ABSTRACT: The present article examines the nature and function of human agency within the conceptual model of triadic reciprocal causation. In analyzing the operation of human agency in this interactional causal structure, social cognitive theory accords a central role to cognitive, vicarious, self-reflective, and self-regulatory processes. The issues addressed concern the psychological mechanisms through which personal agency is exercised, the hierarchical structure of self-regulatory systems, eschewal of the dichotomous construal of self as agent and self as object, and the properties of a nondualistic but nonreductional conception of human agency. The relation of agent causality to the fundamental issues of freedom and determinism is also analyzed. The recent years have witnessed a resurgence of interest

ive Theory, Bandura (1986) wrote that individuals possess beliefs that enable them to exercise a measure of control over their thoughts, feelings, and actions, that "what people think, believe, and feel affects how they behave" (p. 25). These beliefs comprise a self system with symbolizing, forethinking, vicarious, self-regulatory, and self-reflective capabilities, and human behavior is the result of the interplay between this personal system and external sources of influence. In all, Bandura painted a portrait of human behavior and motivation in which the beliefs that people have about themselves are key elements. Social Cognitive Theory and Self-efficacy Bandura (1986) argued that self-referent thought mediates between knowledge and action and that the capability to self-reflect is the most distinctively human characteristic, for it permits individuals to evaluate their own experiences and thought processes. Through reflection and selfevaluation, individuals can alter their