capricious
- given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behaviour.
agency
- As in: giving a person agency.
- In social science, agency is defined as the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. [Wikipedia]
divisive
- tending to cause disagreement or hostility between people.
flummoxed
- bewildered or perplexed.
priming (psychology)
- “In psychology, priming is a technique in which the introduction of one stimulus influences how people respond to a subsequent stimulus.”