There was an Inc. article back in the spring that intrigued me.
The title was “Your Overall Happiness, Well-Being, and Even Financial Future Come Down to 1 Simple Word, Backed by Science. And no, that word isn’t money.”
The article was full of links and interesting perspectives. Including one about going back to a workplace many years after being fired – not related to this post, but interesting to share.
The study that got to the word that drives happiness was the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
This study found that autonomy is the biggest contributor to happiness.
They defined autonomy as
“the feeling that your life – it’s activities and habits – are self-chosen and self-endorsed”
It was interesting is that the Inc. article referenced both the word autonomy and the word agency.
This got me wondering if the two essentially mean the same thing.
A little research provided the answer – no, they are slightly different.
Both imply a level of independence, self-direction, and self-determination to shape experiences.
Agency is the feeling of control in our life.
Autonomy is the ability to make your own decisions.
We can have one without the other.
Agency provides the ability to influence your own thoughts and behavior to handle a wide range of situations and feel flexible in the face of change.
Autonomy impacts the scope of what we might choose to do rather than being influenced by someone else or told what to do.
My Perspective
This small amount of research has me interested in learning more.
I’m going to dive into the topic this week.
I imagine that our agency and autonomy may be different across the 8 dimensions of wellbeing.
You can learn more about those dimensions here and here.
I also think that levels of agency and autonomy may be impacted by our personality & tendencies.
Leveraging Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies, Upholders (driven by inner and outer expectations) may find this easier than Obligers (driven by outer expectations).
Your Turn
How do you see agency & autonomy showing up in your life?
Do you have more or less of them in different areas of your life?
Is your current level where you want to be?