Reconceptualizing Agency within the Life Course: The Power of Looking Ahead

Abstract

Empirical treatments of agency have not caught up with theoretical explication; empirical projects almost always focus on concurrent beliefs about one’s ability to act successfully without sufficiently attending to temporality. We suggest that understanding the modern life course necessitates a multidimensional understanding of subjective agency involving a) perceived capacities and b) perceived life-chances, or expectations about what life holds in store. We also suggest that a proper understanding of agency’s potential power within a life course necessitates moving beyond the domain-specific expectations more typical of past sociological work. Utilizing the Youth Development Study (YDS), we employ a scale of general life expectations in adolescence to explore the potential influence of a general sense of optimistic life-expectations in addition to the traditional agency-as-efficacy approach on a range of important outcomes.

A socio-ecological model of agency: The role of psycho-social and socioeconomic resources in shaping education and employment transitions in England

“…Given the constraining forces in their immediate and wider social context, young people can to some extent actively steer the course of their lives. The study highlights the importance of conceptualising the role of the agent for a better understanding of diversity in youth transitions, rather than solely focusing on structures and socioeconomic resources (see also Hitlin & Johnson, 2015). Moreover, there are interactive as well as domain-specific effects suggesting that young people select a specific pathway or niche that can offer them developmentally appropriate challenges through which they can experience competence and which enables them to feel satisfied about their lives.…”

“…In psychology, on the other hand, agency is a central empirical construct in motivational theories, yet mechanisms linking structural factors to action are left largely unexplained (Bandura, 2006). Recent attempts to reconceptualise agency within life course research draw on the psychological literature of agency (Hitlin & Elder, 2007;Hitlin & Johnson, 2015), in particular Bandura's social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2001). Social cognitive theory rejects the duality between individual agency and social structure, and assumes that people create social systems, and these systems, in turn, organise and influence individual lives.…”

“…The notions of forethought and self-efficacy (or mastery) have been used in a study by Hitlin and Johnson (2015) to empirically operationalise agency within a life course approach. They showed that a general measure of future orientation (perceived life chances) and self-reflection, i.e.…”

“…occupational and social status or income), psychological wellbeing, and health, even after controlling for academic attainment and structural constraints (e.g. Ashby & Schoon, 2010;Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001;Eccles, 2008;Hitlin & Johnson, 2015;Schoon, 2008). The role of these psycho-social resources as predictors of transition experiences in combination with socioeconomic constraints is however less well studied.…”

Diverse pathways in becoming an adult: The role of structure, agency and context

“…Recent attempts to conceptualise agency within life course research draw on the psychological literature, in particular social cognitive theory, and illustrate the significant role of agency to shape developmental outcomes (Hitlin & Johnson, 2015). Empirically agency has been conceptualized through multiple dimensions, including self-efficacy, intentions, forethought, and self-directedness (Bandura, 2001).…”