Agency

Sensing into all the above takes, the following aspects are clearly at play: taking action, getting things done, and navigating complex constraints. Hence, my newly provisional definition of the hard-to-define word agency is:

Taking action toward getting things done despite complex constraints.

High agency, as opposed to low agency, occurs when... See more

Agency itself is not necessarily a good thing. It becomes a good thing as a toolkit, developed by people who are also high in conscientiousness, who want good things for the world, and who might otherwise be constrained by narrow perspectives on what counts as socially acceptable action.

The opposite to reflexive agency is prompted agency - agency which only becomes available given some prompt to action. “That does seem like a problem. Have you tried solving it?” is my only-half-joking prompt I use with people: It’s something that highlights the failure of agency, in a way that makes people aware that action is an option available

... See more

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Not Viktor Frankl

Different academic disciplines have different takes on the word “agency”:

• Philosophy sees agency as the capacity to act intentionally and rationally to bring about change in the world.


• Psychology views agency as a person’s capacity to exert control over their environment and experience a sense of ownership over their actions.


• Sociology understands

... See more