# Collaborative Research: Increasing choice process awareness to empower agentic decision makers

> **NSF 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT** · University of California-Berkeley (CA) · $57,752

## Abstract

This research investigates how Americans can make choices that align with their personal values and individual goals—a cornerstone of personal responsibility and self-determination. The project develops innovative methods to measure "choice process awareness," examining how accurately people perceive what influences their decisions. By studying everyday choices in common contexts, we are showing that individuals vary widely in their awareness of choice processes and that increasing this awareness enables people to make choices more consistent with their own stated values. Unlike approaches that impose government or institutional solutions, this work respects individual liberty while addressing costly societal problems where people's actual choices often contradict their conscious intentions.

The research employs a novel "Awareness of Choice Processes" (ACP) task that quantifies how aware people are of their decision-making processes and how well these processes align with their personal ideals (a property called “agentic alignment”). The project consists of five studies examining the relationship between awareness and agentic alignment in value-based choices. Studies 1-2 test whether awareness predicts agentic alignment. Studies 3-4 investigate whether increasing people’s awareness helps them make more aligned choices. Study 5 explores whether improving awareness and alignment in one kind of choice helps people build a generalized skill for being agentically aligned in ot

## Key facts

- **NSF award ID:** 2438128
- **Awardee organization:** University of California-Berkeley (CA)
- **SAM.gov UEI:** GS3YEVSS12N6
- **PI:** Hedy Kober
- **Primary program:** 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
- **All programs:** SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
- **Estimated total:** $57,752
- **Funds obligated:** $57,752
- **Transaction type:** Standard Grant
- **Period:** 07/01/2025 → 06/30/2028

## Primary source

NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2438128

## Citation

> US National Science Foundation, Award 2438128, Collaborative Research: Increasing choice process awareness to empower agentic decision makers. Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-08 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nsf/2438128. Licensed CC0.

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