Agency: The Power To Determine Your Own Direction

Making Sense of Agency

Agency, within a psychological context, is defined as:

“The sense of agency (SA), or sense of control, is the subjective awareness of initiating, executing, and controlling one’s own volitional actions in the world.”

(Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_agency)

In other words, it is a person’s belief in how much ‘power’ or ‘influence’ they have and are able to exert over ‘life’ factors in order to determine their own desired outcomes.

Agency is often equated to a concept known as the ‘Locus of Control’ (Rotter, 1966).

Rotter argued that some people have an ‘internal’ sense of control over their life outcomes or, in an opposite sense, an ‘external’ sense of control in which they consider that external factors determine their life outcomes or life trajectory.

Consequently, the more internal your locus of control is, the more agency you tend to have and the more responsibility you take for what happens in your life.

Agency & Resilience

There is a strong correlation between a person’s sense of agency and how resilient they are to life's challenges.

People with a high degree of agency, who recognise that it is down to themselves to solve the problems they encounter in life, tend to cope better when it comes to problem solving.

This is because people with a low sense of agency are more likely to adopt avoidance type behaviours when it comes to facing problems.

When we avoid problems we deny ourselves the opportunity of collecting evidence about our ability to cope – we avoid coping instead.

Although avoidance can seem like an effective strategy, it also reduces our sense of agency, resilience and self-belief.

How Can Psychological Therapy Help To Improve Agency?

Psychological therapy can play a crucial role in enhancing your sense of agency by providing you with the tools and insights needed to understand and reshape your thoughts and behaviours.

Through a supportive therapeutic relationship, you can explore the underlying core beliefs that influence your perception of control over your life, helping you to identify patterns of avoidance and learn effective strategies for problem-solving.

By challenging negative thought patterns and fostering resilience, therapy (such as cognitive behavioural therapy) empowers you to take proactive steps towards your goals, ultimately enhancing your ability to make informed decisions and feel more confident in your capacity to influence your own outcomes.