Agency, reward, and motivation
How does the sense of agency interact with reward, motivation, responsibility, and social systems such as law?
This idea starts from the subjective experience of control: people may be more motivated, rewarded, or held responsible when they experience themselves as agents.
Possible study designs:
- Test whether agency manipulations alter reward sensitivity or persistence.
- Examine how legal or moral responsibility judgments depend on perceived agency.
- Compare subjective agency with autonomy, competence, and intentionality.
Key risks:
- The concept of agency may need sharper distinctions across legal, motivational, and phenomenological meanings.
- Effects may differ between personal agency and externally attributed responsibility.
Related ideas: