Perceived Control and the Interpersonal Dimension of Health Care

Perceived control has become an important construct for health care research. This article reviews the available evidence regarding the relationship between locus of control and the more or less interpersonal or rhetorical aspects of health care and proposes that research on perceived control, health campaigns, and health care encounters is best interpreted within a communications perspective that highlights the enthymematic links between the person's control orientation and how he or she accepts or resists information and influence. Implications for health care research and practice are offered.