Maria Hernandez-de-Benito presented the paper virtual Measuring Agency Through Psychological Constructs in Lower-Income Settings on November 18, 2024. The seminar also featured the World Bank’s Africa Chief Economist Andrew Dabalen provided opening remarks, and the Africa Gender Innovation Lab’s Senior Economists Clara Delavallade and Aletheia Donald served as discussant and moderator. The seminar showcased the development and validation of four new scales—goal-setting capacity, agricultural self-efficacy, generalized livelihoods self-efficacy, and locus of control—rigorously tested across 6 African countries.
The seminar addressed a critical gap in measuring psychological constructs in lower-income settings. Recognizing that most existing measures were developed in Western contexts, the team designed four new scales tailored for diverse populations across Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda. These scales—Goal-Setting Capacity (GSC), Agricultural Self-Efficacy (AGSE), Generalized Livelihoods Self-Efficacy (GLSE), and a Short-form Locus of Control (S-LOC)—were tested among farmers, factory workers, entrepreneurs, adults, and adolescents, ensuring context-appropriate measurement.
Key findings highlighted the strong reliability and clarity of the new scales, with high respondent understanding across settings. The GSC and AGSE scales, for example, were linked to increased female labor supply and earnings, as well as improvements in decision-making and subjective well-being. GLSE was strongly correlated with business ownership, sales, and profits, and was associated with reductions in intimate partner violence. The S-LOC scale revealed important cultural differences in how locus of control relates to labor market outcomes and happiness.
Importantly, the seminar underscored the bidirectional relationship between economic and psychological well-being, and the need for robust, locally validated tools to measure agency. The new scales proved easy to implement, averaging less than three minutes per respondent, and demonstrated strong psychometric properties. These insights pave the way for more effective interventions and policy design, particularly those aimed at empowering women and improving livelihoods in lower-income contexts.
The lively discussion among participants emphasized the scales' relevance to agency and economic outcomes, particularly for women, and engaged participants in a lively exchange on the findings, which reinforced the importance of context in measuring agency and the potential for these new tools to inform future research and development programs.
International Food Policy Research Institute