Volitional behavior of people. Signs, formation and development of volitional qualities. Classification of volitional actions

FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION

State educational institution of higher professional education

FAR EASTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS

FACULTY OF ECONOMICS

Will and its main features. Theories of will. Volitional regulation of behavior. Development of will.

Essay

students gr.

Vladivostok

1 Will and its main features

Will is a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior, associated with overcoming internal and external obstacles, which has a number of characteristics: the presence of efforts and a well-thought-out plan for performing a particular act of will; increased attention to such behavioral action; lack of direct pleasure received in the process and as a result of its execution; a state of optimal mobilization of the individual, concentration in the right direction.

The manifestation of will is reflected in the following properties (qualities):

Willpower - the degree of willpower required to achieve a goal;

Perseverance is a person’s ability to mobilize to overcome difficulties for a long time;

Self-control is the ability to restrain feelings, thoughts, actions;

Decisiveness – the ability to quickly and firmly implement decisions;

Courage – the ability to quickly and firmly implement decisions;

Self-control is the ability to control oneself, to subordinate one’s behavior to solving assigned tasks;

Discipline is the conscious subordination of one’s behavior to generally accepted norms and established order;

Commitment - the ability to fulfill assigned duties on time;

Organization – rational planning and ordering of one’s work, etc.

Will is present in many acts of human behavior, helping to overcome resistance, as well as other desires and needs on the way to the intended goal. Most often, a person shows his will in the following typical situations:

It is necessary to make a choice between two or more thoughts, goals, and feelings that are equally attractive, but require opposite actions, and are incompatible with each other;

No matter what, it is necessary to purposefully move towards the intended goal;

On the path of a person’s practical activity, internal (fear, uncertainty, doubts) or external (objective circumstances) obstacles arise that must be overcome.

In other words, will (its presence or absence) manifests itself in all situations related to choice and decision-making.

The main features of a volitional act:

a) applying effort to perform an act of will;

b) the presence of a well-thought-out plan for the implementation of a behavioral act;

c) increased attention to such a behavioral act and the absence of direct pleasure received in the process and as a result of its execution;

d) often the efforts of the will are aimed not only at defeating circumstances, but at overcoming oneself.

The main functions of the will are:

Selection of motives and goals;

Regulation of the impulse to action in case of insufficient or excessive motivation;

Organization of mental processes into a system that is adequate to the activity performed by a person;

Mobilization of physical and mental capabilities in achieving goals in a situation of overcoming obstacles.

Will presupposes self-restraint, restraining some fairly strong drives, consciously subordinating them to other, more significant and important goals, and the ability to suppress desires and impulses that directly arise in a given situation. At the highest levels of its manifestation, will presupposes reliance on spiritual goals and moral values, beliefs and ideals.

Another sign of the volitional nature of an action or activity regulated by the will is the presence of a well-thought-out plan for its implementation. An action that does not have a plan or is not carried out according to a predetermined plan cannot be considered volitional. Volitional action is a conscious, purposeful action through which a person achieves the goal facing him, subordinating his impulses to conscious control and changing the surrounding reality in accordance with his plan.

Essential signs of volitional action are increased attention to such action and the absence of direct pleasure received in the process and as a result of its implementation. This means that volitional action is usually accompanied by a lack of emotional, rather than moral, satisfaction. On the contrary, the successful completion of a volitional act is usually associated with moral satisfaction from the fact that it was possible to fulfill it.

Often, a person’s efforts of will are directed not so much at winning and mastering circumstances, but at overcoming himself. This is especially typical for people of the impulsive type, unbalanced and emotionally excitable, when they have to act contrary to their natural or characterological data.

Not a single more or less complex human life problem can be solved without the participation of the will. No one on Earth has ever achieved outstanding success without possessing outstanding willpower. Man, first of all, differs from all other living beings in that, in addition to consciousness and intellect, he also has will, without which abilities would remain an empty phrase.

2 Theories of will

Currently, there is no unified theory of will in psychological science, although many scientists are making attempts to develop a holistic doctrine of will with its terminological certainty and unambiguity.

Traditionally, will is defined as a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome internal and external difficulties when performing purposeful actions and deeds.

Among the most popular directions in the study of the problem of will are the so-called heteronomous and autonomous (or voluntaristic) theories of will.

Heteronomous theories reduce volitional actions to complex mental processes of a non-volitional nature - associative and intellectual processes. G. Ebbinghaus gives an example: a child instinctively, involuntarily reaches for food, establishing a connection between food and satiety. The reversibility of this connection is based on the phenomenon in which, having felt hunger, he will purposefully search for food. A similar example can be given from another area - personality psychology. According to Ebbinghaus, will is an instinct that arises on the basis of the reversibility of associations or on the basis of the so-called “sighted instinct”, aware of its goal.

For other heteronomous theories, volitional action is associated with a complex combination of intellectual mental processes (I. Herbart). It is assumed that impulsive behavior first arises, then on its basis an action developed on the basis of habit is actualized, and only after that an action controlled by the mind, i.e. volitional action. According to this point of view, every act is volitional, because every action is reasonable.

Heteronomous theories have advantages and disadvantages. Their advantage is the inclusion of the factor of determinism in the explanation of will. Thus, they contrast their point of view on the emergence of volitional processes with the point of view of spiritualistic theories, which believe that will is a kind of spiritual force that is not amenable to any determination. The disadvantage of these theories is the assertion that the will is not substantial, does not have its own content and is actualized only when necessary. Heteronomous theories of will do not explain the phenomena of arbitrariness of actions, the phenomenon of internal freedom, the mechanisms of the formation of volitional action from involuntary action.

An intermediate place between heteronomous and autonomous theories of will is occupied by W. Wundt's affective theory of will. Wundt sharply objected to attempts to derive the impulse for volitional action from intellectual processes. He explains the will using the concept of affect. The most essential thing for the emergence of a volitional process is the activity of external action, which is directly related to internal experiences. In the simplest act of will, Wundt distinguishes two moments: affect and the action associated with it. External actions are aimed at achieving the final result, and internal actions are aimed at changing other mental processes, including emotional ones.

Theories of autonomous will explain this mental phenomenon based on the laws inherent in the volitional action itself. All theories of autonomous will can be divided into three groups:

Motivational approach;

Free choice approach;

Regulatory approach.

Motivational approach means that the will, one way or another, is explained using the categories of the psychology of motivation. In turn, it is divided into:

1) theories that understand will as a superhuman, world power:

Will as a world force embodied in man was the subject of research by E. Hartmann, A. Schopenhauer, G.I. Chelpanova. Schopenhauer believed that the essence of everything is the world will. It is a completely irrational, blind, unconscious, aimless and, moreover, never-ending or weakening impulse. It is universal and is the basis for everything that exists: it gives birth to everything (through the process of objectification) and governs everything. Only by creating the world and looking into it as in a mirror, does she gain the opportunity to realize herself, first of all, that she is the will to live. The will that exists in every person is simply an objectification of the world's will. This means that the doctrine of the world will is primary, and the doctrine of human will is secondary, derivative. Schopenhauer presents different ways of getting rid of the world's will. The common point is that all methods are realized through spiritual activity (cognitive, aesthetic, moral). It turns out that knowledge and aesthetic contemplation can free one from “serving” the world will. He pays great attention to moral ways.

The same approximately understanding of will as an active force that ensures human actions was characteristic of G.I. Chelpanova. He believed that the soul has its own power to make choices and motivate action. In the act of will, he distinguished aspiration, desire and effort; later he began to connect the will with the struggle of motives.

2) theories that consider will as the initial moment of motivation for action:

Will as the initial moment of motivation for action is the subject of research by various authors (T. Hobbes, T. Ribot, K. Levin). Common to all concepts is the proposition that the will has the ability to motivate actions. T. Ribot added that it can not only encourage action, but also inhibit some undesirable actions. Kurt Lewin's identification of the incentive function of the will with quasi-need as a mechanism for inducing intentional action led Western psychology to the identification of motivation and will. Lewin distinguished between volitional behavior, carried out in the presence of a special intention, and field behavior, performed in accordance with the logic (forces) of the field. Levin invested mainly in the dynamic aspect of understanding the will. This is internal tension caused by some unfinished action. The implementation of volitional behavior consists of relieving tension through certain actions - movements in the psychological environment (locomotion and communications).

3) theories that understand will as the ability to overcome obstacles:

Will as the ability to overcome obstacles was studied in the works of Yu. Kuhl, H. Heckhausen, D.N. Uznadze, N. Akha, L.S. Vygotsky. In this case, the will does not coincide with motivation, but is actualized in a difficult situation (in the presence of obstacles, struggle of motives, etc.), such an understanding of the will is primarily associated with volitional regulation.

Yu. Kul connects volitional regulation with the presence of difficulties in implementing intentions. He distinguishes between intention and desire (motivation). Active intentional regulation is activated at the moment an obstacle or competing tendencies arise in the path of desire.

H. Heckhausen identifies four stages of motivation for action, which involve different mechanisms - motivational and volitional. The first stage corresponds to motivation before making a decision, the second - volitional effort, the third - the implementation of actions, and the fourth - evaluation of the results of behavior. Motivation determines the choice of action, and will determines its strengthening and initiation.

D.N. Uznadze correlates the formation of will with activities that are aimed at creating values ​​independent of actual human needs. Satisfaction of an urgent need occurs through impulsive behavior. Another type of behavior is not associated with the impulse of an actual need and is called volitional. Volitional behavior, according to Uznadze, differs from impulsive behavior in that it has a period preceding the act of decision-making. Behavior becomes volitional only thanks to a motive that modifies behavior in such a way that the latter becomes acceptable to the subject.

Overcoming obstacles, according to N. Akh, is possible with the actualization of volitional processes. Motivation and will are not the same. Motivation determines the general determination of action, and will strengthens determination. There are two sides to a volitional act: phenomenological and dynamic. Phenomenological includes such moments as 1) a feeling of tension (figurative moment), 2) determining the goal of an action and its relationship with the means (objective), 3) performing an internal action (actual), 4) experiencing difficulty, making an effort (state moment) . The dynamic side of a volitional act lies in the implementation, embodiment of a motivated (volitional) action.

L.S. Vygotsky considers overcoming obstacles as one of the signs of will. As a mechanism for strengthening the impulse to action, he defines the operation of introducing an auxiliary motive (means). Such an additional motive could be drawing lots, counting by one, two, three, etc. In his early works, L.S. Vygotsky explains the arbitrary form of regulation of mental processes through the intentional organization of external stimuli. “If you force a child to often do something in a count of “one, two, three,” then he himself gets used to doing exactly the same thing as, for example, we do when throwing ourselves into the water. Often we know that we need something... or do, say, following the example of W. James, get out of bed, but we don’t want to get up... And at such moments, a proposal to ourselves from the outside helps us get up... and we, unnoticed by ourselves, find ourselves up" (Vygotsky L.S. ., 1982. P. 465). In later works, he changes his view of the will, using the concept of semantic formations of consciousness, which, if the semantic emphasis in them is changed, can strengthen/weaken the impulse to action. In his opinion, an interesting trend is found when performing meaningless tasks. It consists in coming to an understanding of it by creating a new situation, making changes in the psychological field.

With the motivational approach, will was studied as an independent mental phenomenon, but the disadvantages of this direction are that the explanation of the mechanisms of the emergence of will did not have a specific source: they came from teleological interpretations, then from natural sciences, then from cause-and-effect ones.

Free choice approach consists in the correlation of volitional processes with the problem of making a choice, with the situation in which any person often finds himself. I. Kant was interested in the question of compatibility, on the one hand, with the determinism of behavior, and on the other, with freedom of choice. He compared the causality of the material world with the determinism of behavior, and morality presupposed freedom of choice. The will becomes free when it is subordinated to the moral law.

In addition to the philosophical point of view, there are a number of psychological interpretations of will in line with the problem of free choice. Thus, W. James believed that the main function of the will is to make a decision about action in the presence of two or more ideas. In such a situation, the most important feat of will is to direct consciousness towards an attractive object. S.L. also considers choice as one of the functions of the will. Rubinstein.

Regulatory approach correlates the will not with certain contents, but with the function of exercising control, management and self-regulation. M.Ya. Basov understood will as a mental mechanism through which a person regulates his mental functions. Volitional effort is defined as the subjective expression of the regulatory volitional function. The will is deprived of the ability to generate mental or other actions, but it regulates them, revealing itself in attention. According to K. Lewin, the will can indeed control affects and actions. This fact was proven by many experiments conducted at his school.

Research on the regulation of mental processes, carried out within the framework of the problem of will, has given rise to a completely independent direction in psychology, dealing with the problem of self-regulation of the individual. Despite the close connection with will and volitional processes, the subject of research in this area of ​​psychological knowledge is techniques and ways of regulating behavior, states and feelings.

3 Volitional regulation of behavior

The psychology of will studies volitional actions, the problem of choosing motives and goals, volitional regulation of mental states, and volitional qualities of the individual.

Volitional regulation is understood as intentional control of the impulse to action, consciously accepted out of necessity and carried out by a person according to his own decision. If it is necessary to inhibit a desirable, but socially disapproved action, what is meant is not the regulation of the impulse to action, but the regulation of the action of abstinence.

Among the levels of mental regulation the following are distinguished:

Involuntary regulation (pre-psychic involuntary reactions; figurative (sensory) and perceptual regulation);

Voluntary regulation (speech-mental level of regulation);

Volitional regulation (the highest level of voluntary regulation of activity, ensuring overcoming difficulties in achieving the goal).

The function of volitional regulation is to increase the efficiency of the corresponding activity, and volitional action appears as a conscious, purposeful action of a person to overcome external and internal obstacles with the help of volitional efforts.

At the personal level, will manifests itself in such properties as willpower, energy, perseverance, endurance, etc. They can be considered as primary, or basic, volitional qualities of a person. Such qualities determine behavior that is characterized by all or most of the properties described above.

A strong-willed person is distinguished by determination, courage, self-control, and self-confidence. Such qualities usually develop in ontogenesis somewhat later than the group of properties mentioned above. In life, they manifest themselves in unity with character, so they can be considered not only as volitional, but also as characterological. Let's call these qualities secondary.

Finally, there is a third group of qualities that, while reflecting a person’s will, are at the same time associated with his moral and value orientations. This is responsibility, discipline, integrity, commitment. This group, designated as tertiary qualities, includes those in which the will of a person and his attitude to work simultaneously appear: efficiency, initiative. Such personality traits are usually formed only by adolescence.

Volitional qualities are a dynamic category, i.e. capable of change and development throughout life. Volitional qualities are often aimed not so much at mastering circumstances and overcoming them, but at overcoming oneself. This especially applies to people of the impulsive type, unbalanced and emotionally excitable, when they have to act contrary to their natural or characterological data.

The mechanisms of volitional regulation are: mechanisms for replenishing the deficit of motivation, making a volitional effort and deliberately changing the meaning of actions.

The mechanisms for replenishing the motivation deficit consist in strengthening weak, but socially more significant motivation through the assessment of events and actions, as well as ideas about what benefits the achieved goal can bring. Increased motivation is associated with emotional revaluation of value based on the action of cognitive mechanisms. Cognitive psychologists paid special attention to the role of intellectual functions in replenishing motivational deficits. Associated with cognitive mechanisms is the mediation of behavior by an internal intellectual plan, which performs the function of conscious regulation of behavior. Strengthening motivational tendencies occurs due to the mental construction of a future situation. Anticipating the positive and negative consequences of an activity evokes emotions associated with achieving a consciously set goal. These impulses act as additional motivation for the deficit motive.

The need to make a volitional effort is determined by the degree of difficulty of the situation. Volitional effort is the method by which difficulties are overcome in the process of performing a purposeful action; it ensures the possibility of successful activities and the achievement of previously set goals. This mechanism of volitional regulation is correlated with various types of self-stimulation, in particular with its speech form, with frustration tolerance, with the search for positive experiences associated with the presence of an obstacle. Usually there are four forms of self-stimulation: 1) direct form in the form of self-orders, self-encouragement and self-suggestion, 2) indirect form in the form of creating images, ideas associated with achievement, 3) abstract form in the form of constructing a system of reasoning, logical justification and conclusions, 4) combined form as a combination of elements of the three previous forms.

An intentional change in the meaning of actions is possible due to the fact that the need is not strictly connected with the motive, and the motive is not clearly related to the goals of the action. The meaning of activity, according to A.N. Leontiev, consist in the relation of motive to goal. The formation and development of an impulse to action is possible not only by replenishing the deficit of impulse (by connecting additional emotional experiences), but also by changing the meaning of the activity.

A change in the meaning of an activity usually occurs:

1) by reassessing the significance of the motive;

2) through changing the role, position of a person (instead of a subordinate, become a leader, instead of a taker, a giver, instead of a desperate person, a desperate one);

3) through the reformulation and implementation of meaning in the field of fantasy and imagination.

Volitional regulation in its most developed forms means connecting an insignificant or insignificant, but obligatory action to the semantic sphere of the individual. Volitional action means the transformation of pragmatic action into action due to its attachment to moral motives and values.

The problem of volitional regulation of personality is closely related to the question of volitional qualities of a person. Volitional qualities are understood as such features of a person’s volitional activity that contribute to overcoming external and internal difficulties and, under certain circumstances and conditions, manifest themselves as stable personality traits.

The most important volitional properties are purposefulness, perseverance, determination, initiative, courage, etc.

Determination is understood as a person’s ability to subordinate his actions to his goals. It manifests itself in the ability to be tolerant, i.e. resistant to possible obstacles, stress, unexpected turns of events when focusing on a specific goal.

Perseverance is the ability to mobilize to overcome difficulties, the ability to be strong, as well as reasonable and creative in difficult life situations.

Decisiveness is the ability to make and implement timely, informed and firm decisions.

Initiative is the ability to make independent decisions and implement them in activities, spontaneous expression of a person’s motives, desires and motives.

Volitional regulation is necessary in order to keep in the field of consciousness for a long time the object that a person is thinking about and to maintain attention concentrated on it. The will is involved in the regulation of almost all basic mental functions: sensations, perception, imagination, memory, thinking and speech. The development of these cognitive processes from lower to higher means that a person acquires volitional control over them.

Volitional action is always associated with the consciousness of the purpose of the activity, its significance, and the subordination of the actions performed to this purpose. Sometimes there is a need to give a special meaning to a goal, and in this case the participation of the will in the regulation of activity comes down to finding the appropriate meaning, the increased value of this activity. Otherwise, it is necessary to find additional incentives to carry out, to complete an already started activity, and then the volitional meaning-forming function is associated with the process of performing the activity. In the third case, the goal may be to teach something and actions associated with learning acquire a volitional character.

Volitional regulation can be included in activity at any of the stages of its implementation: initiation of activity, choice of means and methods of its implementation, adherence to the intended plan or deviation from it, control of execution. The peculiarity of the inclusion of volitional regulation at the initial moment of activity is that a person, consciously abandoning some drives, motives and goals, prefers others and implements them contrary to momentary, immediate impulses. Will in choosing an action is manifested in the fact that, having consciously abandoned the usual way of solving a problem, the individual chooses another, sometimes more difficult, and tries not to deviate from it. Finally, volitional regulation of control over the execution of an action consists in the fact that a person consciously forces himself to carefully check the correctness of the actions performed when there is almost no strength and desire left to do this. Particular difficulties in terms of volitional regulation are presented for a person by such activities where problems of volitional control arise throughout the entire path of the activity, from the very beginning to the end.

A typical case of the inclusion of will in the management of activity is a situation associated with the struggle of difficultly compatible motives, each of which requires the performance of different actions at the same moment in time. Then the consciousness and thinking of a person, being included in the volitional regulation of his behavior, look for additional incentives in order to make one of the drives stronger, to give it greater meaning in the current situation. Psychologically, this means an active search for connections between the goal and the activity being carried out with the highest spiritual values ​​of a person, consciously giving them much greater significance than they had at the beginning.

With the volitional regulation of behavior generated by actual needs, a special relationship develops between these needs and the human consciousness.

Knowledge of the mechanisms of volitional regulation and methods of developing will is necessary for every person striving for systematic and successful self-development and achieving life goals.

4 Development of will

The development of volitional regulation of behavior in humans occurs in several directions. On the one hand, this is the transformation of involuntary mental processes into voluntary ones, on the other hand, a person gains control over his behavior, and on the third, the development of volitional personality traits. All these processes ontogenetically begin from the moment in life when the child masters speech and learns to use it as an effective means of mental and behavioral self-regulation.

The development of will in a person is associated with:

a) with the transformation of involuntary mental processes into

arbitrary;

b) with a person acquiring control over his behavior;

c) with the development of volitional qualities of the individual;

d) with the fact that a person consciously sets himself more and more difficult tasks and pursues more and more distant goals that require significant volitional efforts over a long time.

Within each of these directions of development of the will, as it strengthens, its own specific transformations occur, gradually raising the process and mechanisms of volitional regulation to higher levels. For example, within cognitive processes, the will first appears in the form of external speech regulation and only then in terms of the intra-speech process. In the behavioral aspect, volitional control first concerns voluntary movements of individual parts of the body, and subsequently - planning and control of complex sets of movements, including inhibition of some and activation of other muscle complexes. In the field of formation of volitional qualities of a person, the development of will can be represented as a movement from primary to secondary and then to tertiary volitional qualities.

Another direction in the development of the will is manifested in the fact that a person consciously sets himself more and more difficult tasks and pursues more and more distant goals that require the application of significant volitional efforts for quite a long time. For example, a schoolchild, while still in adolescence, may set himself the task of developing abilities for which he does not have clear natural inclinations. At the same time, he can set himself the goal of engaging in a complex and prestigious activity in the future, the successful implementation of which requires such abilities. There are many life examples of how people who became famous scientists, artists, writers achieved their goals without having good inclinations, mainly due to increased efficiency and will.

The development of will in children is closely correlated with the enrichment of their motivational and moral sphere. The inclusion of higher motives and values ​​in the regulation of activity, increasing their status in the general hierarchy of incentives that govern activity, the ability to highlight and evaluate the moral side of performed actions - all these are important points in the education of will in children. The motivation for an act, which includes volitional regulation, becomes conscious, and the act itself becomes voluntary. Such an action is always performed on the basis of an arbitrarily constructed hierarchy of motives, where the top level is occupied by a highly moral motivation, which gives moral satisfaction to a person if the activity is successful. A good example of such activity is extra-standard activity associated with the highest moral values, performed on a voluntary basis and aimed at benefiting people.

Improving the volitional regulation of behavior in children is associated with their general intellectual development, with the emergence of motivational and personal reflection. Therefore, it is almost impossible to cultivate a child’s will in isolation from his general psychological development. Otherwise, instead of will and perseverance as undoubtedly positive and valuable personal qualities, their antipodes may arise and take hold: stubbornness and rigidity.

Games play a special role in the development of will in children in all of these areas, and each type of play activity makes its own specific contribution to the improvement of the volitional process. Constructive object-based games, which appear first in a child’s age-related development, contribute to the accelerated formation of voluntary regulation of actions. Role-playing games lead to the consolidation of the necessary volitional personality traits in the child. In addition to this task, collective games with rules solve another problem: strengthening the self-regulation of actions. Learning, which appears in the last years of preschool childhood and turns into a leading activity in school, makes the greatest contribution to the development of voluntary self-regulation of cognitive processes.

Bibliography

1. Rubinshtein S.L. Fundamentals of general psychology: In 2 vols. - M, 1989. - T. II. - P. 187.

2. Nikolaenko V.M. Psychology and pedagogy: textbook. – 2000

3. Radugin A.A. Psychology and pedagogy: textbook. – M. 2002 – 257s.

4. Lukovtseva A.K. Psychology and pedagogy. Lecture course: textbook for university students. – M.: KDU, 2008. – P.192.

What are the main signs of volitional behavior?

These features can be deduced from the above-mentioned, multi-faceted descriptive definition of will. Volitional behavior is a person's behavior that:

• consciously controlled by the person himself;
• is goal-oriented;
• associated with decision making;
• correlates with the struggle of equivalent motives, which by themselves are not able to give rise to uniquely purposeful behavior;
• involves the application of internal efforts to implement it, that is, to overcome obstacles that arise on the way to the goal.

These five characteristics distinguish volitional behavior from weak-willed behavior - behavior in which the will does not take an active part in the management.

The presence of any of these signs is sufficient for the corresponding human behavior to be called volitional.

The absence of all five signs means that we are dealing with weak-willed behavior. In all other cases, we are talking about the partial participation of the will in the regulation of behavior. There are quite a lot of examples of such behavior, in the regulation of which the will does not take part. These are all types of behavior performed, for example, on an unconscious level. These include involuntary actions and automatic reactions of a person to any internal impulses or external influences. This is also the behavior of a person under the influence of hallucinations, in a state of delirium, under the influence of hypnosis, in a dream or in a half-asleep state. The vast majority of cases associated with automatic mental regulation of organic processes also relate to weak-willed behavior.

In general, a person is characterized by a combination of strong-willed and weak-willed behavior. Volitional behavior in activity prevails when what a person is doing at the moment has special meaning for him or when intractable obstacles arise on the path of purposeful activity that need to be understood, realized, and a reasonable decision made regarding how to act in the current situation.

When we use the concept of “will,” we use it to characterize not only a person’s behavior, but also him as a person.For example, we say: “This person is certainly strong-willed, and that person is probably weak-willed.”

Using statements of this kind, we mean that people may or may not have certain special personality qualities, which are called strong-willed. Such qualities really exist. They can be defined as properties of a person’s character in which his will is manifested. These properties include, for example, stubbornness, perseverance, determination, perseverance, responsibility, commitment, diligence and a number of other personal properties. Familiarization with the list of such properties shows that a person as an individual can be assessed differently from the point of view of the level of development of these properties. For example, such volitional properties as stubbornness and perseverance characterize a person as a not very highly developed personality, while determination and responsibility, on the contrary, represent a person as a highly developed personality. It follows that as a person develops, his volitional qualities also improve..

How are the volitional qualities of a person formed and developed?

Before answering this question, let us reformulate it as follows: how does the will of a person as a whole develop and, together with it, his individual volitional qualities? Observations of the behavior of children show that the first clear signs of the manifestation of volitional behavior in them can be found between the second and third years of life. This means that it is during this period that children already have will and can demonstrate it. It can be assumed that the beginning of the formation of will dates back to the time when the child appears the first persistent actions aimed at overcoming obstacles, reinforced by adults watching the children. This usually happens between the first and second years of a child's life. A sign that the child is beginning to develop his own will and the associated pleasure appears in connection with successfully overcoming an obstacle is the child’s independent repetition of actions that were not entirely successful in achieving the goal. This behavior can be observed in some children starting at about 6-8 months. For example, a baby is trying to reach an object or toy. He does not immediately succeed in this, but he persistently repeats the corresponding action until it leads to success, and after that he experiences obvious pleasure.

The first signs of volitional behavior observed in children, dating back to the second or third year of life, indicate that the children have developed so-called primary volitional qualities. In this case we are talking, for example, about such qualities as perseverance and stubbornness, that is, about qualities that characterize a relatively low level of volitional development of a person. We can probably talk about the beginning of the formation of secondary volitional personality traits only from the time when the child’s volitional behavior acquires a rational and conscious character. This usually occurs during the period of life from 5 to 6 years or earlier in pre-preschool age. At this time, many children, in the types of activities available to them - games, and also, partly, in communication, learning and work, begin to manifest persistence, determination, responsibility, that is, the actual secondary volitional qualities of the individual. The human will actively continues to develop further during childhood. The teenage period is especially important in this regard, since for many teenagers willpower becomes one of the most valuable personality traits and almost all children of this age begin to purposefully and actively develop their will.

By the end of adolescence and the beginning of adolescence, the basic volitional qualities of a person can be considered formed. In practice this means the following. Firstly, if by this age a person’s will has been developed, then he can independently manifest it in all matters that he undertakes. Secondly, if a person lacks will, then after this age it is already difficult to fight this deficiency. Thirdly, teenagers who have a will usually begin from this age to develop personally faster than teenagers who grew up weak-willed. Beyond adolescence, that is, after 25-30 years, the will, apparently, no longer develops in a person. If by this age a person has already become strong-willed, then he will most likely remain so; if by this age he has become weak-willed, then, most likely, he will remain so in the future.

What has been said, however, does not mean that the will of a person after the specified age and as his psychological development (it undoubtedly continues) does not change at all. Those changes of a volitional nature that can occur, and sometimes actually occur, after 25-30 years, are manifested in the fact that a person’s volitional behavior becomes more and more reasonable, conscious and balanced. Before putting volitional effort into something, a person thinks, weighs his chances, decides for himself whether it is worth doing something that requires volitional effort from him or not, and if after much thought he comes to the conclusion that it is It’s worth doing, only then does it begin to show its will. In other words, the will of a person, as he develops psychologically, ceases to be a blind, unreasonable force and becomes a conscious aid to his reason.

When explaining, predicting and controlling an employee’s actions, special significance is assigned to his will. It often happens that when an employee makes a decision and understands the need to act, he is in no hurry to implement it. For example, having received a task and realizing that he needs to start working, he does not immediately start work and spends at least a few minutes in the smoking room. Psychologists have long tried to explain why people sometimes do nothing to implement their plans, decisions, and sometimes even satisfy their deeply felt interests.

When workers of equal knowledge and skill, holding similar beliefs and outlooks on life, approach the task before them with varying degrees of determination and intensity, or when, when faced with difficulties, some of them stop acting and others act with renewed energy, these the phenomena are associated with manifestations of such a feature of the psyche as will.

Will is a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome internal and external difficulties when performing purposeful actions and deeds.

The task of the will is to control human behavior, consciously regulate activity, especially in cases where obstacles to normal life activities arise. This regulation is based on the interaction of the processes of excitation and inhibition of the nervous system. In accordance with this, in the above task two main actions can be distinguished - activation and inhibition. The first is sometimes also called “incentive” or “stimulating”.

Will is one of the main indicators of an individual’s competitiveness, without which no career can take place. Research has confirmed that it has psychological, managerial, legal, sociological, physiological foundations, i.e. will can be analyzed using integrative-technological and subject-activity approaches. This makes it possible to consider will from two sides: as a problem of self-determination (motivational, “free choice” approaches) and as a problem of self-regulation (regulatory approach) of the subject of activity. A specific feature of volitional behavior is that a person internally experiences a state "I should" and not "I Want". Of course, there are cases of coincidence of volitional and impulsive behavior: “I want to do my duty.” Therefore, figuratively speaking, human life is a constant struggle between volitional and habitual, everyday behavior. In contrast to involuntary, volitional conscious actions, which are more characteristic of human behavior, are always aimed at achieving a set goal (Fig. 12).

Rice. 12.

Exactly conscious purposefulness of action characterizes volitional behavior. However, since not every goal can be achieved immediately, achieving it will require going through a number of stages. Thus, volitional actions can be quite complex, consisting of many simpler ones, and can include as separate links such movements that have become automated and have lost their initially conscious character.

Some volitional actions are so complex nature, which can only be completed within for a long time. Thus, climbers who decide to conquer a mountain peak begin their preparation long before the ascent. This includes training, inspection of equipment, adjustment of fastenings, choice of route, etc. But the main difficulties await them ahead when they begin their ascent. Often the way back is no less difficult. Another important sign of volitional behavior is that it manifests itself when overcoming obstacles, internal or external. Internal, subjective, obstacles are caused by the behavior of a person performing volitional actions and can be caused by fatigue, the desire to have fun, fear, shame, false pride, inertia, simply laziness, etc. (Fig. 13).

Rice. 13.

An example of external obstacles can be various obstacles that are regarded as barriers standing in the way of achieving the goal. However, not any action aimed at overcoming an obstacle is called volitional. Thus, a teenager running away from a dog can overcome very difficult terrain and even climb a tall tree, but no one will call his actions strong-willed.

The most important role in overcoming difficulties on the way to achieving a goal is played by awareness of its significance, and at the same time awareness of one’s duty as an individual. The more significant a goal is for a person, the more obstacles and hardships he is ready to overcome. In some cases, achieving a goal turns out to be more expensive than life, and then volitional actions can even lead to the death of a person in the workplace.

The variety of all situations that require urgent and volitional regulation (overcoming obstacles, focusing action on the future, conflict of motives, conflict between the requirement to obey social norms and a person’s desire, etc.) can be reduced to the following realities, which are based on the need :

• - replenishing the lack of motivation to act in the absence of sufficient motivation;
• - choice of motives, goals, types of action in case of their conflict;
• - suppression of interfering impulses that are caused by involuntarily provoked needs;
• - voluntary regulation of external and internal actions and mental processes.

Volitional actions vary in their complexity. In the case when the employee clearly sees his goal, immediately, directly proceeds to action and does not need to go beyond the current situation, they speak of a simple act of will. Complex volitional action presupposes that additional links are wedged between motivation and direct action. Obtaining an education can be considered a complex volitional action: after all, before receiving a diploma, it is necessary to go to a university every day for five to six years, prepare for classes, write essays and tests, and pass exams. The main moments or phases of a complex volitional process are: the emergence of motivation; modeling situations; struggle of motives; goal setting; decision-making; execution.

At the first stage of development of complex volitional action in humans there is an urge which leads to his understanding of what he wants, to an awareness of the goal. Of course, not every impulse is of a conscious nature, such as the fairy-tale task: “Go there, I don’t know where, bring that, I don’t know what.” Depending on how conscious a particular need is, the cause of the impulse may be attraction or desire. If only dissatisfaction with the current situation is realized and at the same time the need itself is not recognized clearly enough, i.e. a person does not imagine the way and means to achieve a goal, then the motive of activity is attraction. Attraction usually vaguely, unclear: a person understands that he is missing something or that he needs something, but he does not know what exactly. Usually people experience attraction as a specific painful state in the form of boredom, melancholy, and uncertainty. In such cases they say: “He himself does not know what he needs.”

Attraction is the most primitive biological form of personality activation, since in this case the need is unconscious. Attraction is fickle and changeable. For a need to be translated into action, a person must somehow feel and recognize it. It's not always that simple. Sometimes the most pressing need remains “unrecognized”, although easily achievable if desired.

Because of its uncertainty, attraction cannot develop into activity. A person does not understand what he needs and how to achieve it. Therefore, attraction is a transitory phenomenon, and the need represented in it either fades away or is realized, turning into a specific desire, intention, dream, etc.

However, wishing does not mean acting. Reflecting the content of the need, desire does not contain an active element. Wish- it is rather the knowledge of what motivates action. Before a desire turns into a direct motive for behavior, and then into a goal, it is assessed by a person who weighs and compares all the conditions that help and hinder its implementation. Desire, as a motive for activity, is characterized by a clear awareness of the reasons that gave rise to it. Having a high motivating force, desire sharpens awareness of the goal of a future action and forces one to make plans to achieve it. At the same time, possible ways and means of achieving the goal are also realized. Strong desires develop into constant attraction to an object, i.e. become an aspiration. This is another conscious component of motivation.

Pursuit is closely related to the volitional component. It manifests itself in the fact that a person is able to overcome all obstacles, difficulties, and adversities on the way to the object of need. Aspiration is inseparable from feelings that signal whether a goal has been achieved, causing a person to feel pleasure or displeasure. Thus, the desire inherent in the organism (which has the meaning of a motive that prompts the organism to act) turns out to be inextricably linked with the feelings experienced.

However, not all aspirations and desires are immediately realized. A person may have several uncoordinated and even contradictory desires at the same time, and he will find himself in a difficult situation, not knowing which one to realize first. As a result, each desire seems to strive to subjugate all the others, to take first place among all human needs. This condition is called struggle of motives. The struggle of motives is a broad mental discussion by a person of those reasons that speak about all the pros and cons of actions in one direction or another; their internal discussion of exactly how to act. A person tries to explain to himself which desire should be realized first. The struggle of motives is often accompanied by significant internal tension and represents the experience of a deep internal conflict between the arguments of reason and feelings, personal motives and social interests, between “I want” and “should”, etc.

In traditional psychology, the struggle of motives and the subsequent decision that a person makes was considered as the main link, the core of the act of will. At the same time, both the internal struggle and the conflict that a person seems to experience with his own, divided soul, and the way out of it in the form of an internal decision, were opposed to fulfillment. Thus, the activity itself, the achievement of the goal itself, acted as a secondary component of the volitional act. To be fair, we also note the opposite trend, when scientists strive to completely exclude from volitional action the internal work of consciousness associated with choice, deliberation and evaluation. Separating motivation from the volitional act itself, they turn it into pure impulsiveness and deprive it of conscious control.

There is an internal and external “struggle of motives”. Internal the struggle of motives includes deliberation of actions, discussion of the upcoming action, although sometimes after choosing actions people act as they must, and is an internal struggle, or a personality conflict: a person thinks hard when it is difficult to make a decision, comparing different motives, he fights with himself. External the struggle of motives can manifest itself in labor, scientific and other groups when different points of view, scientific interests, etc. collide.

When there is a “struggle of motives,” an employee can choose different ways to solve his problems: to act or not to act, to lie or not, which corresponds to the internal motivational conflict resolved within the framework of the dilemma: pursuit - avoidance. When a choice is made, there is a desire to justify one’s choice (a state of cognitive dissonance): highlighting the positive in the chosen way of satisfying the need and the negative in the rejected one.

In reality, the struggle of motives as a link constituting an act of will cannot be discarded, just as it cannot be considered the most important. A truly volitional action is an independent, selective act, including conscious choice and decision. Delaying action in order to think about and discuss the consequences of a decision is as essential to the act of will as the motivation for it. Here the volitional process includes the intellectual, thinking process. Mental situation modeling discovers that a desire generated by one need or a certain interest can only be realized at the expense of another desire. Moreover, sometimes a desirable action itself can lead to undesirable consequences.

W. James, describing the complexities of the decision-making process, noted that delays in action due to indecision can last weeks, even months: “Motives for action, which only yesterday seemed so bright and convincing, today already seem pale, devoid of liveliness. But neither today nor tomorrow the action is performed by us. Something tells us that all this is not decisive. This oscillation between two possible future alternatives resembles the oscillation of a pendulum... Until the dam is broken and a decision is made.”

Decision making is the final moment of the struggle of motives: a person decides to act in a certain direction, giving preference to some goals and motives and rejecting others. Here he often says to himself: “I’ll do this, and then come what may.” When making a decision, a person feels that the further course of events depends on him, and this gives rise to a sense of responsibility specific to an act of will. Considering the decision-making process, W. James identified several types of determination.

• 1. Intelligent Determination It manifests itself when opposing motives begin to gradually fade away, leaving room for one solution, one alternative, which is perceived calmly, without any effort. The transition from doubt to confidence is experienced completely passively, without emotion, and it seems to the person that reasonable grounds for action follow naturally from the essence of the matter. This is what fashion mechanisms are based on.
• 2. In cases where hesitation and indecision have gone on for too long, a moment may come when a person is more likely to make a bad decision than not to make any. At the same time, there is often some accidental circumstance upsets the balance by giving one prospect an advantage over others, and the person deliberately submits to fate. Thus, an employee who does not accurately understand what management wants from him chooses the solution that seemed to him the most correct of all known, although this may not correspond to reality.
• 3. In some cases, in the absence of real solutions to get out of a difficult situation, wanting to avoid the unpleasant feeling of indecision, a person begins to act automatically, just striving to move forward. What happens next does not concern him at the moment. This type of determination is characteristic of individuals with a vigorous desire for activity and a strong emotional temperament. It was about such a person that witnesses spoke about an incident when in winter one of the cars fell into a river ravine, and the driver tried to turn the flow back by throwing stone blocks into the water and digging a new stream bed. Although in this situation it would be more effective to leave the car for a while and try to find a tractor or some other means that would pull the car out of the water.
• 4. It is also possible to stop internal vibrations change in the intrinsic value of the incentive. This type of determination includes all cases of moral regeneration, awakening of conscience, etc. A person experiences an internal turning point and immediately becomes determined to act in a certain direction. Such degenerations are described in sufficient detail in the literature. Just remember the painful thoughts of Andrei Bolkonsky from War and Peace.
• 5. Sometimes, without rational grounds, a person considers a completely specific course of action more preferable. With the help of his will he strengthens the motive, which by itself could not subjugate the others. Unlike the first case, the functions of the mind here are performed by the will.

Thus, it becomes clear that the decision-making process is quite complex, and the internal tension accompanying it can gradually increase. As a result, an employee can walk around all day long, immersed in himself, thinking about how best to act, which path to choose. During the struggle of motives the goal is formalized activity, its main specificity is comprehended. After a decision is made, he experiences a certain relief. This is due to the fact that our thinking switches to something else - now it thinks about how to accomplish what is planned, the struggle of motives stops and, accordingly, the internal tension caused by this struggle begins to decrease.

After making a decision it is necessary choose funds for its implementation. However, as you know, goals can be achieved in different ways. It is unlikely that we should adhere to the motto that came to us from the Middle Ages: “The end justifies the means.” There are easy ways, but not entirely honest, and there are difficult ones, but worthy and humane. Therefore, we can say that a person is characterized not only by the goals themselves, but also by the means that he uses to achieve the goal. Let's imagine that someone decided to become a “progress worker.” And here you can look for both easy ways: attribution, causing harm to others, “illness” during unprofitable work, etc., and more difficult ones: read a lot of specialized literature, develop professional skills, consult with mentors, etc. In addition, decision-making can have a dual expression in a person’s life. In some cases it manifests itself in external action (for example, winning a professional skill competition), and in others it consists in abstaining from external action. This manifestation is usually called an internal volitional action (for example, a professional decides that his career is successful even without participating in a competition).

However, making a decision does not mean implementing it. Sometimes the intention cannot be realized, and the work begun is not completed. The essence of volitional action lies, of course, not in the struggle of motives and not in making a decision, but in its execution. Only those who know how to carry out their decisions can be considered a person with a sufficiently strong will. Indeed, no matter how much a person suffers when making the most difficult decision, no matter how correct this decision may be, we will not consider him a person with a strong will until this decision is carried out. And vice versa, those who, even perhaps carrying out someone else’s decision, often sacrificing themselves, strive for the goal, we call strong-willed people.

Self execution of volitional action also has a complex internal structure. The actual execution of the decision is usually associated with one or another time period. If the execution of a decision is postponed for a long period of time, then they speak of intention. Intention- this is the internal preparation of future action and represents the desire to achieve a goal. So, for example, a young specialist may decide (intention) to work from the new year without marriage. However, intention alone is not enough to perform a volitional action. This will require the introduction of strict self-control, discipline, advanced training, etc.

As in any other action, at the execution stage it is also possible to distinguish planning stage ways to achieve the task.

Planning is a complex mental activity. During it, the employee looks for the most rational methods and available means to quickly reach the decision made. The plan can be presented with varying degrees of detail and different details. Some people are characterized by the desire to foresee everything, to plan every step, while others are content with the most general scheme or vague ideas. Usually, a plan for immediate actions is developed in more detail, while the execution of distant actions is outlined more schematically or even vaguely.

A planned action is not implemented automatically: in order for a decision to turn into action, you need to force yourself to do it, i.e. make a volitional effort (Fig. 14). Volitional effort is experienced as conscious tension that finds release in volitional action. Currently, volitional effort is understood as a form of emotional stress that helps a person overcome difficulties. The task of volitional effort is to mobilize a person’s internal resources and create additional motives for action, to achieve a goal.

Rice. 14.

Volitional effort is characterized by the amount of energy spent on performing a purposeful action or refraining from unwanted actions. Volitional effort permeates all links of the volitional act (Fig. 15), starting from awareness of the goal and ending with the execution of the decision. At the executive level, when a person overcomes not only internal, but also external difficulties, it becomes more accessible to observation.

Rice. 15.

Volitional effort is qualitatively different from muscular effort. In volitional efforts, movements are often minimal, but internal tension can be enormous and even destructive for the body. Of course, it cannot be said that muscular effort is absolutely absent - a person can tense his facial muscles, clench his fists, etc., but it is qualitatively different from the content of volitional effort. Studies have found that the intensity of volitional effort depends on the following factors:

• 1) the worldview of the individual;
• 2) moral stability of the individual;
• 3) the degree of social significance of the goals set;
• 4) attitudes towards activities;
• 5) the level of self-government and self-organization of the individual.

According to D. Herbert and L. Rosenstiel, the problem of the relationship between will and motive has long been of interest to psychologists. But then he “fell into oblivion” and was not returned to for several decades. This topic was again raised by the works of H. Heckhausen, arousing general interest in it both in labor psychology and in organizational psychology. X. Heckhausen’s model of action “Rubicon” (Fig. 16) is especially famous here.

Rice. 16.

Initiation of action in the “Rubicon model” occurs on the border of the preactional and actional phases of the volitional act. This phase is characterized by goal-oriented action. Actions leading to the goal will be implemented as soon as a suitable opportunity presents itself. Once the action begins, all attention is directed toward achieving the desired result.

Thus, the “Rubicon model” includes the motivational phase of choice at the beginning and evaluation at the end of actions, as well as the volitional phase of goal setting and execution of actions. In the choice phase, a person “weighs” different options for action. At the time when an intention is formed, a person focuses all his attention on one (preferred) alternative. An act of will stimulates a person to “cross the Rubicon,” which no longer implies a return to the old ways. A person, relying on the will, which, for example, “protects” intentional action from external “temptations” and “distracting” thoughts, sets a goal (the process of setting goals). Then again follows the motivational evaluation phase, where the person compares the outcome of the actions with the expected results of alternative actions that he, however, did not choose.

This point of view allows us to distinguish two approaches: procedural and conflict-oriented. The phase model of action, as a rule, assumes a process approach. Before taking action, a person impartially (objectively and openly) “weighs” alternatives to action. And when developing an intention, he analyzes the information biasedly (subjectively). This especially concerns the desirability and feasibility of the chosen goal. In contrast, conflict-focused approaches are based on the assumption that motivation and volition are complementary regulatory processes. In this sense, motivation may already be necessary in the selection phase. And in a situation where the requirements are fully consistent with the competencies and inclinations of the person, this primary motivation may be sufficient to perform actions (for example, with the so-called /Zoiv-effect).

American psychologist Ker tried to combine these two approaches - procedural and conflict-oriented. He took into account well-tested phenomena. Namely: in the process of forming intentions and performing actions, conflicts may arise between actions, to overcome which the will is involved. Thus, Ker integrated both approaches and developed his conflict-oriented process model (Table 3).

A detailed analysis of existing and her own empirical studies allowed Ker to show that in reality there are not only motivation for selection and a volitional act of implementation (as suggested by the phase model of actions), but also motivation and a volitional act of selection and implementation. This is of particular importance for organizational psychology, as it confirms that initiating employee actions and developing personnel involves reinforcing motivation and will.

Table 3

Process model of interaction between motivation and will (according to Kehr)

However, just understanding the significance of the action being performed or its compliance with moral principles is not enough to make a person struggle with difficulties. In order for understanding to give rise to a desire that suppresses and subordinates many other desires, it must be supported by acute experiences; internal necessity to do so. This is clearly illustrated by the sense of duty. A sense of duty is an expression of the fact that moral phenomena have been assimilated, accepted and become the property of the individual. After this, a sense of duty becomes an internal motivation, a person’s internal compass for behavior in any situation where a struggle arises between selfish aspirations and public interests.

A person often, through volitional efforts, has to overcome, weaken and suppress his involuntary actions, fight ingrained habits, and break existing stereotypes.

Corinne Sweet describes habitual actions or addictions as features of involuntary behavior as follows.

• 1. You are not in control This, quicker This controls you. You feel like you have no choice but to do This, take This, do as required This. As soon as a bad habit forms, you immediately fall under its power.
• 2. This habit becomes so ingrained in your life that it becomes invisible to you. People around perceive This like your defensiveness, irritability, isolation, etc.
• 3. You do This more and more often, trying to cause a stronger impact.
• 4. You start doing it regularly. This, when you anticipate unpleasant sensations such as boredom, loneliness, physical pain, etc.
• 5. You feel like you can no longer cope with your life's problems without help. this.
• 6. You may spend a significant portion of your life fighting this(even This it hooked you lightly).
• 7. You can waste precious soul energy by suffering from this and unsuccessfully trying to get rid of this.
• 8. On This part of your money, your time, your energy is wasted to the detriment of something more useful, as a result you hate yourself even more for these pointless expenses.
• 9. You lose self-esteem, mental strength, there is a threat of destruction of your entire way of life (family, career, friends), physical and mental health.

Only you yourself can help get rid of this, but only if you yourself are interested in this. If someone else pushes you, then, apart from resistance, conflicts, the desire to take revenge on everyone, you are unlikely to achieve anything. Even if you understand that you are cared for, such care can cause fear of loss of freedom. At the same time, manifestations of involuntary activity often have the opposite direction in relation to the chosen volitional action.

The feeling of effort on oneself is especially acute when it is necessary to implement some rare, ideal motives, when it is necessary to overcome more familiar motives, actions of an impulsive nature.

According to W. James, in these cases it seems to a person that the action is being performed along the line of greatest resistance, although he could direct it along the line of least resistance. Therefore, moral people are often proud of victories over their nature. On the contrary, the one who gives himself over to sensual pleasures or natural inclinations never says that he has conquered his ideal aspirations. Thus, lazy people do not say that they resisted their hard work, alcoholics do not say that they struggled with sobriety, etc. Here it is probably easy to detect the influence of personal orientation and the significance of values, because it is just as difficult for an intelligent person to offend someone as it is for an ignorant person not to do so.

With the help of volitional effort, a person does not destroy his habits or other forms of involuntary activity, but only changes their form or suppresses their external manifestation. Therefore, will is also a person’s power over himself, his aspirations, feelings, passions. Will is a person’s ability to control himself, to consciously regulate his behavior and activities.

Emotional-volitional self-regulation is widely known under the term “self-control”. This level of mental regulation usually includes a complex of human properties, characteristics and capabilities that are realized with the participation of volitional processes. A person’s ability to restrain emotions and control oneself in extreme situations is traditionally considered as a manifestation of will. Self-control can be characterized as a person’s ability to control himself, his actions and deeds, experiences and feelings, the ability to consciously maintain and regulate his well-being and behavior in extreme situations. Self-control regulates the balance of the emotional and volitional components of the psyche with the dominance of the will over emotions, taken regardless of the time factor. In this case, the volitional component includes actions associated with pronounced internal mental efforts when performing them. Internal regulation of mental processes and states characterizes the subject’s ability to modify and restore its structure and functions in accordance with the requirements of the situation.

Self-control indicates a person’s ability to psychologically adapt and assumes that he has mastered the techniques of self-control, self-regulation, and self-influence. Self-control manifests the conscious-volitional organization of all mental processes that regulate activity through latent functions of the psyche, especially in disorganizing situations or extreme conditions. Self-control is not an innate quality and becomes personal as a result of self-organization and self-government, without which there cannot be a psychologically competent organization of life in general, especially professional activity.

Strong-willed qualities usually include energy, endurance, perseverance, patience, courage, and determination. The absence of these qualities is traditionally seen as an indicator of weak will. The formation of volitional qualities presupposes that the individual has developed such properties as self-confidence, adequacy of the level of aspirations and self-esteem. Demonstration of strong-willed qualities does not always indicate competitiveness. For example, perseverance, on the one hand, can be associated with a strong and stable motive, with self-confidence, on the other hand, it can be demonstrated with the specific purpose of avoiding low evaluation and self-esteem and manifest itself as a psychological defense mechanism.

In the course of pursuing a goal, i.e. in the process of the volitional action itself, and especially after execution, its evaluation follows. Actions can be assessed from different points of view. The most common are socio-political, moral, and aesthetic assessments. But often an assessment can include a generalized integrated attitude towards an action.

The assessment reflects not only a personal attitude, but also the attitude of those closest and most significant to this action, i.e. referent for the personality of people. Indeed, when performing any action, we always internally assume how people close to us will react to it: friends, parents, teachers, etc. It is this assessment that is most capable of influencing our behavior. Therefore, group assessment or the group's attitude towards an individual is considered a powerful tool for changing his behavior. Evaluation of an action represents judgments approving, justifying or blaming, condemning decision making and actions taken. Evaluation is accompanied by special emotional experiences of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the completed action. A negative attitude towards the action performed is often accompanied by regret about the action taken, the experience of shame, and repentance.

A person’s ability to consciously choose a volitional or alternative action, target motivation, volitional regulation of actions, states, mental processes is highly significant for many types of professional activity and socially active behavior, especially for the activities of managers.

Will- conscious self-regulation of behavior, manifested in the deliberate mobilization of behavioral activity to achieve goals recognized by the subject as a necessity and opportunity, a person’s ability to self-determination, self-mobilization and self-regulation.

Volitional regulation of behavior.

Will is an active function of the mind, a socially mediated mechanism for regulating human behavior - the incentive to volitional actions is carried out on the basis of socially formed concepts and ideas. The emergence of will is initially associated with the child’s communication with an adult. As noted by L.S. Vygotsky, at first the adult gives an order (“take the ball”, “take the cup”) and the child acts according to the external order. As the child masters speech, he begins to give himself speech commands. Thus, a function previously divided between people becomes a way of self-organization of the voluntary behavior of an individual.

In contrast to impulsive reactions, volitional behavior is determined by an internal plan of action, a conscious choice of goals and means of activity, taking into account the conditions necessary to achieve the planned result, and a proactive reflection of reality. The ability to control one’s behavior is formed in the process of social communication through the mastery of socially formed signs - concepts (“artificial means of behavior”). Volitional regulation of behavior is associated with the formation of higher mental functions - voluntary attention, memory, productive thinking, creative imagination.

Volitional action- action oriented to the future, emancipated (as opposed to emotions) from the current situation. “...Man is little by little emancipated in his actions from the direct influences of the material environment; the basis of action is no longer based on sensual impulses alone, but on thought and moral feeling; The action itself receives a certain meaning through this and becomes an action.”

Volitional regulation is determined by the objective conditions of activity, the natural development of events, and a person’s understanding of the necessity of his behavior. In an act of will, current emotions are suppressed—a person exercises power over himself. And the measure of this power depends both on his consciousness and on the system of his psychoregulatory qualities.

The most important manifestation of will is the individual’s ability to make volitional efforts, prolonged volitional tension. But the will is not associated only with the suppression of emotions. The very image of the desired future result is emotionally charged. Will, as a conscious regulation of life, has a specific energy source - a sense of socially responsible behavior.
A highly moral person, as a rule, has a strong will. But not every strong-willed person is moral. Certain volitional qualities can be inherent in both an altruist and an egoist, a law-abiding person and a criminal. But the higher a person’s behavior is regulated by moral Values, the higher the internal consistency of his behavior and, consequently, his volitional self-regulation.

In cases of desocialization of a person, his individual needs are separated from the needs of society, the individual becomes a victim of his immediate drives. Such behavior becomes tragic - it separates a person from humanity. To be human means to be socially responsible. The further the socially necessary is removed from the actually experienced needs, the greater the volitional effort required for its implementation and the greater the importance of the basic social values ​​included in the superconsciousness of the individual, forming the semantic context of his behavior.

Each volitional act is accompanied by a certain measure of volitional efforts to overcome external and internal obstacles.

Difficulties in achieving a goal can be objective and subjective. The degree of volitional effort may sometimes not correspond to the objective difficulty. Thus, a shy person expends considerable effort when speaking at a meeting, while for another person this is not associated with much stress. The ability to exert volition depends to some extent on the strength, mobility and balance of nervous processes. But basically this ability depends on a person’s development of the skill of subordinating his behavior to objective necessity.

A socialized personality anticipates and emotionally experiences an assessment of his possible behavior. This influences the self-determination of her behavior. Insufficient development of an individual's anticipatory and evaluative activity is one of the factors of his maladaptive (not adapted to the environment) behavior.

The volitional activity of a subject leading to socially significant results is called act. A person is responsible for his actions, even those that go beyond his intentions. (Hence, in jurisprudence, there are two forms of guilt - in the form of intent and negligence.)

Persistent and systematic overcoming of difficulties in achieving goals approved by society, completing the work begun at all costs, avoiding the slightest lack of will, irresponsibility - this is the way to form and strengthen the will.

Volitional regulation of activity represents a certain dynamics of mental states. In some people, various mental states are more stable, while in others they are less stable. Thus, a stable state of initiative and determination can be combined with a less stable state of perseverance. All volitional states are interconnected with the corresponding volitional qualities of the individual. Long-term experience of being in certain volitional states leads to the formation of corresponding personality qualities, which then themselves influence volitional states.

So, human behavior is not determined by instinctive impulses, but is mediated by the consciousness of the individual, his value orientation. The will of the individual systematically organizes all the mental processes of the individual, transforming them into appropriate volitional states that ensure the achievement of set goals. Will, as a socially conditioned mental formation, is formed in social practice, work activity, and in interaction with people. It is laid down in conditions of systematic social control over socially significant behavior of the individual. Formation of will- this is the transition of external social control into internal self-control of the individual.

Neurophysiological foundations of will.

I.P. Pavlov noted that volitional actions are the result of the total work of the entire brain. The physiological mechanisms of volitional regulation of activity are not localized in any individual brain structures. They are complex functional systems. The acceptor (“permit”) of a person’s actions functions in his conceptual sphere. The neurophysiological basis of will is the systemic work of the entire brain, but the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex are of central importance in this system.

As already noted, three main functional blocks can be distinguished in the human brain, the joint work of which underlies conscious activity:

• a block that regulates brain tone and its waking state (reticular formation and other subcortical formations);
• the block for receiving, processing and storing information - the main apparatus of cognitive processes (posterior and parietal parts of the cortex);
• block of programming, regulation and control of mental activity (frontal lobes of the cortex).

The frontal lobes of the cortex carry out the functions of synthesizing external stimuli, preparing an action, forming its program, controlling the process of performing an action and evaluating its final result. Disruption of the frontal lobes of the brain causes disorganization of conscious behavior, pathological lack of will - abulia.

Components of volitional regulation of behavior.

Activity occurs in the form of a system of actions. Action is a structural unit of activity. A distinction is made between mental, perceptual, mental, mnemonic and external, practical actions. In each action it is possible to distinguish approximate, executive And control part.

Every action is performed to achieve a specific goal. Target- a mental image of the future result of an action or activity as a whole. The goals of the activity determine the nature and sequence of actions, and the specific conditions of action determine the nature and sequence of operations. Operation- a structural unit of action. In complex activities, individual actions serve as operations. The purpose of an activity sets its general direction. The specific conditions of activity determine the ways of implementing individual actions, the choice of means and instruments of action.

When starting a certain activity, a person makes a preliminary orientation in the conditions of the activity, examines the situation in order to develop a plan of action. At the same time, the relationships between the elements of the situation, their meaning, and the possibilities of combination to achieve the goal are established.

The system of an individual’s ideas about a goal, the procedure for achieving it and the means necessary for this is called indicative basis for action. The effectiveness of human activity depends on the content of its indicative basis. The success of the activity is ensured only by a complete indicative basis, which is specially formed during the training of the individual.

When implementing an activity, the subject interacts with the objective world - the objective situation is transformed, certain intermediate results are achieved, the significance of which is subject to emotional and logical assessment. Each operation in the action structure is determined by the conditions of the situation, as well as the skills of the subject of the activity.

Skill- a method of performing an action mastered by a subject, based on the totality of his knowledge and skills. The skill is realized both in usual and in changed conditions of activity.

Skill- a stereotypical way of performing individual actions and operations, formed as a result of repeated repetition and characterized by the collapse (reduction) of its conscious control.

There are perceptual, intellectual, motor and behavioral skills. Perceptual skills- a one-time, stereotypical reflection of the identifying characteristics of well-known objects. Intellectual skills— stereotyped ways of solving problems of a certain class. Motor skills- stereotyped actions, a system of well-established movements. Motor skills also include the stereotypical use of familiar tools.

Skills are characterized by varying degrees of generality—the breadth of their coverage of various situations, flexibility, and readiness for rapid implementation. Action at the skill level is characterized by the collapse (removal) of some of its regulatory components. Here needs, motives and goals are fused together, and methods of implementation are stereotyped. Thus, the skill of writing does not require thinking about how to do it. Due to the fact that many actions are consolidated as skills and transferred to the fund of automated acts, a person’s conscious activity is unloaded and can be directed to solving more complex problems.

Most daily activities are skills. An action at the skill level is performed quickly and accurately. As the skill develops, visual control over the execution of a physical movement weakens. It is replaced by muscle (kinesthetic) control. Thus, an experienced typist can type without looking at the keys, while a beginner typist constantly looks for letters with his eyes.

The skill is characterized by less effort, combining individual movements, and getting rid of unnecessary movements. But even one skill is not carried out completely automatically. A change in the usual environment of action, the emergence of unforeseen obstacles, a discrepancy between the results obtained and the previously set goal - all this immediately includes a partially automated action in the sphere of conscious control. There is a conscious adjustment of actions. (In investigative practice, there are attempts by the accused to deliberately distort his functional characteristics, which are manifested in various skills - handwriting, gait, etc. In these cases, the corresponding skill is taken by the accused under conscious control. To unmask these techniques, the investigator uses various situations that make it difficult to consciously control the skill - accelerating the pace of dictation of the control text, organizing distracting actions.)

Skills can be specific (calculation skills, solving standard problems, etc.) and general (comparison, generalization skills, etc.). Previously formed skills complicate the formation of new skills related in content - interference of skills occurs (from Lat. inter- between and ferens- transferring). It is easier to develop a new skill than to redo a previously formed one; hence the difficulties of retraining and re-education. Having a skill creates readiness for a certain action - operational setting.

The neurophysiological basis of skills is a dynamic stereotype- a stable system of conditioned reflex responses to certain trigger stimuli.

In a person’s behavior, his operationally stereotypical behavioral mechanism is fixed, its target and operational settings are formed. All this makes it possible to identify a person by the complex (syndrome) of his behavioral characteristics. (The criminal may not leave traces of hands and feet at the crime scene, but he will certainly leave his unique behavioral “imprint” there.)

Each person has inherent conceptual models of behavior - preferences in defining goals, predisposition to certain means of action. Some of his actions become a prerequisite for the commission of other actions.

Activity (behavior) of an individual- a stable system of his relationships with the world, based on a conceptual image of the world and a stereotypical behavioral foundation. This fund of behavior patterns is realized in the form of simple and complex volitional actions.

Classification of volitional actions.

Features of simple and complex actions.

All volitional actions are divided into simple and complex.

Simple volitional actions.

Simple volitional actions consist of three structural elements: 1) motive combined with a goal; 2) execution of an action; 3) evaluation of the result. Simple actions are usually not associated with significant volitional efforts and are implemented mainly in the form of skills.

Each simple action has different sensory, central, motor, and control-corrective components. You saw the approaching transport from afar and cleared the way for it. All four components can be identified in this movement. The perception of transport is a sensory component; the idea that it is dangerous to stand close to the roadway is a central mental component; actual movement is the motor, movement component and making sure you have moved to a safe area is the control component.

In various movements, one or another of the first three components takes on leading importance. For example, during a biathlete’s starting jerk, the leading component is the motor component, and when shooting at a target, when the success of the action depends mainly on visual work, the sensory component is the leading one. When playing chess or writing a formula on the board, despite the presence of sensory and motor components, the leading moment is the central, mental moment of the action.

In many movements, sensory and motor components are leading. These movements are called sensorimotor reactions.

They are characterized by coordination, quality and time parameters. The speed with which a person can respond to a stimulus is called reaction time(VR). The reaction time depends on: the modality of the stimulus (the RT for a visual stimulus is greater than for an auditory one); stimulus intensity (increasing stimulus intensity to a certain limit reduces RT); fitness; instructions to perform this action; operating organs (the right arm and leg respond to the stimulus faster than the left); age and gender; difficulty in responding to a complex stimulus.

Motor reactions are divided into simple and complex. Simple reaction- response to a single stimulus with one specific action (for example, pressing a button in response to a red light). Complex reaction is associated with the need to make decisions (for example, when the light is red, press a button, and when it is green, switch the switch).

The complex reaction time is calculated using the formula:

VR (ms) – 270×ln(n + 1), where n is the number of possible alternatives.

The average time of a simple reaction under favorable conditions is 150 - 200 ms.

Complex volitional actions.

The simple actions, operations, and skills discussed above have a simple structure. These actions are usually performed stereotypically. Complex volitional actions have a more developed structure.

In the structure of a complex volitional act, the following stages are essential: goal formation, predecisions, modeling significant conditions of activity, programming executive actions, processing current information about the achieved intermediate results, ongoing correction of actions and evaluation of the final result. Each stage of a complex volitional action is characterized by a specific volitional state, the manifestation of the corresponding volitional qualities of the individual.

Let us consider in more detail each stage of a complex volitional action.

1. Awareness of the possibilities of satisfying an actualized need, the struggle of motives (predecision stage).

Each need allows for different possibilities for its satisfaction. The process of choosing one of these possibilities is the process of forming the goal of an action.

In complex behavioral conditions, this choice is often accompanied by a clash of conflicting impulses—a struggle of motives. The struggle of motives can be short-term or very long, associated with a large expenditure of nervous energy (sometimes very painful). The struggle of motives is the confrontation of different desires. Before a desire turns into a goal of activity, a person evaluates, substantiates it, weighs all the pros and cons. The struggle of motives occurs especially intensely between personal and socially significant desires, between the arguments of feeling and reason. This tension intensifies if a particularly important decision has to be made.

Desires differ in their level, that is, in the degree of social significance, and emotional strength.(The famous hero of Saltykov-Shchedrin could not determine what he wanted more - a constitution or stellate sturgeon with horseradish. In this grotesque, the incomparability of desires at different levels is subtly noted.) If of two desires of the same level one becomes stronger, then no struggle of motives occurs.

Doubts and hesitations arise when choosing one of the options among a number of equally strong desires. Volitional effort here is manifested in a person’s ability to be guided by his principles and life positions in overcoming emotions in order to achieve a significant goal.

In the activities of different people there is not always a conflict of motives. Many people are guided by certain, constantly dominant motives. If these motives are socially valuable, then human behavior is socially adapted, that is, adapted to the requirements of the social environment. But some people are guided by motives that do not take into account the requirements of the environment, and their behavior becomes socially maladapted.

The drivers of behavioral activity are needs. However, the human needs and desires themselves arise, as a rule, taking into account the possibilities of their implementation. The current situation is taken into account and assessed through situational motives - motives-incentives.

Human behavior is directed by a complex system of factors, a hierarchy of motives. Thus, in work activity the motives of benefit, satisfaction, convenience, prestige, safety, etc. are manifested. The place in which one or another of these motives will be, and what the strength of the corresponding motive will depend on the general orientation of the individual.

In addition to the value criteria of the individual, the strength of the motive can be influenced by the clarity, brightness, emotionality and accessibility of the goal, the skills available to achieve it, and the conditions facilitating its achievement. The strength of the motive, in turn, influences the nature of the action performed; it can dull attention to obstacles and limitations.

In an effort to achieve a desired goal, people often neglect dangers, take unjustified risks, overestimate the likelihood of desired events occurring and underestimate the likelihood of undesirable events.

Two general strategies of human behavior can be distinguished: striving for success or avoiding failure. Anything that contradicts the formed motivation causes a feeling of discomfort - cognitive dissonance. A person’s own positions usually seem more correct and fair than the positions of other people. To realize their attitude, people often put forward their protective motives, which sometimes do not correspond to real conditions.

The formulation of a motive does not always accurately reflect in the mind what really prompted a person to act. Sometimes encouraging a person to more accurately understand the motive of his behavior leads him to a critical assessment of his actions and a change in behavior.

So, the initial factors of activity are the needs, attitudes, and life positions of a person, on the basis of which the corresponding motives for activity are formed.

2. Decision making. From a number of possible goals, the individual chooses the one that is assessed as the most optimal in the given conditions for the given individual.

The choice of behavior may be transitive- justified, optimal, taking into account the conditions of development of events, and intransitive- suboptimal, when real possibilities and options for the development of events are not analyzed.

Actions carried out without a reasonable calculation, without taking into account the possibilities of implementing plans, are associated with the low intellectual level of the subject, the limitations of his operational and long-term memory, and significant defects in the motivational regulatory sphere.

Vary five types of decision making: 1) impulsive - the processes of constructing hypotheses sharply prevail over the processes of control; 2) a decision with risk; 3) balanced; 4) Cautious; 5) inert - control processes sharply prevail over the processes of constructing hypotheses, which proceed uncertainly and slowly.

People with a high level of intelligence development are characterized by a predominance of balanced types of decisions and a limitation of extreme types (impulsive and inert). In extreme conditions, they most effectively combine risk with prudence.

When making decisions, a person strives for maximum success with minimal losses. But people evaluate gains and losses differently. Thus, at the risk of ruining one’s reputation in some matter, one person unconditionally rejects this action, another hesitates, and a third does not attach any importance to this risk.

Operating with initial data in the decision-making process, a person loads his RAM, the volume of which is very limited. Many people tend to ease decision-making stress by simplifying the relationships between inputs.

Decisions often have to be made under conditions of uncertainty, anticipating the development of events. Determining the probability of an event, i.e. the relative frequency of its occurrence, serves as the basis for making decisions in a risky situation.

The probability assessment (if it is not calculated using mathematical methods) is subjective. People tend to hope for unlikely favorable events to occur.(for example, the probability of winning the lottery), and unfavorable events of high probability are underestimated (for example, the inevitability of punishment for a crime). It is often mistakenly believed that expected events that have not occurred for a long time should occur in the near future.

Subjective assessments are very stable, and the role of intuition is usually overestimated. Relying on intuition, people often make wrong decisions. (Let us solve at least approximately the following problem. Let us mentally divide the globe into two halves. Next, we will also divide one of the halves into two parts, etc. Approximately how many divisions must be made so that an atom is obtained in the last of them? Hundreds of thousands, millions or billions? We intuitively tend to agree with these astronomical figures. In reality, only 80 divisions are needed).

When making a decision, people convince themselves that it is correct, exaggerate the merits of the chosen course of action and downplay its disadvantages.

All behavioral decisions are associated with the interaction of objective and subjective factors.

Note that there are no standard, correct solutions for all occasions. The correctness of a decision depends on the principles on the basis of which it was made, the objective significance of the factors taken into account, their usefulness in a given situation, for a given individual and for society.

The decision made is usually accompanied by a subjective feeling of some relief (since this relieves the tension characteristic of the struggle of motives), a positive emotional experience that activates activity. Decision making ends with the formation of an action goal.

3. Purpose of action, that is, the mental model of its future result, subsequently appears system-forming factor of all means to achieve them.

The goal determines the significance of everything that has one or another relation to it, organizes the field of the conscious sphere of the subject. Our goals subordinate our perception, our thinking, and our memory. Only in relation to our goals does this or that influence acquire an informational character.

Goal formation and goal achievement are the main sphere of conscious human activity.

The main goals of life determine the main content of a person’s life activity, his personal meanings and values. A person's goals are always determined by what he needs. The objective basis of goal setting is the contradiction between reality and possibility, between reality and ideal.

Satisfy all the desires of a person, said K.D. Ushinsky, - but take away his goal in life and you will see what an unhappy and insignificant creature he will appear. Purpose in life is the core of human dignity and human happiness.

The focus of action on a goal that is significant for a given individual, the achievement of which is associated with the possibility of failure and dangerous consequences, is called risk. People’s behavior manifests both fear of risk, risk avoidance, and increased propensity to take risks.

4. Awareness of the tasks of the activity and the choice of methods of activity. After setting the goal of an activity, its objectives are realized, and ways and means of achieving the goal are planned in detail. Human activity occurs in certain conditions and depends on them. Correlating the purpose of an activity with these conditions is an awareness of the objectives of the activity.

The conditions of activity can be specially specified (for example, in a mathematical problem), but in most cases they must be identified as a result of studying the initial situation. The choice of methods of action is also associated with a more or less significant struggle of motives, for some methods may be accessible, but contrary to moral standards, while others may be socially approved, but personally unacceptable.

5. Formation of a program - an indicative basis for action. The approximate basis of action for a person is knowledge, a system of ideas and concepts. A person acts depending on what knowledge he is guided by in given conditions, what connections and relationships of things he takes into account.

Before performing a physical action with a material object, a person performs these actions in his mind with ideal images of things. Every action is performed as a result of knowledge of the principle of action, establishing a connection between the goal and the methods of achieving it. This knowledge becomes a regulatory, orienting basis for action; By forming an indicative basis for action, a person transforms in his mind the initial conditions into the system necessary to achieve the goal.

6. Execution of actions and its ongoing adjustment. Actions are performed in a certain way - an individualized system of operations, generalized actions.

Depending on the level of mental development of a person, his experience, knowledge and other individual characteristics, each person carries out activities in ways characteristic of him.

The methods of action of people differ in the number of intermediate operations, the unification of individual operations, the accuracy and speed of action. Each person develops a stereotype of performing actions - a characteristic way of using tools.

Physical actions - movements - have certain mechanical characteristics - trajectory, speed or tempo (cycle repetition rate) and force. In many cases, the success of an activity depends on reaction time (the speed of response to an external signal). Thus, safety depends on the speed of reaction to danger signals, the outcome of a hockey match depends on the reaction speed of the goalkeeper, and trouble-free operation depends on the reaction speed of the operator at the control panel.

The reaction time depends on the readiness to respond to the corresponding signal, on the type of nervous system, the age and gender of the person, and his mental state. Reaction time increases significantly in conflict and anxiety situations.

A distinction is made between the time of sensorimotor and verbal-associative reactions. It is more difficult to respond with a word than with a movement, so verbal reactions are slowed down (by 0.3 - 0.5 seconds).

External action is performed by a system of movements that are controlled on the basis of data received by the brain from various sense organs - through sensory control. Physical action is accomplished through continuous muscle and visual control and the execution of corrective movements. (With closed eyes, actions are performed inaccurately, and if you put prismatic glasses on your eyes, then many actions cannot be performed at all.) Correction of actions is made on the basis of an analysis of intermediate results and changes in the external environment. Thus, when braking a car by pressing the brake pedal, the driver correlates his movement with the condition of the road, the danger of the current situation, the weight of the car, the quality of the tires, etc.

The purpose of actions determines the guidelines by which they are adjusted. The actual results of all operations are constantly compared with the previously specified dynamic action model. Inaccurate actions are corrected as a result of analyzing the reasons for not achieving the goal. In this case, it may sometimes turn out that the indicative model of action itself was formed incorrectly. In these situations, the level of critical thinking of the individual is revealed.

Method of action- a system of techniques determined both by the purpose, motives and conditions of action, and by the mental characteristics of the actor. The method of action is determined by the indicative, mental and sensory-motor characteristics of the subject and indicates the extent of the individual’s mental capabilities.

The method of action reveals the psychophysiological and characterological characteristics of a person, his knowledge and abilities, skills and habits, the neurophysiological basis of which is dynamic stereotype. Individualized stereotyping of actions makes it possible to identify a person by his method of action.

The method of action cannot be reduced only to automatisms of motor skills. In the mode of action, the characteristics of psychomotor skills are combined with the characteristics of thinking, memory, life experience, general abilities and temperament. Such a complex combination of diverse factors gives the unique individualization of a behavioral act.

Executing an action- the central element in the structure of volitional regulation of activity. It is here that such personality qualities as focus, perseverance, perseverance and, at the same time, flexibility in relation to a previously formed program, etc. are needed. The execution of an action requires significant volitional efforts: mental and physical fatigue causes a strong urge to rest and change activities. This impulse has to be overcome by willpower. But timely abandonment of a started action, if execution produces an unnecessary (and sometimes even harmful) result, is also one of the manifestations of a person’s will.

7. Achieving the result of the activity and its final assessment. The appropriateness of behavior is determined, first of all, by the achievement of results.

The neurophysiological mechanisms of the result of action as a structural element of action were put in the spotlight by the academician.

“In fact, reflex, “reflex act” and “reflex action” are of interest only to the researcher - a physiologist or psychologist. Animals and humans are always interested in the results of their actions.”

Biological systems constantly work on the basis of feedback, constantly comparing the achieved result with a previously formed program.

There is, however, a specificity of feedback in the regulation of human activity, in contrast to the behavior of animals. It lies in the fact that the goals of human activity, as a rule, are not related to the direct satisfaction of biological needs. The achieved result of a human action is not always a direct biological reinforcement, as in the behavioral acts of animals (the effectiveness of an aggressive act of a predator is determined by the presence of food in its mouth). In most cases, a person specifically evaluates the achieved result according to certain criteria. The result of an activity is assessed not by the formal achievement of a goal, but by the extent to which it satisfies the corresponding need and motives for the activity. The result of an activity may not coincide with a person’s desires and aspirations, and then another behavioral act is performed. The goal is only a criterion for the correctness of the progress of the activity towards the planned result. The result obtained is assessed not by the goal, but by its compliance with the impulse that caused the action. Only this compliance is a criterion for successful activity.

The correctness of performing a physical action is revealed directly as a result; the correctness of performing cognitive actions is controlled and assessed using special control actions. The higher the level of the indicative (theoretical) basis of the action, the less the need for feedback in actions. Actions of a moral nature are judged from the very beginning by their compliance with moral standards.

Activities that do not lead to success are modified. While maintaining the same motive, the goal and program of activity change. The essence of will is manifested in the persistent achievement of the required result.

Satisfaction with the result reinforces the image of this act of behavior and facilitates its repetition in the future.

In most cases, human activity is carried out in interaction with other people. Under these conditions, the leading importance becomes psychology of interpersonal relationships. The success of group activities largely depends on psychological compatibility individuals and their group cohesion.

By systematically performing socially significant and effective actions, an individual forms a system of positive personal qualities - the human psyche is formed in his activities.

Volitional states.

Conscious regulation of activity is manifested in a system of volitional mental states: initiative, determination, confidence, determination, perseverance, etc. These states manifest themselves in aggregate throughout the entire activity. However, at certain stages of activity, certain volitional states acquire leading importance. Thus, choosing a goal is associated, first of all, with a state of determination, making a decision with a state of determination, performing an action with a state of perseverance, etc.

Conditionality of volitional mental states by the structural stages of complex volitional action.

Let us consider volitional states in a sequence corresponding to the structure of activity.

State of initiative characterized by active processing of incoming information, identifying priority problems, setting the most significant goals and ways to achieve them. The state of initiative is increased excitability to search for a goal. When there are a number of possible goals, a state of determination becomes paramount.

Determination- a mental state of mobilization for a quick and reasonable selection of a goal and ways to achieve it. The state of determination is accompanied by an increase in emotional and intellectual activity of the psyche. Decisiveness is associated with suppressing various emotions and anticipating the consequences of future actions.

For different people, the state of determination has individual typological characteristics. Some people try to fit every decision under some idea, principle, or scheme approved by society (“this is how it is,” “this is how it should be,” “this is the instruction,” etc.). Submission to certain principles makes decision making easier. However, this creates the possibility of inappropriate behavior. Some people prefer to follow the “will of the waves” when making a decision, entrusting it to other people.

One of the individual typological features of the state of decisiveness is rapid, but unfounded, impulsive decision-making. This is explained by the desire of some people to quickly get rid of the tense state of struggle of motives. Under the external decisiveness here lies the insufficiency of volitional regulation of activity. True decisiveness requires making a firm decision relatively quickly, taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of all alternative solutions.

However, despite subjective differences in the state of determination, there are also objective factors influencing the decision-making process. These factors include: lack of time, the significance of the action in favor of which the decision is made, the type of higher nervous activity of a person, features of the interaction of signaling systems. Thus, with insufficient regulation of the first signaling system by the second signaling system, a person shows fussiness and chaos when making decisions; if there is insufficient connection between the second signaling system and the first, there will be excessive “theorizing” and delay in decision-making.

The mental state of inability to make decisions quickly is a state of indecision. It can be a manifestation of mental passivity of the individual, weakness of nervous processes, and insufficient mobility. Indecisiveness is not a characteristic of any temperament. However, temperament influences the form of indecision. Alertness in melancholic people, procrastination in phlegmatic people, fussiness in sanguine people, impulsiveness in choleric people - these are some of the features of decision-making determined by temperament.

Indecisiveness is often associated with lack of awareness and lack of appropriate skills and abilities. The main reason for indecision is the presence in a given situation of equivalent opposing motives. At the same time, individuals tend to consistently make different decisions, change them, hesitate, and even decide on simultaneous contradictory actions (trial and error).

People's attitudes towards their indecision vary. Some experience it painfully, others find excuses for it in all cases, and still others do not attach much importance to this shortcoming. Meanwhile, indecision is a negative quality that needs to be overcome. It can lead to morally negative and illegal consequences (cowardice, criminal inactivity, etc.).

Determination as a volitional mental state is characterized by the concentration of consciousness on the main, most significant goals. This state, from a physiological point of view, is characterized by the emergence of a dominant, which subordinates all human actions to achieving the set goal.

Confidence as a volitional mental state - a high-probability expectation of the planned result of an activity based on taking into account the initial conditions. This state largely determines the effectiveness of activities. It consists of an objective assessment of the circumstances influencing the outcome of the activity, associated with a clear awareness of the connections between the initial data and the final goal, awareness (sometimes intuitive) of its achievability and reality. In this regard, a positive emotional attitude towards all activities to achieve this goal arises, and a person’s physical and mental activity increases. Cheerfulness and cheerfulness are the companions of confidence. The state of confidence depends on the possession of the means to achieve the goal (subject and instrument of activity, knowledge, skills, abilities and physical capabilities).

Successful completion of an activity requires overcoming both uncertainty and overconfidence. In the latter case, a person overestimates his capabilities and underestimates objective difficulties, and interferes in matters in which he is incompetent. The state of self-confidence can be episodic (arising as a result of temporary successes) and dominant (arising as a result of an uncritical attitude towards oneself).

Perseverance as a mental state consists of overcoming difficulties for a long time, controlling action, and directing it towards achieving a goal. The state of a selective attitude towards everything that can help achieve a goal is a manifestation of flexibility and perseverance in overcoming obstacles. One should distinguish stubbornness from perseverance - inflexibility, an uncritical attitude towards one’s activities.

State of restraint. In the process of activity, a person is exposed to various stimuli that provoke action in an undesirable direction. Inhibition of unwanted actions is a state of restraint, self-control, requiring significant volitional effort.

Restraint should not be confused with insensitivity or emotional unresponsiveness. Restraint presupposes a reasonable response to emotional influences. Restraint is a manifestation of the inhibitory function of V., which ensures controllability of behavior.

A person’s lifestyle, his style of life activity, reinforces certain psychoregulatory qualities in him, which are commonly called volitional personality traits. These properties are associated with the type of nervous activity of a person and with the requirements that are presented to him by the social environment. Some of these requirements turn into personal beliefs and principles of behavior. The individual develops a sense of social responsibility - a sense of duty, certain moral ideals. All this serves as the general basis for an individual’s behavior and determines the direction of the individual. Fig. 8. Manifestation of volitional qualities of a person at various stages of complex volitional action

A high level of development of mental self-regulation is characterized by the nobility of thoughts and the ability to realize them in any conditions. But every person also has “weak points”. Knowing them is a prerequisite for self-education.

The strength or insufficiency of individual volitional qualities of a person determines the originality of his volitional self-regulation.

Ms - millisecond - one thousandth of a second.

In traditional psychology by volitional actions are actions aimed at achieving a consciously set goal and associated with overcoming difficulties. A significant number of researchers identify the following main signs of volitional actions:

1) consciously overcoming obstacles on the way to achieving the goal;

2) competitive motives;

3) the presence of volitional effort

. General characteristics volitional actions are as follows:

1) volitional actions are conscious, purposeful, intentional, committed by one’s own conscious decision;

2) volitional actions are actions determined by both external (social) and internal (own) factors, i.e. there is always a reason to take action;

3) volitional actions may have a deficiency of motivation or inhibition, either initially or during their implementation;

4) volitional actions can be provided by auxiliary motivation or inhibition due to a change in the meaning of the action and end in achieving the goal

Insufficiency of motivation to action can arise when a weak social motive competes with an emotionally attractive personal motive, or when there is a conflict between two equal motives; Drive deficits may arise in actions without an actual need, or when the need arises to overcome an obstacle without taking into account the mental, physical and operational consequences of the action.

Realization motivation for action is provided by the incentive function of freedom. In fact, “inspiration to motives” is a necessary aspect of a volitional act in case of insufficiency (deficit) of the implementation motivation of an action adopted by a person for mandatory execution. Thus, all situations (the presence of internal or external obstacles, competitive goals, current needs), which are necessarily associated with volitional actions, are connected by a deficit of implementation motivation for action, which, in the opinion of the person himself, must be fulfilled. What is the mechanism for replenishing the deficit of implementation motivation or motivation for an action that is obligatory for a person (accepted consciously)? go to the meaning of dii.

The condition that gives rise to volitional actions is a deliberate change in the meaning of the action. Thus, an undesirable task acquires meaning through obtaining the desired subject (you learn lessons, then you will go to the cinema; you wash the windows, you will play on the computer; computers; if you finish a quarter well, you will receive a bicycle; if you become an Olympiad winner, you will be enrolled as a student at the institute, etc.) . In volitional actions, a new auxiliary motive (the object of a new impulse) can act only with its meaning-creating function, and not in the motivating case, a new motive can destroy a given action, encouraging a person to follow a new motive. So, a deliberate change in the meaning of an action involves the activation of almost all mental processes: thinking, imagination, perception, memory, emotions, motivation. By volitional regulation of behavior, the hidden functioning of many mental processes, therefore, will can be understood as the highest mental function, providing an auxiliary incentive to action. In this case, once actually strong-willed actions are defined as conscious and intentional actions performed by a person according to his own decision on the basis of external and internal necessity, on the basis of an auxiliary motivation for them

Changes in the meaning of an action are achieved, firstly, through an independent reassessment of the significance of the motive or with the help of the assessment and opinions of other people. Secondly, changing the meaning of an action is possible by changing the role and position of a person. Vivid examples are studies in which unsuccessful high school students were assigned to work with junior school students and help them with their studies. The change in the position of the older students led to the fact that the learning received a new meaning for them and they began to work more persistently to eliminate shortcomings in their knowledge. Thirdly, the meaning of an action changes through anticipation and experience of the consequences of actions. For example, the parents’ joy at their son’s action, the idea of ​​upcoming greetings from friends, the anticipation of the consequences of an unfulfilled, but obligatory task.

. Auxiliary sense of action is created through setting a more specific goal when including the proposed task in another condition, which is combined with a person’s desire, when the results of the action become a means for the implementation of other actions, i.e. when one action begins to act as part of another, broader one.

So, the will is considered as a mental reality, must have a conscious-regulatory nature. In other words, will is the only, complex process of mental regulation of human behavior (actions, deeds). Volitional regulation of behavior as the regulation of the impulse to action occurs on the basis of an arbitrary form of motivation, when a person deliberately and consciously creates an auxiliary impulse (inhibition) to action through a change in the medium of the action of volitional regulation during self-determination is understood as the last stage of a person’s mastery of his own processes, which consists in mastering one’s own motivational process through the formation of a new higher mental function - will.

Will is an important component of the human psyche, inextricably linked with the motivational sphere of the individual, cognitive and emotional processes. The main function of the will is to strengthen motivation and improve, on this basis, the conscious regulation of actions.

FUNCTIONS OF WILL:

1. choice of motives and goals;

2. regulation of the impulse to action in case of insufficient or excessive motivation;

3. organization of mental processes into an adequate system of actions performed by a person;

4. mobilization of mental and physical capabilities in overcoming obstacles that arise on the way to achieving goals.

Volitional action is associated with awareness of the purpose of the activity, its significance, the subordination of one’s impulses to conscious control and changing the surrounding reality in accordance with one’s plans.

Volitional actions are distinguished by degree of complexity. In the case when the goal is clearly visible in the impulse and it directly turns into action, they speak of a simple act of will. A complex volitional act is preceded by taking into account the consequences, awareness of motives, making a decision, and drawing up a plan for its implementation.

The volitional action of each person has its own special uniqueness, since it is a reflection of the relatively stable structure of the personality.

Within the framework of individual differences in the volitional sphere, the identified parameters can characterize both the volitional act as a whole and its individual links. In particular, one of the main characteristics of will is its strength.

CHARACTERISTICS OF WILLED ACTION:

1. is conscious, purposeful, intentional, accepted for implementation by its own decision;

2. is an action necessary for external (social) or personal reasons, that is, there are always reasons for which the action is accepted for execution;

3. has an initial deficit of motivation (or inhibition) that manifests itself during its implementation;

4. ultimately provided by additional motivation (inhibition) due to the functioning of certain mechanisms and ends with the achievement of the intended goal.

All volitional actions are divided into simple and complex. Simple volitional actions consist of three structural elements:

1) motive combined with purpose,

2) execution of an action;

3) evaluation of the result.

Simple actions are usually not associated with significant volitional efforts and are implemented mainly in the form of skills.

Each simple action has different sensory, central, motor, and control-corrective components. You saw the approaching transport from afar and cleared the way for it. In this movement, all four components can be distinguished: the perception of transport - the sensory component; the idea that it is dangerous to stand close to the roadway is a central mental component; direct movement - the motor, movement component and making sure that you have moved to a safe zone - the control component.

In various movements, one or another of the first three components takes on leading importance. In many movements, sensory and motor components are leading. These movements are called sensorimotor reactions. They are characterized by coordination-quality and time parameters. The speed at which a person can react to a stimulus is called reaction time (RT). The reaction time depends on: the modality of the stimulus (the RT for a visual stimulus is greater than for an auditory one); stimulus intensity (increasing stimulus intensity to a certain limit reduces RT); fitness; instructions for performing this action of the acting organs (the right arm and leg react to the stimulus faster than the left); age and gender; difficulty in responding to a complex stimulus.

Motor reactions are divided into simple and complex. A simple response is a response to a single stimulus with one specific action (for example, pressing a button in response to a red light). A complex reaction is associated with the need to make decisions (for example, when the light is red, press a button, and when the light is green, switch the switch).

COMPLEX WILLED ACTIONS

The simple actions, operations, and skills discussed above have a simple structure; these actions, as a rule, are performed stereotypically.

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Question 37. The structure of simple and complex volitional action.

Volitional activity always consists of certain volitional actions, which contain all the signs and qualities of will.

Volitional action

There are volitional actions simple and complex. TO simple These include those in which a person goes towards the intended goal without hesitation; it is clear to him what and in what way he will achieve it. The following steps can be clearly distinguished in this action:

1) Awareness of the goal and the desire to achieve it;

2) Awareness of the possibilities of achieving the goal;

3) Decision making

4) Execution.

Often the first 3 stages are combined, calling them preparatory link, and stage 4 is called executive. A simple volitional action is characterized by the fact that choosing a goal and making a decision to perform an action in a certain way are carried out without a struggle of motives.

IN complex volitional action The following stages are distinguished:

1) Awareness of the goal and the desire to achieve it;

2) Awareness of a number of possibilities for achieving the goal;

3) The emergence of motives that affirm or deny these possibilities;

4) The struggle of motives and choice;

5) Accepting one of the possibilities as a solution;

6) Implementation of the decision made.

The stage of “awareness of the goal and the desire to achieve it” is not always accompanied by a struggle of motives in a complex action. If the goal is set from the outside and its achievement is mandatory for the performer, then all that remains is to cognize it by forming in oneself a certain image of the future result of the action. The struggle of motives arises at this stage when a person has the opportunity to choose goals, at least the order of their achievement.

The struggle of motives that arises when realizing goals is not a structural component of volitional action, but rather a certain stage of volitional activity, of which he is a part. action. Each of the motives, before becoming a goal, goes through the stage of desire (in the case when the goal is chosen independently). Wish- this is the content of a need that exists ideally (in a person’s head). To desire something is first of all to know the content of the incentive.

Each desire, before it turns into a goal of volitional action, undergoes an internal discussion, during which the pros and cons are considered, and the conditions that help and hinder the fulfillment of the desire are weighed. In the imagination, a person runs ahead and mentally anticipates the result of his actions. Since a person at any moment has various significant desires, the simultaneous satisfaction of which is objectively excluded, there is a clash of opposing, divergent motives, between which a choice must be made. This situation is called struggle of motives. At the stage of awareness of the goal and the desire to achieve it, the struggle of motives is resolved by choosing the goal of action, after which the tension caused by the struggle of motives at this stage weakens.

The stage of “awareness of a number of possibilities for achieving a goal” is a mental action itself, which is part of a volitional action, the result of which is the establishment of cause-and-effect relationships between the methods of performing a volitional action in existing conditions and possible results.

At the next stage, possible ways and means of achieving the goal are correlated with a person’s system of values, including beliefs, feelings, norms of behavior, and driving needs. Here, each of the possible paths is discussed in terms of the correspondence of a particular path to the value system of a given person. The result of this stage is a clear understanding of the pros and cons of each of the possible paths. As motives appear that affirm or deny the analyzed possibilities, tension increases, as the person again faces the task of choice.

The stage of the struggle of motives and choice turns out to be central in complex volitional action. Here, as at the stage of choosing a goal, a conflict situation is possible due to the fact that a person accepts the possibility of an easy way to achieve a goal (this understanding is one of the results of the second stage), but at the same time, due to his moral feelings or principles, cannot accept it. Other paths are less economical (and a person also understands this), but following them is more consistent with a person’s value system. The result of resolving this situation is the next stage - accepting one of the possibilities as a solution. It is characterized by a decrease in tension as internal conflict is resolved. Here the means, methods, and sequence of their use are specified, i.e. refined planning is carried out. After this, the implementation of the decision planned at the implementation stage begins.

The stage of implementing the decision made, however, does not free a person from the need to make volitional efforts, and sometimes no less significant than when choosing the goal of an action or methods of its implementation, since the practical implementation of the intended goal is again associated with overcoming obstacles. They can be created by objects, material processes, people, time, space. At the same time, personal obstacles may arise, such as fatigue, illness, lack of knowledge and skills. External and internal obstacles, reflected in the consciousness, generate tension. A conflict situation (real reality or a person’s subjective state) is resolved either by consistent movement towards a goal, and therefore by maintaining volitional effort, or by refusal of practical activity, renunciation of volitional effort, and ultimately by the goal.

It must, however, be emphasized that refusal to practice is not always an indicator of a person’s lack of will. If a person stops striving for a goal due to reluctance, inability to cope with the tension that has arisen, or suspends practical activities without sufficiently compelling reasons, this is an indicator of weakness of will. If a person has serious reasons to stop striving for a goal, he cannot be characterized as weak-willed. For example, circumstances may change significantly, some new conditions may arise, and the implementation of a previously made decision may become irrational. This requires a conscious rejection of the decision made. A strong-willed person must be able, when it is necessary to abandon an intended action, to make a new decision, otherwise it will no longer be a manifestation of will, but senseless stubbornness..

The results of any volitional action have two consequences for a person: first, it is the achievement of a specific goal; the second is due to the fact that a person evaluates his actions and learns appropriate lessons for the future regarding the ways to achieve the goal and the effort expended.

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The structure of the volitional act. Simple and complex act of will

An act of will may have a different structure, depending on the number of components, and the duration of the stages of its implementation. Volitional actions can be simple and complex.

Simple volitional actions include those in which a person, without hesitation, goes towards the intended goal; it is clear to him what and in what way he will achieve it.

However, not every action is volitional. Habitual actions are performed without any effort of will, based on an already learned behavior pattern. Habitual actions - greeting, washing in the morning, etc.

The structure of a complex volitional act consists of at least three phases: awareness and goal setting, planning and execution.

The first phase characterizes the beginning of a volitional act. An act of will begins with the emergence of an impulse, which is expressed in the desire to do something. As the goal is realized, this desire turns into a desire, to which is added the installation for its implementation. If the orientation towards realizing the goal has not been formed, then the act of will may end there before it has even begun. Thus, for the emergence of a volitional act, the emergence of motives and their transformation into goals is necessary. Goal setting does not proceed smoothly and calmly, but, as a rule, is accompanied by a struggle of motives. The human will is formed in the struggle between higher motives and lower ones.

For example, a student has a choice: go to a disco with friends or prepare for a seminar class. This means a struggle of motives of different moral levels (between the anticipation of pleasure from a pleasant time and the need to work) and requires significant volitional efforts.

After defining and setting a goal, execution planning occurs. This stage is characterized by active work of thought, analysis and comparison of all the conditions in which the action should take place. At this stage, the motivational part of the action or deed is formed. The fact is that the motives that appeared at the first stage in the form of desires may contradict each other. And the individual is forced to analyze these motives, remove the contradictions that exist between them, and make a choice. However, not all people make decisions quickly; prolonged hesitation is possible while searching for additional facts that will help confirm their decision.

However, as important as goal setting and planning are, the critical phase is execution. Execution of a decision presupposes overcoming external obstacles and objective difficulties of the case itself.

Structure of volitional action

Only when we bring the matter to the end do we talk about the willpower of a person, about the strong-willed qualities of his personality.

If a person has serious reasons to stop striving for a goal, he cannot be called weak-willed. A strong-willed person must be able, when necessary, to abandon the intended action and make a new decision, otherwise it will no longer be a manifestation of will, but senseless stubbornness.

27. The concept of will, simple and complex volitional actions

a) are always carried out unconsciously;

b) always have less influence on the process of performing an action;

c) do not include the planning stage and the struggle of motives;

d) rarely manifest themselves in the behavior of adults;

e) are always associated only with externally given, and not independently formulated goals.

9. Will presupposes...

a) overcoming only external obstacles on the way to achieving the goal;

b) overcoming only internal obstacles;

c) searching for ways to “bypass” external obstacles;

d) overcoming external and internal obstacles.

10. Arrange the stages of a complex volitional action in the correct sequence:

a) the emergence of motives that support or refute the possibilities, the adoption of one of the possibilities as a decision, the goal and the desire to achieve it, the struggle of motives and choice, the implementation of the decision;

b) the goal and the desire to achieve it, the struggle of motives and choice, the adoption of one of the possibilities as a decision, the emergence of motives that support or refute the possibilities, the awareness of a number of possibilities for achieving the goal, the implementation of the decision;

c) the goal and the desire to achieve it, the adoption of one of the possibilities as a decision, the emergence of motives that support or refute these possibilities, the struggle of motives and choice, the implementation of the decision made.

Topic: Cognitive mental processes

Sensation, perception, memory, attention, imagination are...

a) mental states;

b) manifestations of the unconscious;

c) volitional processes;

d) cognitive processes.

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Will is a person’s mental activity that determines his purposeful actions and actions related to overcoming difficulties and obstacles. Difficulties and obstacles can be external (independent of the person, objective obstacles. External interference, opposition from other people, natural obstacles) and internal (depending on the person himself, this is not the desire to do what is needed, the presence of opposing impulses, the person’s passivity, bad mood , habit of acting thoughtlessly, laziness, feeling of fear, etc.). A person’s will is expressed in how much he is able to overcome obstacles and difficulties on the way to a goal, how much he can manage his behavior, and subordinate his activities to certain tasks.

Overcoming obstacles and difficulties requires the so-called volitional effort - a special state of neuropsychic tension that mobilizes a person’s physical, intellectual and moral strength.

Will manifests itself not only in the ability to achieve a goal, but also in the ability to abstain from something.

Will manifests itself in all types of human activity.

The main function of the will is to regulate actions and behavior, guide the needs, desires, and motives of a person.

Actions related to overcoming difficulties encountered along the path of life are called volitional actions.

Volitional action is carried out according to a person’s own decision; it is conscious and intentional. A person makes this personal decision based on external or internal necessity.

Volitional actions have the following stages:

The first stage is preparatory - goal setting, i.e. expected and intended result of an action. A goal is set to satisfy needs; to set a goal, it is necessary to understand the motives (motivation) that prompted a person to act. Those. Every human action is performed for something (goal) and for some reason (motive). Motives come at different levels - lower (selfish motives) and higher (motives of social order, sense of duty).

The preparatory stage of volitional action ends with the adoption of a certain decision.

The second stage is executive - the most important stage of volitional action - the execution of the decision made. Execution can take two forms: the form of external action (external volitional act) and the form of abstaining from external action (internal volitional act).

The result of volitional action is the achievement of a goal. The volitional action ends with self-esteem: a person evaluates the chosen methods of achieving the goal, the efforts expended and draws appropriate conclusions for the future.

Analysis of a person’s volitional behavior allows us to identify a number of volitional qualities, each of which characterizes individual volitional manifestations.

Volitional qualities include:

1. purposefulness is a person’s subordination of his behavior to a sustainable life goal, the willingness and determination to devote all his strength and abilities to achieve it, and its systematic, steady implementation.

2. independence – subordination of behavior to one’s own views and beliefs. An independent person does not give in to attempts to persuade him to take actions that are not consistent with his beliefs. A negative quality of will - negativism - when every other person's opinion is rejected just because it is someone else's, there is unreasonable opposition to everything that comes from other people and suggestibility - when a person easily succumbs to the influence of others, he does not know how to be critical of other people's advice.

Decisiveness is the ability to make informed and sustainable decisions in a timely manner and proceed to their implementation without unnecessary delays. Determination is especially evident in difficult situations, where there is a choice of one option out of several, and where action is associated with some risk.

4. perseverance is the ability to follow through on decisions made, achieve goals, overcoming all sorts of obstacles and difficulties on the way to it. A negative quality of will that is different from persistence is stubbornness.

5. self-control (self-control) – the ability to constantly control one’s behavior. This quality presupposes the ability to refrain from actions that are perceived as unnecessary or harmful under given conditions. The opposite negative quality is impulsiveness - the tendency to act on the first impulse, hastily, without thinking about one’s actions.

6. courage and bravery is a person’s readiness to achieve a goal, despite the danger to life or personal well-being, overcoming adversity, suffering, and deprivation. Moreover, courage is a more complex concept; it presupposes the presence of not only courage, but also perseverance, endurance, and composure. The opposite negative quality is cowardice - when fear for oneself, for one’s life, guides a person’s actions.

7. Discipline is the conscious subordination of one’s behavior to social rules.

Locus of control is a personal characteristic that reflects the predisposition and tendency of an individual to attribute responsibility for the successes and failures of his activity either to external circumstances, conditions and forces, or to himself, his efforts, his shortcomings, to consider them as his own achievements or the results of his own miscalculations, as well as simply a lack of appropriate abilities or shortcomings. Moreover, this individual psychological characteristic is a fairly stable, weakly changeable personal quality, despite the fact that it is finally formed in the process of socialization.

Thus, will is the conscious regulation of human behavior and activity, which manifests itself in relation to oneself and is aimed at achieving goals and overcoming difficulties.

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