Formation of Feasible Actions Through Support: How Access to Complementary Resources Decides Which Actions a Person Can Actually Take

This conceptual paper introduces Formation of Feasible Actions Through Support, the mechanism by which adding or withdrawing complementary resources or access changes the actions a person can actually take. Feasibility is assessed relative to a specified task and to the combination of resources it requires. The paper distinguishes feasibility, preference, and authorization as explanations of observed behavior. Permission and feasibility can interact when restrictions are enforced or sanctions affect an action’s cost. An account that infers preference from behavior must consider which alternatives were feasible and on what terms. Preferences may also develop after new options become available. The account relates the mechanism to the capability approach and discusses research on access to M-PESA in Kenya. The study reported changes in saving and occupational choice consistent with expanded options, but did not directly measure feasibility or preference formation. The paper acknowledges published challenges to the findings and takes no position on the size of the effects. Part of the Generative Operations series within On Human Modeling, the paper offers questions for identifying missing complements and who controls their availability. Its framework can inform human–AI research on how assistance, tools, and access shape user options and how systems infer preferences from behavior.