Agentic position with regards to health among middle-aged men and women

Abstract

The subject of this research is the agentic position with regards to health among middle-aged men and women. The author determined the structure of such position, described its common features (behavioral activity, aimed at health support understanding of need for a healthy lifestyle), features specific to men (attitude to health as a value), and features specific to women (health awareness). The goal of the article consists in examination of correlation between the agentic qualities of middle-aged men and women, determination of gender specificity of agency in the area of health. Research was conducted on 164 persons, aged 22-58 (80 men and 84 women), sampling aligned by gender, age and educational background. The method of correlation analysis allowed revealing the agentic personality traits that support active stand on health: common for men and women, such as autonomy, self-worth, creativity, assertiveness, content with life, overall internality and internality in achievements); as well as gender-specific. Women also feature internality in professional and family spheres; while men feature activity, mediacy, and internality in health sphere. Considering that the problem of human as an agent of health is at the initial stage of development, the acquired data would be useful for more profound understanding of the topic, as well as formulation of objectives for furher fundamental and applied studies.