Three Views of the Agentic Self: A
Developmental Synthesis
Todd D. Little
Key Collaborators:
Patricia H. Hawley
Southern Connecticut State University
Christopher C. Henrich and Katherine Marsland
Yale University
Goals & Organization
• Integrate Three Seemingly Disparate Theories
– Self-Determination Theory (i.e., Deci & Ryan, 1980 to date)
– Action-Control Theory (e.g., Little, 1998; Brandtstaedter, 1998)
– Resource-Control Theory (Hawley, 1999)
Organismic Model of
Human Nature
SDT
ACT
RCT
•Highlight Some Developmental Aspects of the Agentic Self
The Little Engine that Could
Puff, Puff, Chug, Chug,
went the Little Blue Engine.
“I think I can-I think I can-I think I can…”
-Watty Piper (1930)
Organismic Metatheory
• Behavior is seen as volitional and goal-directed action
– Individuals are inherently active and self-regulating
– Actions are purposive, planful, and self-initiated
• Development is predominantly self-guided
– One gives form and meaning to actions along the way
– Actions result from selective choices that emanate primarily
from the individual
• Research focuses on
– Inter-individual differences
– Intra-individual differences
– sub-types or sub-groups of individuals
– contextual influences
(see e.g., Gariepy, 1996; Little, in press; Overton, 1984, Reese, 1991)
Mechanistic Metatheory
Stimulus-Response, Stimulus-Response.
Don't you ever think?
Organismic Metatheory
• Mechanisms of change include
– Assimilation
– Accommodation
– Equilibration
– Schema formation
– Hierarchical integration
– And so on…
• Guiding Developmental principles include
– Homotypic vs heterotypic expressions
– Surface-structure vs deep-structure roots of behavior
– Different paths can lead to same outcome
– Same path can lead to different outcomes
– And so on…
Organismic Goal Attainment:
Achieving an Intimate Relationship
2.1
Depression
2
1.9
1.8
Males - No
Male -Yes
Female-No
Female-Yes
1.7
1.6
1.5
1.4
Y
Young
18-39
M
Mid-age
40-59
Age-Cohort
O
Older-age
60 and up
Control Judgments across the Life Span
Predicted Mean Rating and Standard Errors
2
2
Control Expectancy
1
1
0
Social 0
Personal
-1
-1
Comparative Control
Social
Personal
& Societal
Societal
-2
-2
0
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
2
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2
Societal
Social
1
1
Social
Societal
Personal
Personal
0
0
-1
Goal Importance
-2
0
20
30
40
50
Age-Cohort
From Grob, Little, & Wanner, 1999
Control Striving
-1
60
70
80
-2
0
20
30
40
50
Age-Cohort
60
70
80
Needs and Their Origins
• The Need for Competence
– Negotiating and effecting one’s environment
– Has a direct evolutionary basis
• The Need for Relatedness
– Close emotional bond with another individual
– Has a direct evolutionary basis
• The Need for Autonomy
– Being the origin of one’s own behavior
– Byproduct of higher cortical activity
• Resource Control Theory
– Acquiring and utilizing material and social resources
– Necessary for survival and reproduction of individual
What is Agency?
• Agents act, we are agents
– We have needs and goals
– We also have motives, wants, & desires
– We have intentions and are volitional in our actions
– We interpret & evaluate our actions and their consequences
• From our actions (actual & symbolic), we learn:
– Contingencies (personal, general, environmental)
– Personal beliefs about own capabilities
• Agency is a sense of personal empowerment
– Knowing what it takes and whether one's got it
Intrinsic & Extrinsic Motivation
REGULATORY STYLES:
Extrinsic
motivation
Amotivation
External
regulation
Introjection Identification
Intrinsic
motivation
Integration
ASSOCIATED PROCESSES:
•
•
•
•
Perceived noncontingency
Low perceived
competence
Non-relevance
Non-intentionality
•
•
Salience of
extrinsic
rewards or
punishments
Compliance/
Reactance
•
•
Ego
involvement
Focus on
approval from
self and others
• Conscious
• Hierarchical
•
valuing of
activity
• Selfendorsement
of goals
synthesis of
goals
• Congruence
•
Interest &
Enjoyment
Inherent
satisfaction
PERCEIVED LOCUS OF CAUSALITY:
Impersonal
External
From: Ryan & Deci (in press)
Somewhat
External
Somewhat
Internal
Internal
Internal
Differentiation of Resource Control Strategies
Prosocial strategies emerge over time.
Coercion
Coercion
Coercion
Prosociality
Prosociality
Years 1 to 3
Years 4 to 7
Years 8 to 11
(Hawley, 1999a, 1999b)
Types of Children
Coercive Control
“Social Dominants”
Coercive
Bistrategic
Typical
Prosocial
Subordinate
Prosocial Control
(Hawley, Little, & Pasupathi, 2000)
Social Motivations by Type
0.6
0.5
0.4
Bistrategic
Prosocial
Coercive
Typical
Subordinate
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
Intrinsically Motivated to
Form Friendships
Extrinsically Motivated to
Form Friendships
(Hawley, Little, & Pasupathi, 2000)
Social and Personal Consequences by Type
0.5
Bistrategic
Prosocial
Coercive
Typical
Subordinate
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
Negative Affect
Positive Affect
(Hawley, Little, & Pasupathi, 2000)
Action-Control Beliefs
Me
Others
Means
Agency
Beliefs
Agent
Control
Expectancy
Means
General Agency
Beliefs
Strategy
Beliefs
Goal
Agent
General
Control Expectancy
Causality
Beliefs
Goal
Means can include, for example: effort, ability, luck, teachers, parents, peers, looks, etc.
(Little, 1998)
The Development of Agency
Autonomy
Competence
Relatedness
Action-Control Beliefs;
Intra-agent Means
Action-Control Beliefs;
Extra-agent Means
Agency
Volitional / Goaldirected Activity;
Material and
Social Resources
(Little, Hawley, Henrich, & Marsland, in press)
How They Come Together
Self-Determination
Action-Control
ResourceControl
Conclusions
• Integrating these and other organismic
perspectives on behavior suggest novel
foci for research
–Personality types (e.g., Bistrats)
• Understanding the Agentic self requires a
contextual approach
–Interpersonal contexts (e.g., dominance)
–Life-course contexts (e.g., retirement)
Nonagentic vs. Agentic Profiles
Nonagentic Profile
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Have low aspirations
Feel helpless when
challenged
Hindered by problem
solving blinders
Perform poorly
Accept failures
Have greater ill-being
Have little sense of personal
empowerment
Agentic Profile
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Have high aspirations
Persist in the face of
obstacles
See more and varied
options
Perform well
Learn from failures
Have greater well-being
Have a greater sense of
personal empowerment
Acquiring a sense of Personal Agency
•
Direct Experiences
•
Performance Feedback
•
Direct Instruction
•
Vicarious Observations
•
Social Comparisons
•
Emotional Reactions
•
Symbolic Actions
– Successes and failures
– teachers, parents, peers, & self
– teachers, parents, peers, & self
– TV, at school, work, local Seven-Eleven, family
– veridical opportunities, upwards, downwards
– feelings or rejection/acceptance, reprimands
– personal thoughts, interpretations, rehearsals of actions
Personality and Social Skills by Type
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Bistrategic
Prosocial
Coercive
Typical
Subordinate
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
Agreeableness
Sensitivity to Social
Cues
Conscientiousness
Hostility
(Hawley, Pasupathi, & Little, 1999)
Low Personal Agency