Better Safe than Sorry. Does Agency Moderate the Relevance of Safety Perceptions for the Subjective Well-Being of Young Children?

Steckermeier, Leonie C.

doi:10.1007/s12187-017-9519-y

Cited by 20 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Only two studies could be identified that included an interaction between perceived autonomy and a measure of a functioning on individual level: Welzel and Inglehart (2010) have shown that the positive effect of financial satisfaction on life satisfaction is attenuated by perceived autonomy. Steckermeier (2019) found that the negative effect of perceived lack of neighborhood safety on subjective well-being is less for children who perceive their autonomy as appropriate.…”

Section: H4mentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Despite a growing body of research on the relationship between various functioningslike being in good health-and subjective well-being (for a comprehensive overview, see Veenhoven 2010) and between autonomy and subjective well-being (e.g., Okulicz-Kozaryn 2015;Veenhoven 1999Veenhoven , 2000Verme 2009;Welzel and Inglehart 2010), only a few studies have investigated how the relationship between functioning and well-being is shaped by individual autonomy (Eichhorn 2012;Steckermeier 2019;Welzel and Inglehart 2010). Likewise, while the relationship between subjective well-being and various societal conditions like national wealth, income inequality, or culture have been examined in detail (for comprehensive literature reviews see Ngamaba et al 2018 andSteel et al 2018), only a few studies have explored how these societal conditions influence the link between functionings and subjective well-being (Delhey 2010;Inglehart et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Value of Autonomy for the Good Life. An Empirical Investigation of Autonomy and Life Satisfaction in Europe

Steckermeier

2020

Soc Indic Res

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This paper examines the association of opportunity and choice enhancing societal conditions and perceived autonomy with life satisfaction in Europe. Building on the capability approach, I investigate whether the positive effects of six basic functionings—safety, friendship, health, financial security, leisure, and respect—on people’s life satisfaction are weaker when people have more opportunity and choice. This paper addresses two main questions: (1) Are people more satisfied with their life when they have more opportunity and choice? (2) Do basic functionings play a smaller role for life satisfaction in societies that enable more opportunity and choice and for individuals with more perceived autonomy? The analyses are based on the European Quality of Life Survey (2016), covering 36,460 individuals in 33 European countries and using multilevel linear regressions. My study finds that both choice and opportunity enhancing societal conditions and individual’s perceived autonomy are positively associated with on life satisfaction. Further, all six basic functionings are conducive to individual life satisfaction. The positive effects of health, financial security, respect, and friendship are reduced when people experience a great deal of autonomy over their lives. Societal conditions that provide people with more opportunity and choice further lower the positive effects of financial security, leisure, respect, and safety on individual life satisfaction. This corroborates the importance the capability approach attributes to individual opportunities and freedom of choice.

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Section: H4mentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Value of Autonomy for the Good Life. An Empirical Investigation of Autonomy and Life Satisfaction in Europe

Steckermeier

2020

Soc Indic Res

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“…For instance, while authors mostly agree with a broad definition of agency as the 'ability to exert control over one's life and pursue goals in general' (e.g., Beyers et al, 2003;Poteat et al, 2018; among others), divergence emerges when attempting to better specify its characteristics. No consensus has been found concerning its connections to notions such as the ones of autonomy, internal locus of control, and competence (Beyers et al, 2003;Steckermeier, 2019;Williams & Merten, 2014). Indeed, some emphasize aspects of agency such as independence, freedom, and autonomy (Lautamo et al, 2021;Smith et al, 2000), while others stress its correlation to the individual's perception of control over their environment (Bentley-Edwards, 2016;Bryan et al, 2014).…”

Section: Eligibility Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within the social sciences the construct of agency has become so pivotal that it is among the most important theoretical contributions of recent decades (Oswell, 2013;Robson et al, 2007;Spyrou, 2018). From Albert Bandura's (1989Bandura's ( , 1999 early studies in the field of social-cognitive psychology to more recent contributions amongst psychology, sociology, and social geography (Abebe, 2019;Cavazzoni et al, 2021;Steckermeier, 2019;Veronese et al, 2018), the concept of agency defined as 'people's ability to exert control over one's life and pursue goals' has been explored and investigated within different contexts, countries, and populations. So far, several contributions have documented agency in people living in areas of conflict, poverty or marginalization (Gigengack, 2014;Klocker, 2007;Veronese et al, 2019aVeronese et al, , 2019b or among women across the globe (James-Hawkins et al, 2018;Kabeer, 1999;Martin & Phillips, 2017;Veronese et al, 2019a), highlighting participants' actions and reactions concerning situations of oppression or structural violations experienced in everyday life.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do We Assess How Agentic We Are? A Literature Review of Existing Instruments to Evaluate and Measure Individuals' Agency

2021

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The importance and centrality of the construct of agency is wellknown amongst social scientists. Yet, there is still little agreement on how this construct should be understood and defined, as demonstrated by the diversity of instruments that are used to investigate it. Indeed, there is no current consensus or standardized methodology to assess agency. This paper provides a synthetic overview of the studies that have evaluated and measured individuals' agency. More specifically, the purpose is to review research that quantitatively investigates the agency of adults, as well as children and youth, across different social contexts. In the process, it offers recommendations to inform future research, practice, and policy. We identified published peer-reviewed studies relating to the assessment of agency across countries and across age through a narrative literature review. The findings were grouped according to whether agency was measured in its most comprehensive conception or in a precise single domain or dimension, which was then discussed separately for children, adults, and women. Of the 3879 studies identified from online searches of the literature and the five additional sources gathered through bibliography mining, 106 qualified for full review, with 34 studies included in the final synthesis. Multiple different instruments were found to be currently adopted or developed to assess agency. The present review offers an exhaustive overview of the different conceptualizations of agency and of the available instruments to assess it, providing critical information for researchers and policymakers to improve intervention and empowerment programs.

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“…Findings from studies that have investigated children’s perspectives suggest that emerging indicators of wellbeing fall under the following domains: relationships with family and friends; school and local environment (broadly conceived but mostly focused on social environment); physical, emotional and material wellbeing; and self-perception (Fane et al, 2020 ; Fattore et al, 2009 ; Coverdale & Long, 2015 ; Steckermeier, 2018 ; Andresen & Fegter, 2011 ; Children’s society, 2012 ). However, many of these have been overlooked in the existing policy and social indicator frameworks (Fane et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Nature Explicit in Children’s Drawings of Wellbeing and Happy Spaces

2021

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Previous research on children’s wellbeing indicators has focused extensively on adults’, rather than children’s perspectives, despite there being a broad consensus that children’s conceptualisations differ significantly from adults’. In response, this study aimed to explore what constitutes children’s wellbeing through their drawings and discussions. Ninety-one seven and eight-year old children from two primary schools in areas of relatively high deprivation in eastern England participated in this study. We identified indicators of wellbeing that were made explicit in children’s drawings, such as the need for safety, happiness and positive relationships, but also indicators that remained rather implicit, such as the environment and nature. The drawings in particular illustrated that children’s perceptions of wellbeing were subject to the affordances of their favourite spaces for emotional, mental physical and material wellbeing. Access to nature and outdoor spaces was interconnected with all these affordances. We analysed these findings through the theoretical lenses of positive psychology, self-actualisation, social mentality and the human-nature relationship. We argue that making nature explicit, and restoring the interconnectedness between the arts and nature in the current literature, should be a key priority for future research and practice on children’s wellbeing indicators.

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Better Safe than Sorry. Does Agency Moderate the Relevance of Safety Perceptions for the Subjective Well-Being of Young Children?

Cited by 20 publications

References 44 publications

The Value of Autonomy for the Good Life. An Empirical Investigation of Autonomy and Life Satisfaction in Europe

The Value of Autonomy for the Good Life. An Empirical Investigation of Autonomy and Life Satisfaction in Europe

How Do We Assess How Agentic We Are? A Literature Review of Existing Instruments to Evaluate and Measure Individuals' Agency

Making Nature Explicit in Children’s Drawings of Wellbeing and Happy Spaces

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