Causal Agency Theory Research Articles

Self-Determination Research: Current and Future Directions.

This article summarizes the history, current status, and future directions of self-determination research across the globe, with a focus on applications to the education of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their transition from school to adult life. Research on the development, implementation, and outcomes of self-determination assessments and interventions is explored. Causal Agency Theory, a theoretical framework for understanding the development of self-determination as a psychological construct, is reviewed, along with research on the importance of self-determination for inclusion, psychological growth, and overall well-being. Specific approaches, models, and perspectives for addressing the support needs of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, particularly during transitions, are discussed. Assessment and intervention aligned with Causal Agency Theory, including the Self-Determination Inventory and the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction, are introduced. Future directions and emerging areas of research are summarized, including issues related to cultural validity, integration of strengths-based approaches, emerging technologies, and systemic changes in schools and communities.

Building Causal Agency in Autistic Students through Iterative Reflection in Collaborative Transition Planning

Transition planning is a collaborative process to promote agency in students with disabilities by encouraging them to participate in setting their own goals with team members and learn ways to assess their progress towards the goals. For autistic young adults who experience a lower employment rate, less stability in employment, and lower community connections than those with other disabilities, successful transition planning is an important opportunity to develop agency towards preparing and attaining success in employment and other areas meaningful to them. However, a failure of consistent information sharing among team members and opportunities for agency in students has prevented successful transition planning for autistic students. Therefore, this work brings causal agency theory and the collaborative reflection framework together to uncover ways transition teams can develop students' agency by collaboratively reflecting on students' inputs related to transition goals and progress. By interviewing autistic students, parents of autistic students, and professionals who were involved in transition planning, we uncovered that teams can better support student agency by accommodating their needs and encouraging their input in annual meetings, building relationships through transparent and frequent communication about day-to-day activities, centering goals on student's interests, and supporting student's skill-building in areas related to their transition goals. However, we found that many teams were not enacting these practices, leading to frustration and negative outcomes for young adults. Based on our findings, we propose a role for autistic students in the collaborative reflection framework that encouraged participation and builds causal agency. We also make design recommendations to encourage autistic students' participation in collaborative reflection around long-term and short-term needs in ways that promote their causal agency.

Developing the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) Teacher Roles Self-Report Measure

There is a need for a measure that examines teacher roles in implementing the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) to advance equity in opportunities and experiences to build self-determination for all students, including students with disabilities and students of color with disabilities. In this study, the authors introduce a measure, the SDLMI teacher roles self-report measure, developed using the theoretical framework of the causal agency theory and knowledge of SDLMI implementation. This measure focuses on three roles defined in SDLMI implementation: advocate, facilitator, and instructor. Teachers are trained to take on each of these roles when implementing the SDLMI to provide inclusive and culturally responsive opportunities to promote self-determination. Preliminary findings from this study indicate that the advocate, facilitator, and instructor roles are positively correlated, but they are different constructs and demonstrate different patterns of relations with each other. Given these preliminary findings, more work is warranted to examine the relationship between the SDLMI teacher roles self-report measure and teacher implementation and student outcomes.

Advancing the Personalization of Assessment and Intervention in Autistic Adolescents and Young Adults by Targeting Self-Determination and Executive Processes.

As autistic adolescents and young adults navigate the transition to adulthood, there is a need to partner with them to identify strengths and needed supports to enable goal-directed actions. This article conceptually integrates research on self-determination, defined by Causal Agency Theory, and executive processes in autism to provide direction for future research and practice. We describe how integrating research on self-determination and executive processes could enable autistic adolescents and young adults to be engaged in the process of assessing executive processes and self-determination. We discuss how this can better inform personalization of supports for self-determination interventions by focusing on support needs related to executive processes, including inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility, from a strengths-based perspective. We discuss how this can enable self-determination interventions that promote outcomes aligned with the values of the autistic community.

How Are Self-Determination Components Taught to Improve Reading Outcomes for Elementary Students With or At Risk for Learning Disabilities?

Research findings illustrate the strong connection between self-determined learning and reading performance for students with or at risk for disabilities. Students with or at risk for learning disabilities (LDs), who are at increased risk for academic failure, may benefit from instruction to promote self-determination skills. Causal Agency Theory has driven research on interventions to support the development of self-determination in people with disabilities since the 1990s; however, this work has most often focused on adolescents and young adults. Self-determination skills develop over the lifespan—and targeting the building blocks for these skills in the elementary years can lay a foundation for the development of self-determined learners in reading and beyond. As such, this systematic review sought to investigate to what extent self-determination skills were taught to improve reading outcomes for students with or at risk for LD in kindergarten through fifth grade. Twelve studies met criteria for inclusion; two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 10 single-case design studies. Results indicate self-determination for students with LD at the elementary level is limited; all interventions used a subcomponent related to self-regulation. Goal setting and positive attributions were also investigated but within intervention packages alongside self-regulation. Future researchers should study the effects of interventions that use other self-determination components for this population of students.

Positivity and quality of college life of business students: The mediating role of learning approaches

Drawing upon the causal agency theory, this study examined the direct and indirect (via learning approaches) links between positivity and quality of college life (QCL) of business students in a transitioning market, Vietnam. Two studies were conducted to test these relationships using structural equation modeling. Findings from study 1, based on a sample of 428 business students, showed that positivity was positively related to QCL. Further, deep learning approaches mediated the relationship between positivity and QCL. Findings from study 2, based on a sample of 416 business students, reconfirmed the role of positivity in QCL. However, the indirect relationship between positivity and QCL was not significant, demonstrating that surface learning approaches did not mediate the relationship between positivity and QCL. The findings contribute to the literature on positivity in higher education by confirming the overarching role that positivity plays, directly and indirectly (via deep learning approaches), in QCL.

Using Causal Agency Theory To Promote Functional And Independent Performance In Adults With Intellectual Disabilities

Research suggests adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) have significantly lower levels of physical activity (PA) and fitness compared to the general population. This can affect their physical functioning and increase risk for obesity. Carefully structured exercise has improved functional performance in adults with ID. Limited exercise interventions for adults with ID emphasize self-determined behaviors, which can facilitate PA and ultimately quality of life among adults with ID. Causal Agency Theory (CAT) explains how people become self-determined; that is how they develop the actions and beliefs necessary to engage in self-caused, autonomous action in response to basic psychological needs and autonomous motivation as well as contextual and environmental challenges. PURPOSE: To examine the effects of a 10-week guided progressive resistance training (PRT) program on functional and independent performance in adults with ID. METHODS: Using a block randomization, 11 participants (25±6yrs) were allocated to a guided group (GG) and 11 (23±8yrs) to a non-guided group (NGG). GG received a PRT intervention in a community-based fitness center that included 3-week familiarization to promote correct and independent performance of exercises and technology-enhanced strategies to promote CAT skills (e.g., goal setting, choice-making). NGG only received the PRT intervention with instruction typically provided by a certified personal trainer. RESULTS: Paired t tests showed that after the 10-week PRT program, only the GG significantly improved (p < .05) correct and independent performance of 4 PRT exercises and scores on Six-Minute Walk Test (SMWT) and Plank Test compared to the NGG. Both groups significantly improved (p < .05) Chest Press 1RM and Leg Press 1RM. After controlling for preintervention differences, ANCOVA found practically and/or statistically significant differences between GG and NGG for postintervention Chest Press 1RM, F(1, 20) = 3.00, p = .100, ηp2 = .14; Leg Press 1RM, F(1, 20) = 7.25, p = .015, ηp2 = .29; SMWT, F(1, 20) = 10.85, p = .000, ηp2 = .38; and Plank Test, F(1, 20) = 3.49 p = .078, ηp2 = .16. CONCLUSION: The guided PRT intervention with its familiarization training and technology-enhanced CAT strategies has the potential to promote functional and independent performance in adults with ID.

Exploring the Impact of Environmental Factors on Scores on the Self-Determination Inventory: Adult Report

A long line of research has established a relationship between self-determination and positive adult outcomes. Findings from such research highlight that it is critical to provide opportunities and supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to use skills associated with self-determination (e.g., decision-making, problem-solving, goal setting, and attainment) in environments where they live, work, and learn. However, various environmental factors (e.g., living arrangement, employment status) can be strong indicators of how people with intellectual and developmental disabilities develop and express their self-determination. Recently, the Self-Determination Inventory: Adult Report (SDI:AR) was developed as a technology-based measure of self-determination for adults with and without disabilities ages 18 and over. No studies have investigated how environmental factors influence responses on the SDI:AR, including responses to specific items linked to each of the essential characteristics defined by Causal Agency Theory. Using the SDI:AR validation data, this study examined how environmental factors impacted self-determination of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The findings show specific environmental factors impact overall self-determination for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as responses on SDI:AR items. Consistent with previous research, the present study suggests that certain environmental factors facilitate a greater expression of self-determination in adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities while others restrict its expression. Findings from this study could inform environmental supports needed for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to engage in self-determined actions throughout adulthood.

Mapping the Literature on the Essential Characteristics of Self-Determination

This study represents a map of the literature on the essential characteristics of self-determination (volitional action, agentic action, and action-control beliefs) to (a) identify how these characteristics have been theorized and examined in research with people with and without disabilities prior to and since the introduction of Causal Agency Theory, (b) discern any significant gaps in the knowledge base, and (c) serve as the basis for recommendations to the field for utilizing what is known about the essential characteristics of self-determination and expanding upon it in future research. A systematic search process was used to identify peer-reviewed articles meeting the inclusion criteria. A content analysis of the included articles was conducted. The search process yielded a total of 49 articles. Findings show volitional and agentic action have been consistently defined and described across disciplines, but limited research has addressed action-control beliefs. Gaps in the knowledge base relate to how the essential characteristics collectively relate to and characterize self-determined action and exploration of these characteristics from a life course perspective and when considering disability, diversity, and support needs. Overall, findings suggest the need for future research to examine understandings of self-determination across contexts and populations within the framework of Causal Agency Theory, given the critical importance of self-determination in the lives of people with and without disabilities and the increasing need for unifying theories that promote multidisciplinary work that can be used to create positive outcomes for all people in society across the life course.

The Assessment of Self-Determination in Spanish and American Adolescents: The Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report.

The purpose of this study was to explore the cross-cultural validity of the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report, a newly developed measure of self-determination grounded in Causal Agency Theory. The tool was translated to Spanish and administered to American and Spanish adolescents. The sample was structured to include adolescents with and without intellectual disability in both cultural contexts. More than 3,000 students in the U.S. and Spain aged 13 to 22 completed the assessment. Findings suggest that the same set of items can be used across cultural contexts and in youth with and without intellectual disability, although there are some specific differences in item functioning across students with and without intellectual disability in Spain that must be further researched. There were specific patterns of differences in latent self-determination means, with students with intellectual disability scoring lower in the U.S. and Spain. Implications for assessment research and practice in diverse cultural contexts are explored.

Comparing the Impact of Online and Paper-and-Pencil Administration of the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report

The Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI: SR) was developed to measure the self-determination of adolescents and was recently validated for students aged 13–22 with and without disabilities across diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. The SDI: SR is aligned Causal Agency Theory and its theoretical conceptualizations of self-determined action. The validation of the SDI: SR was undertaken in two forms: online, computer-based and paper-and-pencil. The present study examined overall self-determination scores of student participants (with and without disabilities) who took the SDI: SR via the online and paper-and-pencil format to inform future research and practice using the SDI: SR. Findings suggest that the same set of items can be utilized across administration formats, but that there appear to be differences in overall SDI: SR scores when online and paper-and-pencil formats are utilized although these differences are not influenced by disability status. Implications for future research and practice are discussed to provide direction to the field related to assessment development and use of the SDI: SR in educational contexts.

Convergent Validity of the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report

This study examined the convergent validity of scores on the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report, a newly developed assessment of self-determination aligned with Causal Agency Theory with related assessments associated with hope theory (Children’s Hope Scale; CHS), self-determination theory (Perceived Choice and Awareness of Self Scale; PCASS, formerly the Self-Determination Scale), and action-control theory (Control and Means-End Interview; CAMI) in adolescents with and without disabilities of varying race/ethnicities. Measurement invariance was established across the groups, but differences in the patterns of correlations across disability and racial/ethnic groups were found. Generally, as hypothesized, the relationships between the assessments were moderate to high, except for the perceived choice subscale of the PCASS. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Exploring the Relationships among Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration, Agentic Engagement, Motivation, and Self-Determination in Adolescents with Disabilities

Researchers have separately explored applications and implications of the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Causal Agency Theory in the school context; however, limited attention has been directed to examining the relations between constructs emerging from SDT (agentic engagement, motivation, and basic needs satisfaction and frustration) and the Causal Agency Theory (self-determination and its essential characteristics—volitional action, agentic action, and action-control beliefs), as well as the use of measures developed to assess these constructs in adolescents with disabilities. We examined the reliability of measures emerging from both theories in adolescents with disabilities, and explored the pattern of means, correlations, and predictive relations among the constructs. We found adequate reliability, and unique patterns of correlations and predictive relationships among the constructs. Adolescents with disabilities showed higher levels of need satisfaction than frustration, as well as moderately high levels of self-determination and agentic engagement, consistent with other research with students with and without disabilities. The findings highlight the role of constructs from positive psychology in the lives of students with and without disabilities and the need for more research that includes students with disabilities and explores their experiences alongside their peers without disabilities in developing causal agency.

Producing Islands of Self-Mastery: The Biopolitics of Self-Determination in Special Education

INTRODUCTION Special education places a premium on teaching self-determination to special needs students. In this essay, I explore the philosophical history as to why selfdetermination carries such influence. I locate the genealogy of self-determination in John Locke’s conception of the body as property. In addition, as an explanation to why this happened, I turn to Michel Foucault’s conception of “governmentality” and its role in education with respect to self-determination as a mode of control. Next, I discuss the deleterious consequences of this idealization of self-determination that obscures the interdependent nature of all persons, putatively disabled or not. One chief consequence is the portrayal of dependence as a pejorative state of affairs that makes dependent individuals appear dangerous. I augment my reading of Foucault with Roberto Esposito’s “paradigm of immunization,” in which persons are “immunized” against obligation towards others beyond contractual arrangements. The paradigm for contractual relations arises from a neoliberal view of the market as the protector of freedom and self-sovereignty. Consequently, the driving force behind special education and self-determination, as a strategy of empowerment, is for special needs students to take their place in the market. Special educator Michael Wehmeyer’s attempt to clarify the meaning of self-determination in the context of a “causal agency theory” still promulgates a view of agency that underemphasizes its communal roots. In conclusion, I propose John Dewy as a needed corrective for valorizing agency as a function of community. Hence, a curriculum for selfdetermination for special needs students would no longer require an erasure of the reality of the interdependence of all persons.

Beyond Self-Determination: Causal Agency Theory

Promoting and enhancing the self-determination of children, youth, and adults has become a priority in several disability-specific disciplines, including special education, vocational rehabilitation, and community-based services and supports. The construct has a rich and complex history tied to its multiple meanings and, unfortunately, that complexity has resulted in confusion and misunderstanding associated with the constructs application in these fields. This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the self-determination construct and presents Causal Agency Theory as a theoretical foundation to move beyond confusion associated with the broader self-determination construct.