Agency Beliefs Research Articles

Green dreams are made of this: Futures consciousness and proenvironmental engagement.

Futures consciousness (FC) refers to the capacity to understand, anticipate and prepare for the future. As a form of future orientation, it encompasses five interrelated dimensions of time perspective, agency beliefs, openness to alternatives, systems perception and concern for others. We present here cross-sectional evidence that FC is related to greater environmental engagement, above and beyond other future orientation constructs. In two pre-registered studies (one convenience student sample and one representative sample; N = 1041), we found that respondents with higher futures consciousness reported greater proenvironmental behaviour (consumption behaviour, land stewardship, social environmentalism and environmental citizenship). FC proved a better predictor of proenvironmental behaviour than the Zimbardo Inventory's Future Time Perspective and the Consideration for Future Consequences Scale (Study 1). FC was also related to stronger biospheric values (Study 2). However, it was not significantly related to personal environmental footprint (derived from a 16-item calculator). Strikingly, the environmental footprint was also unrelated to the Proenvironmental Behaviour Scale, which could point to a lack of correspondence between measures of proenvironmental propensity and impact. We discuss implications for future-thinking research and interventions aiming to improve futures consciousness.

Metacognition bridges experiences and beliefs in sense of agency

Cognitive scientists differentiate the “minimal self” – subjective experiences of agency and ownership in our sensorimotor interactions with the world – from declarative beliefs about the self that are sustained over time. However, it remains an open question how individual sensory experiences of agency are integrated into the belief ofbeing an agent.We administered a sensorimotor task to measure subjects’ (n = 195) propensity to classify stimuli as self-caused and metacognitive monitoring of such judgements, and we compared these behavioral metrics to declarative beliefs about their agency. Subjects who were less sensitive to control cues also reported more negative agency beliefs, though positive beliefs were not clearly correlated with any sensorimotor measure. Importantly, this relationship between first-order sensitivity and declarative beliefs essentially disappears when controlling for metacognitive sensitivity. Results suggest agency beliefs are not related directly to the propensity to make positive agency judgements but are connected through introspective access.

How do beliefs in free will and determinism correlate with beliefs in conspiracy, paranormal, and pseudoscience beliefs?

In this study, we tested the relationship between personal agency beliefs, represented by free will, scientific and fatalistic determinism and unpredictability, and epistemically suspect beliefs (ESBs), including conspiracy, paranormal, and pseudoscience beliefs, across two different cultures (Türkiye and the UK). In two preregistered studies (NStudy 1 = 682, NStudy 2 = 532), we proposed and found correlational evidence for the idea that although seemingly contradictory, both forms of determinism—scientific and fatalistic—might lead individuals to feel a reduced control over their actions, prompting them towards simpler explanations offered by ESBs, thereby compensating for a diminished sense of agency. The relationship between free will, unpredictability, and ESBs varied by culture, likely influenced by the cultural interpretation of those beliefs. Our results underscore the link between personal agency and ESBs, suggesting that ESBs may act as a safeguard against eroding personal agency.

Generational Change in Work-Related Agency Beliefs in Poland

In this study we analyze beliefs on work-related agency in two cohorts of Poles, born in 1970–1971 and in 1988–1989. Both institutional environment and labor opportunities set these two generations much apart, as the first one grew up under communism and entered the transforming labor market plagued with high unemployment, whereas the second enjoyed the opportunities set by Poland’s European Union accession. The comparison is based on nationally representative samples and synchronizes the measurement on the same moment in the life cycle (both cohorts were surveyed at 30 years of age). In the analysis we aim to verify whether there are significant differences in beliefs about means to success in career, as well as in the respondents’ own traits and resources in this respect. These differences, in turn, can be related to deeper, long-term changes in socialization and social structure, as this was often presumed in previous research (it implied further convergence with Western societies). Work-related agency is measured using a shortened version of the Control Agency Means–Ends in Adulthood Questionnaire developed by Diewald et al. Results show that there are distinct dimensions in which both generations are similar and in which they prove to be very distinct. The study also uncovers a more profound change in work-related agency in women and confirms the well-established relationship between occupational structure and agency.

Being prosocial and happy, and believing in life-determining forces across cultures

AbstractBelieving that your life is shaped by internal forces, such as your own free will, is usually thought to lead to positive outcomes, such as being prosocial and happy. Believing that it is shaped by external forces, such as deterministic laws of nature, is usually thought to lead to negative outcomes. However, whether that is the case might vary with culture and with the nature of the force, specifically, whether the force is teleological. To test this, we investigated beliefs in five countries: China, India, Lithuania, Mongolia, and the USA. We investigated beliefs in the importance of choice (an internal, teleological force), gods and fate (external, teleological forces), and chance and luck (external, non-teleological forces). Participants (N = 1035) played a hypothetical dictator game, rated their happiness, and rated how much, in their opinion, their life is determined by these forces. Choice was perceived as the most important and its perceived importance was positively associated with subjective happiness across cultures. It was also positively associated with prosocial intentions, although only in India. Perceived importance of gods and fate was mostly positively associated with prosocial intentions. Perceived importance of gods, but not fate, was positively associated with subjective happiness across cultures. Finally, perceived importance of chance and luck was mostly either negatively associated with prosocial intentions and subjective happiness or not at all. Our results highlight the importance of studying agency beliefs in different cultures and distinguishing different kinds of determination: not just internal and external but also teleological and non-teleological.

‘Making it possible’: the complex dynamics of university foreign language teacher agency for research in funding applications

Teacher agency for research, which refers to teachers’ decision-making and initiative acts in the context of academic engagement, plays a pivotal role for teacher learning, teacher research, and thus teachers’ professional development. Despite the burgeoning number of studies that have examined teachers’ research and publishing experiences, it is unclear how university teachers exercise their agency for research in funding applications. This study examines how foreign language teachers at a university in China practice agency in the application of the National Social Science Fund of China from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory perspective. Narrative frames and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data, and thematic analysis was adopted to elucidate the complexity and dynamics of teacher agency for research. Revealing that there are subsystems of teacher agency for research in funding applications, i.e., agency beliefs, agency practice, and agency emotions and that the developmental trajectories of their agency for research are situated and relational, the findings highlight the need to view teacher agency as complex systems and dynamic entities. This study not only offers a conceptual framework as to unravel teacher agency for research in funding applications but also provides a tentative pathway for teachers exercising agency in applying for external funding both in the context of China and beyond.

A German translation and validation of the sense of agency scale.

Sense of agency refers to the experience of controlling one's actions and through them events in the outside world. General agency beliefs can be measured with the Sense of Agency Scale (SoAS), which consists of the sense of positive agency subscale (i.e., feeling of being in control over one's own body, mind, and environment) and the sense of negative agency subscale (i.e., feeling existentially helpless). The aim of the present study was to validate a German version of the SoAS. Using factor analyzes, we replicated the two-factor structure of the original version of the SoAS. Further, the German SoAS showed good model fits, good internal consistency, and moderate test-retest reliability. Construct validity was supported by significant low to moderate correlations of the German SoAS with other conceptually similar, but still distinct constructs such as general self-efficacy. Additionally, the German SoAS has an incremental value in explaining variance in the extent of subclinical symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder that goes beyond variance explained by constructs that are conceptually similar to sense of agency. Taken together, the results indicate that the German SoAS is a valid and suitable instrument to assess one's general agency beliefs.

Agency through hierarchy? A group-based account of increased approval of social hierarchies under conditions of threatened control

People whose personal control is threatened can maintain a sense of control through membership in agentic ingroups when they define their self in terms of group membership. Hierarchies within groups might be a heuristic indicator of collective agency as they foster collective goal-setting and coordinated action. Thus, we hypothesized threatened group members who were highly identified with their group to more strongly support ingroup hierarchies, particularly when they perceived hierarchy as fostering collective agency. We tested this across five preregistered experimental studies. In Study 1a (n = 412), Study 1b (n = 413), and Study 2 (n = 434), manipulated threat to personal control consistently enhanced support for ingroup hierarchies across organizational and national contexts, but only for those participants who were highly identified with the presented group. In Study 3 (n = 425), we replicated this finding by experimentally manipulating identification with the presented group. In Study 4 (n = 379), control threat increased hierarchy approval only when hierarchy was displayed as beneficial (vs. harmful) for the ingroup's collective agency. A meta-analysis across all studies provided conclusive evidence that a) there is indeed an effect of control threat on hierarchy approval, b) this effect relies on social identity processes and c) enhancing collective agency may be a key underlying motivation of this process. As predicted, our findings indicate that support for ingroup hierarchies after personal control loss is a group-based mechanism to restore personal control with collective agency beliefs.

Counseling services leading to desistance by way of a change in certainty perceptions and cognitive agency beliefs.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether receiving counseling services reduced future offending in a group of seriously delinquent youths through a process of chaining. In this process, a youth's perceived certainty of punishment and an increase in their cognitive agency or control mediated the services-offending relationship. The main hypothesis was that where perceptions of certainty preceded cognitive agency beliefs (perceived certainty → cognitive agency), the (target) pathway would be significant, and where cognitive agency beliefs preceded perceptions of certainty (cognitive agency → perceived certainty), the (comparison) pathway would be nonsignificant. The difference between the target and comparison pathways was also predicted to be significant. This study modeled change in 1,354 (1,170 boys, 184 girls) justice-involved youths from the Pathways to Desistance study. The number of counseling services accessed by a participant within 6 months of the baseline (Wave 1) interview served as the independent variable, and self-reported offending 12-18 months later (Wave 4) served as the dependent variable. Perceived certainty of punishment and cognitive agency were cross-lagged at Waves 2 and 3 and served as mediators. Consistent with the research hypothesis, results showed that the total indirect effect from services to delinquency through perceived certainty and cognitive agency was significant, the total indirect effect from services to cognitive agency to perceived certainty was nonsignificant, and the difference between the two effects was significant. The results of this study suggest that turning points do not have to be major life events to bring about desistance and that chaining in which perceptions of certainty precede cognitive agency beliefs may play a vital role in the change process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Inequality and Entrepreneurial Agency: How Social Class Origins Affect Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy

Entrepreneurial agency—the individual power to change environments—is central to entrepreneurship research. Yet, from a social inequality perspective, beliefs in an entrepreneurial agency might differ based on the social class environments individuals are born into. Drawing on social cognitive theories, our findings across three data sets among students from Germany and entrepreneurs from the United States indicate that social class origins are associated with entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) beliefs in adulthood. Exploring the underlying mechanisms, we find that students’ early entrepreneurial experiences in education and practice are indicative of reproducing the class gap in ESE. When individuals collect mastery experiences such as social mobility or entrepreneurial success, their lower social class origins turn out to be associated with enhanced entrepreneurial agency beliefs. We discuss the implications for further research on social class, inequality, and entrepreneurship.

Ideological prejudice is stronger in ideological extremists (vs. moderates)

The agency–beliefs–communion (ABC) model and worldview conflict research show that people rate groups as more moral and likable if they rate their ideology as more similar to the ideology of the self. This paper refers to this effect as ideological prejudice. There is a debate whether ideology moderates the effect size of ideological prejudice. Through three observational studies ( NS1 = 700, NS2 = 974, NS3 = 633), this paper contributes to this debate in three ways. First and primarily, the paper shows that ideological prejudice is stronger in conservatives and progressives compared to people with more moderate ideological beliefs. Second, stronger ideological prejudice in ideological extremists (vs. moderates) holds when controlling for stronger ingroup favoritism in ideological extremists (vs. moderates). And third, the paper suggests that higher importance of own ideology in ideological extremists (vs. moderates) may explain why ideological prejudice is stronger in ideological extremists (vs. moderates). These findings develop a part of the ABC model of stereotypes, contribute to worldview conflict research, and help to explain why ideological polarization is divisive.

Young people’s situated capacity to imagine a desired post-pandemic future: A qualitative methodology for assessing futures consciousness

Futures consciousness (FC), considered to be the basis for human anticipation, is important for its role in facing uncertainties and delineating alternative courses of action. This is especially so for emerging adults, who are traversing a life stage fraught with uncertainty and complexity. The COVID-19 pandemic as a high-impact event may trigger modes of engaging with the future to become more explicit. Through critical engagement with the 5-dimensional FC model (Ahvenharju, Minkkinen, & Lalot, 2018), we develop a methodology for qualitatively assessing FC. We analyze how emerging Dutch and Greek adults narrate FC dimensions (time perspective, agency beliefs, openness to alternatives, systemic awareness, concern for others) in letters written from the perspective of a desired post-Corona future. Results show that emerging adults, although caught-up in a subjective timeframe in which the pandemic is enduring, think beyond immediate concerns. They do so in a way that conveys some attribution of agency and systemic awareness. Openness to alternatives is shown using several sophisticated linguistic devices. When further developed, the methodology will enable educators and futurists to support individual’s imagination of possible and preferred futures. This may contribute to resilient people and societies in and beyond times of economic, health, and environmental crises.

Engineering students’ agency beliefs and career goals to engage in sustainable development: differences between first-year students and seniors

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the differences in first-year and senior engineering students’ engineering agency beliefs and career goals related to sustainable development. The authors also sought to understand how topics related to sustainable development in engineering courses affect senior engineering students’ goals to address these issues in their careers. This work provides evidence of how students’ agency beliefs may be shaped by higher education, which is essential to workforce development.Design/methodology/approachFindings stem from two national surveys of engineering first-year (Sustainability and Gender in Engineering, n = 7,709) and senior students (Student Survey about Career Goals, College Experiences, n = 4,605). The authors compared both groups using pairwise testing by class standing.FindingsThe results indicate that undergraduate studies tend to reinforce students’ engineering agency beliefs to improve their quality of life and preserve the environment. Significantly more senior students selected career goals to address environmental issues compared to first-year students. In general, students undervalue their roles as engineers in addressing issues related to social inequities. Those topics are rarely addressed in engineering courses. Findings from this work suggest discussing sustainability in courses positively impact setting career goals to address such challenges.Research limitations/implicationsThe study compares results from two distinct surveys, conveyed at different periods. Nonetheless, the sample size and national spread of respondents across US colleges and universities are robust to offer relevant insights on sustainable development in engineering education.Practical implicationsAdapting engineering curriculum by ensuring that engineering students are prepared to confront global problems related to sustainable development in their careers will have a positive societal impact.Social implicationsThis study highlights shortcomings of engineering education in promoting social and economic sustainability as related to the engineering field. Educational programs would benefit from emphasizing the interconnectedness of environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development. This approach could increase diversity in engineering education and the industry, and by ripple effect, benefit the communities and local governance.Originality/valueThis work is a first step toward understanding how undergraduate experiences impact students’ engineering agency beliefs and career goals related to sustainability. It explores potential factors that could increase students’ engineering agency and goals to make a change through engineering.

Information Seeking During the Pandemic: The Role of Age, Agency, and Fake News Concerns

COVID-19 brought rapid changes to the way in which people understand and process news, including both information and misinformation about the pandemic. This cross-sectional study was designed to examine persons’ experiences during the earliest months of the pandemic. The sample included 871 adults ages 20-79 (M=38.27 years, SD=11.40). Online surveys were collected between March and May, 2020 using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants completed a series of questionnaires, including a measure of agency from the Midlife Development Inventory, a questionnaire that assessed level of skepticism about the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e. fake news beliefs), a depression scale, a question about their level of anxiety about developing COVID-19, and questions about the frequency in which they sought information about the pandemic from different sources (e.g., TV, social media). A multiple regression using information seeking frequency as the outcome variable revealed several significant relationships. Specifically, younger adults, people with higher agency, and people with higher fake news beliefs all reported higher levels of COVID-19-related information seeking. In addition, there was a significant 3-way interaction between age, agency, and fake news beliefs. Disentangling this interaction revealed that older adults with low agency were least likely to engage in information seeking. There were, however, no age differences in information seeking in participants with high agency and fake news beliefs, but large age differences in participants with low agency but high fake news beliefs. Findings suggest agency is an important predictor of information seeking behavior, particularly for older adults with high levels of skepticism about the pandemic.

Causal Beliefs for Socioeconomic Status Attainment Scale: Development and Validation

ABSTRACT That individuals attain socioeconomic status (SES) through their own effort and ability, which is a staple pillar of the meritocratic ethos and has been a popular topic of inquiry within social psychology. However, this focus on merit overshadowed other important causal factors that contribute to one’s SES, such as opportunity and chance. This study presents psychometrically validated scales measuring one’s causal beliefs of SES attainment for themselves (agency beliefs) and others (society beliefs). Utilizing a nationally representative sample, participants completed 68 items of causal agency and society beliefs for low and high SES attainment. Through factor analyses, item response theory, and careful item reduction, three subscales and six dimensions measuring (1) merit (effort and ability), (2) opportunity (social connections and privilege), and (3) chance (luck and fate) are introduced for each belief system. Correlation analyses reveal general support for construct validity. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Reframing opponents in news translation: a case study of the Sino-Philippine South China Sea Dispute

ABSTRACT This paper examines the reframed narratives and re-instantiated stance in news translation on the South China Sea Dispute between China and the Philippines. It integrates the attitudinal framework and reframing strategies in the investigation of 91 pairs of Chinese and English news reports which are both collected from Xinhuanet. The analytical result shows that in the Chinese version of news, the Philippines, as the opponent to China in the South China Sea, is mostly reported in a negative stance. In the English versions, the negative stance is either strengthened or softened via reframing strategies. It is argued that the possible reasons for such deviations may include different target readership, institutional protocols of the news agency and related sociocultural beliefs.

Individual futures consciousness: Psychology behind the five-dimensional Futures Consciousness scale

Future consciousness refers to the human capacity to understand, anticipate, prepare for, and embrace the future. The Futures Consciousness Scale has recently been developed to enable empirical study of the phenomenon among individuals. The scale is based on a five-dimensional model of Futures Consciousness (FC) that encompasses: i) Time Perspective, ii) Agency Beliefs, iii) Openness to Alternatives, iv) Systems Perception, and v) Concern for Others. The present article reviews the psychological theories, concepts and constructs that underlie the FC Scale in depth. It examines how the five dimensions could be manifested in individual behaviour, how they relate to each other and to other psychological phenomena. Furthermore, the article provides ideas and sources for researchers and practitioners interested in the concept of FC or in using the FC Scale in research or in educational settings.

Rating Agency Beliefs and Credit Market Distortions

Rating Agency Beliefs and Credit Market Distortions

Agency beliefs are associated with lower health information avoidance

Background: Avoiding health information is relatively common and is associated with lower knowledge of health risks and lower engagement in protective health behaviour. Health information avoidance likely limits the effectiveness of health communication interventions. Objective: To identify beliefs associated with avoiding health information. Design: Two cross-sectional studies. Setting: Two representative samples of adults residing in the USA. Method: We tested whether low health agency beliefs and low perceptions of threat underlie the tendency to avoid diabetes or colorectal cancer health information in two samples. Results: An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of our variables indicated that beliefs could be grouped into two sets of constructs that mapped onto agency (locus of control, fate) and two that mapped onto threat perception (dread, perceived risk). Information avoidance was common. In the two samples, 30% and 34% indicated they preferred to avoid information about diabetes and 20% and 19% indicated they preferred to avoid colorectal cancer information. Results were largely consistent across studies and diseases. In final adjusted regression models, beliefs indicating lower health agency were consistently associated with more avoidance. Some threat perception variables (worry about getting the disease and having a family history of the disease) were associated with less avoidance; absolute and comparative perceived risk were not. Conclusion: Given that health information avoidance likely undermines a wide range of health communication and self-regulation strategies, future health communication efforts might be advanced by developing intervention approaches that involve enhancing perceived control over health prior to delivering health messages.

Agency in Greco-Roman philosophy

ABSTRACT Agency, the theme of my life’s work, consists of efficacy, future-minded optimism, and imagination. I here attempt to trace the history of agency in Western thought over the Greco-Roman epoch. The Iliad presents mortals without any agency, the gods having it all; whereas in the Odyssey, humans have considerable agency, and the gods less. Later, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus and the Stoics postulate full-blown human agency. The emphasis on will, responsibility, and choice continues through early Christianity and then is renounced by Augustine in the fourth century, CE, with human agency relegated to being grace, a gift from God. Human progress seems linked to these beliefs, with strong human agency beliefs linked to progress and weak human agency beliefs linked to stagnation.