Autonomy

In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy[note 1] is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defined from a human resources perspective, where it denotes a (relatively high) level of discretion granted to an employee in his or her work.[1] In such cases, autonomy is known to generally increase job satisfaction. Self-actualized individuals are thought to operate autonomously of external expectations.[2] In a medical context, respect for a patient's personal autonomy is considered one of many fundamental ethical principles in medicine.


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  1. ^ Dewey, C.R. Autonomy without a self.
  2. ^ Bordages, John Walter (1989-06-01). "Self-Actualization and Personal Autonomy". Psychological Reports. 64 (3_suppl): 1263–1266. doi:10.2466/pr0.1989.64.3c.1263. ISSN 0033-2941. S2CID 146406002.