-course development and aging is at present best characterized as data rich but theory poor. Most existing developmental theories embrace limited temporal and functioning domains. With the exception of personality theorists such as Erikson, Loevinger, Gould, and Levinson (see Cavanaugh, 1990; Schulz & Ewen, 1993), psychologists have made few attempts to develop lifespan theories of development, in part because such efforts require the integration of information from multiple domains, including the behavioral, social, and biological sciences. A second formidable challenge posed by such an undertaking is the problem of level of analysis. Ideally, such a theory should explain both macro-level behaviors such as major life-course decisions