Synonyms
Introduction
Compared to other animals, humans are better at resisting the influence of external forces and independently generating their own actions. Having been one of the central issues in philosophy for centuries, the personal agency of humans has also become a matter of interest in psychological research.
Properties of Agency
According to social cognitive theory approach, personal agency is comprised of four properties: Intentionality, forethought, self-reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness (Bandura 2006). The sense of agency requires (1) intentional planning of actions; (2) predicting likely outcomes of actions; (3) regulating own behavior to reach goals; and...
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Alper, S. (2020). Personal Agency. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1871
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1871
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