Adolescent agency and behavioral characteristics: conformity, problematic behavior, need for cognition

Frontiers in Psychology. 2025. Vol. 16. Article 1410170.

Mikhail Goshin, Grigoryev D., Pavel Sorokin

The concept of human agency has attracted considerable interest in academic and expert discussions concerning various life domains and age groups, including adolescents. However, the field lacks a unified approach to measuring agency for adolescents and understanding its relationship with their behavioral characteristics and attitudes. This  study addresses these gaps by introducing an Adolescent Agency Index and examining its associations with  behavioral characteristics such as сonformity, problematic behavior, and the need for cognition. The data was collected from students in grades 4 to 8 (N = 4,603; Mage = 12.6, SD = 1.7; 50.3% female). The analyses indicated a negative relationship between agency and conformity and a positive relationship between agency and problematic
behavior; moreover, a stronger positive relationship was found with the need for cognition. At the same time, the nature of the relationship between agency and these characteristics is complex, non-linear. These findings provide valuable insights for educational policymakers, researchers, and families. 

Keywords: conformity, agency, need for cognition, behavioral characteristics of adolescents, problematic behavior

Publication based on the results of: How do education systems contribute to development of agency: state of the art and windows of opportunities in the comparative framework (2023)