Agency in behavior settings: A mindshaping perspective on ecological psychology

Abstract

This chapter focuses on Heft's ecological interpretation of behavior settings, and specifically on the question how to understand individual agency within this framework. We will argue that although Heft's remarks about agency offer promising suggestions, they do not yet provide a full-fledged account of how agency can be understood as being situated in behavior settings. Elaborating on the work of McGeer, we aim to show how the mindshaping view can contribute to an explanation of how behavior settings shape agency, without determining it (thus leaving room for individual freedom). Thus, we propose an outline for a situated theory of agency that combines Gibson's ecological psychology, Barker's eco-behavioral science, and McGeer's mindshaping approach.