The study, which is believed to be the first randomized control trial into workplace flexibility, saw participants divided into two groups. The first were taught various practices that aimed to increase their control over their work. So employees were trained to focus more on outcomes than face time.
Definition of Control Theory. In sociology, control theory is the view that people refrain from deviant behavior because diverse factors control their impulses to break social norms.
Social control is the means by which members of a society attempt to induce each other to comply with the society's norms. Social controls influence behavior constantly because they are internalized and come into play every time a person has a deviant impulse. Social -control theory argues that deviance is largely a matter of failed social controls. Merton believes that the strain between the norms that define socially appropriate goals and the norms that specify socially appropriate means for attaining these goals creates an atmosphere in which deviance will appear.