Description

Tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events. 

Langer, E. J. (1975). The illusion of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32(2), 311–328.

Items (1)

Participants are told to imagine that they have three lottery tickets:

• Ticket "A" was selected with their "lucky numbers."

• Ticket "B" was found blowing down the street.

• The numbers on Ticket "C" were selected by a computer.

They are then asked:

(1) which ticket they would be most likely to give away

(2) which ticket they would be most likely to keep

(3) whether or not they would exchange Ticket "A" ("lucky numbers") for two Ticket "C's" (computer generated).

For the first two questions, participants are given the option of responding "no preference." 

Scoring

Participants who reported that they would not exchange the ticket A are coded as biased.

Source

Rudski, J. (2004). The illusion of control, superstitious belief, and optimism. Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues, 22(4), 306–315.