RESEARCH_FILE
Ellen Langer
Harvard University
Known for:Originator of the illusion-of-control construct — showing through controlled experiments that skill-associated cues inflate confidence in purely random outcomes, directly applicable to gambling behavior
Key findings
- 1975
Langer's landmark JPSP paper identified six cues — choice, competition, familiarity, involvement, stimulus salience, and passive vs. active play — that reliably triggered confidence in chance tasks as if skill were involved, naming the illusion of control. The Illusion of Control ↗
Research areas
Related old scripts
"I wasted years not learning this sooner": the AI-era regret spiralWhatever they want is fine with me: when your own preference disappearsThe Real-Manager Myth: Why Certainty Isn't the JobI Used to Be Good at This — Now I Can't Do Anything RightI’ll just be distant until she notices: why the cold shoulder feels tempting