Self-determination

Refers to the extent to which individuals feel they have personal control or influence over important life events and their outcomes. A positive sense of self-determination is one of the social-cognitive dispositions (mental representations) postulated in coping subtheory to help many rejected persons cope more effectively than most with the experience of perceived rejection-though one's sense of self-determination is itself likely to be affected by the experience of rejection (See copers, affective).