Psychological Empowerment in Adulthood

Empowerment is fundamentally about people and groups gaining more control over their own affairs. Because the forces that prevent and enable such control are complex (both objective and subjective) and multilayered (micro-, meso-, and macrostructural), empowerment has been theorized as a multilevel construct that is concerned with both processes and outcomes and with both subjective experiences, including self-perceptions and understandings of the social world, and structural conditions ranging from organizational processes to the distribution of economic and political power. Empowered citizenries are necessary for societies to function more democratically, and they offer the potential to achieve greater social justice. In addition, the psychological aspects of empowering processes are important contributors to human development and well-being. This entry discusses theories, research, and strategies for the promotion of psychological empowerment. In accordancewith the value orientation of empowerment, the focus is on strategies that increase the power of marginalized populations and those with fewer economic and political resources to make social change.