The High-Agency Introvert
I investigate a sudden fuss over so-called “high-agency people” and consider the relevance for introverts.
Some bits of jargon that I hear or read for the first time make me want to roll my eyes. Others tempt me to find out more. “High-agency people” made me very curious. In recent years I’d encountered articles discussing whether or not certain groups (women, slaves, low-income folks) were viewed as “having agency.” That is, were they seen as being able to shape their own destinies or as passive beings mainly being acted upon by others?
The new term “high agency” seemed to praise select individuals as having an unusually strong personal ability to shape their circumstances and influence how others view them. For Introvert UpThink, I decided to look into the idea more and to consider how it fit with what I’d already learned about introverts.
A fascinating article by clinical psychologist Nick Wignall defines “low agency” as a mindset in which people view themselves as a victim of circumstances. They’re “passive, reactive and fatalistic.” In contrast, someone with a “high agency” mindset is “active, enthusiastic and optimistic. They view life as something they do over which they have great control and responsibility.”
Blogger George Mack gets much more specific in his essay “High Agency in 30 Minutes.” He defines the quintessential “high-agency person” in this way: If you were thrown into a Third World prison, allowed just one phone call, who would you call to get you out of there? Your answer points to someone who can confidently solve a real-world problem that has no conventional solution. This high-agency person has clear thinking, a propensity to take action and no fear of others’ disapproval: the go-getter of your dreams.
The Introvert Angle
Now here I need to cross-reference “high-agency” with the extrovert/introvert distinction. That’s because the first person who came to my mind in response to Mack’s what-if was a superb connector whom I know. He’s way over on the extrovert side of the personality spectrum, someone who knows loads of people from many walks of life and delights in putting them together. This person, a past client in business as an international business consultant, is the most likely of anyone I’ve ever met to know someone who knows someone who knows someone else who could free me from the Third World prison by making the right phone call.
I’m not sure this is the kind of answer Mack was leaning his reader toward. I thought of a schmoozer with a wealth of warm connections. He seemed to be angling more toward an inventive, out-of-the-box noodler who would drop everything to single-handedly engineer an immediate prison break in some unexpected fashion. Maybe Mack’s super-savior would send in a drone containing a prison-bar-dissolving chemical I could use to escape. Maybe he’d whip up a get-out-of-jail document and enlist a local messenger for it.
But in any case, Mack’s scenario got me thinking about differences between a high-agency extrovert and a high-agency introvert. I suspect these two figures would approach Mack’s challenge differently.
The high-agency extrovert might:
Spring into action immediately, feeling that a solution would get fully worked out while they were taking the first steps.
Use existing human contacts in their strategy.
Bring in several or many associates to help, emphasizing camaraderie and teamwork.
On the other hand, the high-agency introvert might:
Think through the problem and possible approaches first, quickly but thoroughly, before taking any action.
Go at it on their own as much of the time as possible, leveraging their own skills and ingenuity.
Celebrate success alone or with a significant other.
In both instances, “high agency” gives us a way to talk about someone who is resourceful – an excellent problem solver who doesn’t take adversity or difficulty lying down. They don’t complain or blame when obstacles crop up. They simply find another way to go forward.
The Cultural Background
From my research, it appears that the “high agency” essays I found come from a very different milieu and outlook than do the sociological, political and literary discussions of oppressed people or individuals belonging to oppressed groups “having agency” or not. Recent valorization of “high-agency people” in fact comes from Silicon Valley or Tech Bro types who glorify individualism and applaud the heroism of disruptors who decisively, even defiantly, bring a vision into reality. Their discussions are meant to be inspirational, not evidence-based.
I could not help noticing that every article on the concept that I initially found was by a male author whose real-life instances were exclusively male. Indeed, one “high-agency” article appears on a blog titled “The Art of Manliness.” The idea seems to reflect a contemporary ideal of masculinity that involves ambition, blindered courage and taking charge.
This connection isn’t obvious if you read only one article, but it’s definitely a pattern. If you want an ungendered version of the concept that is backed by scientific research, by the way, look up “internal locus of control.”
All in All…
From the personality perspective, I do think it’s useful to distinguish between people with a passive, acted-upon attitude toward life and those who get off the couch and set some kind of solution in motion. Let’s be mindful, though, that action-oriented introverts and extroverts might go about their moves in a different order and with a different emphasis.
And for sure, let’s avoid making “high agency” a macho virtue. Women too can make things happen in their lives and the lives of others.