A sense of agency leads to more happiness
Summary
- Contentment is linked to agency
- Agency is a sense that you can make a difference in your life
Details
- You may face problems but if you have agency you feel you can improve your situation
References
Quotes
Finding happiness, or at least contentment, often requires changing your daily thoughts and behaviors, and those happen to be the two elements of personality. Psychological research suggests that agency—the sense that you can create a positive difference in the world, or at least in your life—is linked to reduced levels of depression and helplessness. “Agency causes progress,” the positive-psychology pioneer Martin Seligman has said, while “lack of agency causes stagnation.” Agency imbues you with the sense that you can do something about your problems.