What is Self-Agency (Psychology)?

Self-Agency is Power

Self-agency, also known as “personal agency” in psychology is an all-encompassing term that describes the power an individual has over their own life.

When people talk about the sense of agency, they are talking about the sense of control someone has over some specific event or action.

When people talk about a politician that can do whatever he or she pleases, they are talking about a person with a high amount of agency. That’s a person that can translate their will onto the mass of people that is under their control.

Types of Personal Agency

Agency doesn’t imply whether someone is good or bad – it simply measures the degree of control someone has. Most people are low-agency, while an average number are medium-agency, and lastly, only a select few are high agency individuals. High agency individuals make less than 1% of the world’s population.

And just as the name implies (sense of agency), that means that agency is a subjective measure. There is no scientific way to quantify agency. Studies can be done, but never with the exactness required by the scientific method.

No one, apart from yourself is going to be able to tell whether you have “enough” agency or not.

How Much Agency do you Have?

But here’s the deal: you can always have more agency, and if you feel like you want to get more out of life, then what you actually want is to have more agency.

A person with a lot of agency is what other people would call “conscious.” Have you ever talked to someone and felt like they are not really there? Like they are not present?

In fact, most people I talk to on a daily basis seem to not be fully aware of their existence. That’s why most conversations center around people repeating stuff they’ve seen on TV or the internet. If you try to talk about how you read some obscure material with a person with low agency, they are just going to laugh at you – or stare blankly.

I cannot be sure of the exact figure, but I’d tell that the NoFap community would be in the Top 10 of online communities that contain people with above-average levels of self-agency.

You are not a Low-Agency Individual

If you were a low-agency individual, you would stay where you are and not browse for this website. Guys doing NoFap are already motivated to change things up -they just don’t have the right information about how to do so.

Of course, there are places with even more high-agency people, and those places usually come along with a lot of power and money – but that’s not a luxury we have in this community. Apart from being higher than average when it comes to agency, NoFap people are also going to be either middle or low class – economically speaking. That’s why you get your information on free online resources rather than in some elite book club.

Anyway, not to go too much off-topic, your problem is not a lack of agency. Your problem is the lingering computer, digital, electronic, porn, and other artificial-based stimulation addiction that you have been enduring for a long period of time. Wow, that was a mouthful of a sentence.

Use Your Personal Agency for Good

Here’s your action plan for the day: you are one of the few lucky individuals on the planet to have at least a medium-level of personal agency. That puts you at a MASSIVE advantage. In commercial terms, companies call that an “early mover advantage.”

The younger you are, the easier things are going to be – but old guys shouldn’t worry at all, as you can do this at 60.

What you need to do next is to clear your system out of most of the artificial stimulants you’ve been consuming. No, you are not going to live in the woods. In fact, for some stuff, you are going to rely MORE on computers and the internet. And there are stimulants that can be beneficial when taken in the right amounts in the right time – life caffeine.

Your next lessons are going to be about how to use environmental stimulants for your own personal benefit. You need to learn to be productive on your computer or cell phone. These devices are a godsend for personal productivity and power – so stop using them as cheap drugs.

 Self Agency Questions and Answers: 

What is a ‘Sense of Agency’?

A sense of agency is a subjective measure that determines to which degree you feel you have control over your mind, body, and environment.

According to some psychologists, having a high sense of agency is one of the most important things when it comes to being happy. No matter how much money a person has, if they have no control over their actions and environment, they won’t be happy.

Achieving a better sense of agency is one of the most important things when it comes to feeling better.

Is there a Scale for the Sense of Agency?

Yes, there is a scale for the sense of agency. A person can have a low sense of agency and a high sense of agency.

Low sense of agency is when you feel that you don’t have sufficient control over your environment, which can have a negative effect on your mental health. A high sense of agency is a good thing, because it means you are satisfied with the amount of control you have over your life.

How do I asses my Self Agency?

There is no objective way to measure your self-agency. Self-agency is best described as the internal feeling you have regarding your amount of self-control.

You are the only person that can tell whether you have low or high agency. If you are leaning towards believing that you have low self-agency, then you should start working on improving this. The more control over your actions and the environment you have, the higher your sense of agency is going to be.

Is There a Correlation Between Self Control and Agency?

Yes, there is a direct correlation between self control and agency.

The more self-control you exhibit, the higher your personal agency is going to be. Self-control is the amount of power you have over your decisions and behavior. Having any kind of addiction is going to have a negative effect on your self-control levels, which is why NoFap is the recommended way to boost your self-control levels.

What is the Agency Theory in Psychology?

The agency theory in psychology is the theory regarding the different amounts of agency and self-control that people have. It’s a theory of why different people develop different levels of agency, and how can a person work on improving their sense of agency.

All of the answers above list different aspects of this problem, as well as different solutions.

If you have any kind of addiction, including an addiction to PMO, your agency is going to be lowered. The first step towards developing a higher level of self-agency is to eliminate all addictions.

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