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In domestic psychological science, in line with the activity approach to the study of the psyche, developed by M.Ya. Basov, A.N. Leontyev, S.L. Rubinstein and other scientists, the position was established that the technology of activity, as a formed, consolidated and established formation over time, is focused on achieving the necessary result and requires a person to transform not only object properties, but also his own efforts. Taken together, such actions constitute a functional system that ensures the organization and implementation of the desired action. As part of solving problems related to the organization of one’s own efforts and one’s own activity, goal-oriented functions of modeling, programming, outcome assessment and correction are formed, which together constitute a system of self-regulation of activity.
A research analysis in the scientific literature of the phenomenon of mental self-regulation shows that this problem was developed by domestic psychologists under the influence of the ideas of physiologists P.K. Anokhin, I.S. Beritashvili, N.A. Bernstein, related to the analysis of functional systems for controlling motor and other types of activity. These ideas were developed in the psychological concept of conscious self-regulation of activity, which was based on ideas about the awareness of the process of regulation by the subject, about the systematic nature of the regulatory mental functions involved in the preparation and execution of activity, and about the fundamental scheme of organizing the functions of self-regulation of activity.
A holistic approach to the study of conscious self-regulation was laid down by the works of O.A. Konopkina. The basis of the concept of conscious self-regulation of voluntary human activity was the idea he developed about the functional structure of the system that ensures conscious self-regulation. According to the author’s concept, the process of self-regulation is a holistic, closed (ring) in structure, informationally open system, realized by the interaction of functional links (blocks). The block components of mental conscious self-regulation are identified on the basis of their inherent regulatory functions: goal setting, modeling conditions, programming actions, evaluating results. As a result of the systemic “cooperation” of blocks, the implementation of an integral process of self-regulation, the achievement of the activity goal accepted by the subject is ensured.
Thus, in line with the concept of O.A. Konopkin, the process of self-regulation of activity can be represented as the implementation by a person of a set of regulatory skills, combined into complexes corresponding to the main regulatory functions. Thus, the regulatory function of goal setting is provided by a set of skills: goal formulation, reformulation of goals, goal retention, goal implementation, etc.; the function of modeling conditions is provided by the skills of logical analysis, classification, systematization, abstraction, identifying the essential, correlating values, etc. The function of programming actions requires skills associated with the use of certain methods of solving problems, coordinating the spatio-temporal characteristics of movements and transformations carried out, and the use of efforts in changing, proactive modeling environments. The use of many specific skills associated with specific subject transformations is combined with the skills of programming efforts in partially changing conditions and using them to solve new problems. The function of assessing the results of implemented activities is carried out using various scales and subjective success criteria and largely depends on a person’s ability to use them in real conditions. The ability to make timely adjustments to ongoing actions presupposes slightly different subjective criteria for compliance of the achieved results with the standards used as standards. Here, skills that ensure spatio-temporal coordination of the corrections introduced are more necessary.
A.K. Osnitsky, developing the ideas of O.A. Konopkin, in line with the subjective approach to personality development, proposed, in the process of a person’s activity, to distinguish between a person’s subject positions depending on the particular task of managing his activity that he solves at a given specific moment: a person as a subject of this activity acts either as a subject of determining the goals of the activity, or as a subject of analyzing conditions and determining the subject of need, then the subject of choosing means and methods of carrying out actions, then the subject of evaluation and correction of results, and, finally, the subject of developing the experience of one’s own activity. The approach to the development of a person as a subject of activity significantly expands the boundaries of the study of individual characteristics of a person’s self-regulation of his own activities.
Thus, taking into account that the work of the mechanisms of mental self-regulation is determined by the process of goal-setting and goal-fulfillment that is conscious to a person, we note that a person who is aware of his states and tasks, being the subject of his activity, independently selects the conditions corresponding to the next task, independently selects ways to transform the initial situation, then independently evaluates the results obtained and decides whether any changes need to be made to the actions being taken. Thus, the subjective properties of a person, his subjective attitude to the activity performed, which determine the formation and qualitative originality of his transformative actions, determine the individual characteristics of self-regulation of his own activity. From this point of view, let us analyze the main links of the system of self-regulation of human voluntary activity, which determine the features of self-regulation of activity.
The main link that determines the features of self-regulation of activity is subjectively accepted goal, that is, the goal of an activity in the form in which it is accepted by a person, since any addition or interpretation in determining the goal is important in the self-regulation system. This is significant due to the fact that a given goal, any proposed task can be reformulated by a person in the language of concepts and ideas that are closer and more understandable to him. Assessing the role of the goal in the structure of activity for the course of its regulation, V.A. Petrovsky noted that “the subject is the individual as the bearer and creator of activity - a single, indivisible being that produces activity.” Any activity is social and is already predetermined by some goal, but from a psychological point of view, it is especially important how it is accepted by the individual, how he formulates it for himself. Other activities performed by a person may be perceived by him as aimless, devoid of any meaning and significance, or while performing some activity (with a clearly defined externally defined goal), a person may pursue goals that are not inherent in this activity. How often it is against this stumbling block that all the good thoughts of teachers and educators are broken, when the goal they realize is not accepted by the student.
A subjectively accepted goal as a link in regulation is largely influenced by a higher level of regulation - personal-semantic, since in order to steadily guide activity, the goal must acquire a certain personal meaning and take a certain place in the semantic “field” of the individual, then it will not play only a regulatory, but also an incentive role. The authors of the article “Activity” in the latest (third) edition of the “Great Soviet Encyclopedia”, famous philosophers and methodologists A.P. Ogurtsov and E.G. Yudin write: “Activity as such is not the exhaustive basis of human existence. If the basis of activity is a consciously formed goal, then the basis of the goal itself lies outside the activity, in the sphere of human ideals and values.”
In order to organize a sequence of actions in accordance with the accepted goal, that is, to organize a program, it is necessary to correlate the goal with the real conditions in which its movement will be carried out and to highlight the conditions that are most significant from the point of view of the goal. This process is carried out by the unit subjective model of significant operating conditions. On the basis of such a model, a person carries out the ordering of actions, means and methods of their implementation in the “action program” link. Both the “model” and the “program” can and should change, adapting to each other in the course of the activity, the goal of the activity remains unchanged (and even then, until a person achieves it or abandons it in favor of another goal ). When characterizing this link, it should be noted the influence of a higher level of self-regulation associated with a person’s semantic orientation, his self-esteem, and all his individually unique past experiences. According to H. Heckhausen, “behavior is determined not by the situation, which can be described “objectively” or by the consensus of several observers, but by the situation as it is given to the subject in his experience, as it exists for him.” Here, in this link, an assessment of the complexity of conditions occurs, which necessarily correlates with self-assessment of one’s capabilities. In this link of self-regulation, one can record the influence of such personal formations as self-esteem, level of aspirations, etc.
The next link in self-regulation is evaluation of results, in which outcome information is compared with success criteria. In order to consciously carry out the sequence of actions when performing a task, you need to constantly “have at hand” information about the success of the results, that is, their constant assessment. Repeatedly in the works of O.A. Konopkin confirmed the fact that distortions in information about results or changes in subjective criteria of success lead to changes in the accuracy, speed and direction of movement. A special problem is the formation of subjective criteria for success. Information about results is usually quite difficult to provide, and it turns out that only a proportion of people improve their results, while for another proportion of people their results may even worsen. Sometimes the subjective criteria of success (result standards) exactly correspond to those specified in the goal, and then recorded in the program and subsequent evaluation of the results obtained. Sometimes they need to be formed by the person himself during orientation in the conditions, and then they depend on the individual characteristics of the person.
It should be noted that the stage of evaluating results in the course of activity and the link of “evaluation of results” are not the same thing, as it may seem at first glance: if the first is just an operation of evaluating the result, then the second is a complex subjective formation based on a number of mental processes, which itself can grow into an independent assessment activity and serve other types of activities. In this subjective education, an important role is played by subjective assessment criteria, which, from a variety of objective assessments, fixed objectively in the experience of human activity, are chosen by a specific person, based on his own experience and his own capabilities.
Based on information from the unit evaluation of results in the link correction of results a decision is made about whether changes need to be made and, if necessary, where and what, or based on the result, the goal can be considered achieved. And here an extremely important role is played by subjective correction criteria, which are formed according to the same laws as subjective evaluation criteria. The difference between subjective correction criteria is their connection not with the assessment of the compliance of the result with what was planned, but with the assessment of the changes that need to be made to already completed actions and the unsatisfactory result in order to bring this result into line with the external requirements imposed by the activity itself, and internal requirements (subjectively measured tasks, subjective states).
Summarizing the role of self-regulation in the organization of action, we note the thought of H. Heckhausen: “Action, as a rule, is accompanied by a kind of framing self-awareness, more precisely, a reflection of the fact that the subject, through his actions, changes the situation in a certain direction, that he strives for one or another goal state and assumes achieve it." This reflexive accompaniment of action is never impartial; in any of its links it is influenced by the past experience of the individual and some of his individual characteristics, in particular motivational orientation, and the semantic sphere, in the units of which the personality “means” (A.N. Leontiev’s term) all external impressions. Only conditionally, for the purposes of scientific knowledge, we can separate activity self-regulation from semantic self-regulation; in the case of a really active subject, they closely interact.
Stable individual characteristics of self-organization and management of external and internal purposeful activity determine stylistic features of self-regulation of human behavior. The phenomenon of self-regulation style is manifested in the way a person plans and programs the achievement of life goals, takes into account significant external and internal conditions, evaluates results and adjusts his activity to achieve subjectively acceptable results, to the extent that self-organization processes are developed and conscious. The individual profile of various regulatory processes and the level of development of general self-regulation are prerequisites for the success of mastering new types of activity and the formation of an individual style of activity in its various types.
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The behavior of a subordinate in an organization is the result of a complex combination of various influences. Some influences are conscious and others are not; some are rational and some are irrational; some are consistent with the organization's goals and others are not. That is why, in order to predict and successfully regulate the behavior and activities of subordinates, the manager must know what the personality of an individual member of the organization is, why he acts in typical situations exactly as he does, and how (by means of which) it is advisable to regulate his behavior and activities.
There is an age-old question in management science: who or what should a leader manage? To whom does it direct its impact - the individual or the organization? Until recently, most scientists decided this issue in favor of the organization. The new approach to management is increasingly based on recognizing the priority of the individual over production, profit, and the organization as a whole. It is precisely this formulation of the question that constitutes the culture of modern management.
A subordinate, as a rule, is a fully developed personality, bound by prevailing social norms, possessing his own individual traits, who has experienced significant influence from many previous groups (and not always a positive influence).
The behavior of a subordinate in certain situations is formed on the basis of the experience of his entire previous life. A person’s attitude towards certain people, phenomena, situations, processes leads to the emergence of corresponding behavior. Overall the nature of our behavior is subject to constant exposure to various internal and external factors.
TO main internal factors can be attributed:
* fulfillment of a certain social role;
* appropriate status in the organization;
* degree of emotional closeness with others;
* previous life and professional experience;
* belonging to a certain culture and subculture;
* specific situation and topic of conversation;
* mood at the moment.
Along with internal factors, a number of factors have a significant impact on employee behavior. external factors:
* social environment represented by specific employees both “vertically” and “horizontally”;
* expecting certain behavior from an employee;
* orientation towards certain behavioral stereotypes approved in the organization.
Socialization of the individual, regulation of his social behavior is carried out through systems of social regulation of behavior and activity. It includes the following main components: regulators:
*social position;
*social role;
*social norms;
*social expectations (expectations);
*social values, expressed in the value orientations of the individual;
*social attitudes;
techniques and methods:
*direct or immediate(persuasion, coercion, suggestion, requirement of model behavior based on imitation, that is, the implementation of the principle “Do as ...");
*indirect or indirect(“personal example”, “orienting situation”, “changing or maintaining role elements”, “use of symbols and rituals”, “stimulation”).
Let's take a closer look at the elements of the social regulation system. The inherent nature of a given social group has a serious influence on the formation of certain regulators. mentality. The concept of “mentality” is a set of basic and fairly stable psychological guidelines, traditions, habits, life attitudes, patterns of behavior that are inherited from past generations and inherent in a given society, group, nation and a certain cultural tradition; this is a certain stereotype of perception and assessment of reality and behavioral self-regulation. Based on the group mentality, an individual mentality is formed. In fact, individual mentality includes the main regulators of social behavior and is their integrated expression.
Let us now take a closer look at the regulators themselves. An important regulator of an individual’s behavior is the position he occupies. social position, that is, the social position of an individual, with which his certain rights and obligations are associated, generally independent of individual qualities. Positions placed in a hierarchy on some basis (property, power, competence) have different status and prestige in public opinion. Each position prescribes a number of objective requirements for the persons occupying them and requires their compliance. In other words, through its requirements, a position regulates the behavior of everyone who occupies it.
The requirements of the position determine a unique model of behavior. It receives its complete expression in the concept "social role" that is, a social function, a model of behavior, objectively determined by the social position of the individual. The word "role" is borrowed from the theater and, as there, it means prescribed actions for those who occupy a certain social position.
When we reach a new step on the career ladder, we are forced to behave in accordance with our new position, even if we feel out of place. And then, one fine day, something amazing happens. We notice that new behavior is not difficult for us. Thus, we entered into the role, and it became as familiar to us as slippers.
About the same thing happens to our subordinate. When he joins an organization, he becomes involved in a system of complex relationships, occupying several positions in it. Each position corresponds to a set of requirements, norms, rules and behavior patterns that define a social role in a given organization as a subordinate, partner, participant in various events, etc. A member of the organization occupying each of these positions is expected to behave accordingly. The adaptation process will be the more successful the more the norms and values of the organization are or become the norms or values of its individual member, the faster and more successfully he accepts and assimilates his social roles in the organization.
The social role regulates the behavior of the individual in the main, fundamental issues, determines the model of behavior in general. This, however, does not deny the personal, subjective coloring of the role, which manifests itself in the styles of role behavior and the level of activity of performance.
The concept of “social role” is changeable. It is enough to compare the content of the concept “entrepreneur” in the pre-October period and now. The greatest changes occur in the process of intensive social development. The fulfillment of a social role must comply with accepted social norms and the expectations of others, regardless of the individual characteristics of the individual.
Each culture has its own ideas about generally accepted behavior. Most often these ideas are united by the concept "social norm". Norms guide our behavior so subtly that we hardly recognize their existence. Norms as ideas of members of society about what is proper, acceptable, possible, desirable or about what is unacceptable, impossible, undesirable, etc. are an important means of social regulation of the behavior of individuals and groups.
Norms play the role of integration, ordering, and ensuring the functioning of society as a system. With the help of norms, the requirements and attitudes of society and social groups are translated into standards, models, and standards of behavior for representatives of these groups and in this form are addressed to individuals. The assimilation and use of norms is a condition for the formation of a person as a representative of a particular social group. By observing them, a person becomes included in a group, in society.
At the same time, an individual’s behavior is also regulated by the attitude of others towards us, their expectation from us of certain actions appropriate to a given situation. Social, role expectations (expectations) - these are usually unformalized requirements, prescriptions of models of social behavior, relationships, etc. and taking the form of expectations of certain behavior (for example, an employee must work well, a specialist must know his job well). Expectations reflect the degree of commitment, the need for members of a group, society, a prescribed model of behavior, relationships, without which the group cannot function. Among the main functions of expectations, one can highlight the streamlining of interaction, increasing the reliability of the system of social connections, consistency of actions and relationships, increasing the efficiency of the adaptation process (primarily regulation and forecast).
Individual behavior is seriously influenced by social values, that is, significant phenomena and objects of reality that meet the needs of society, social group and individual.
The values of society and group, refracted through the perception and experience of each individual, become value orientations of the individual (VOL), that is, values go from being purely “public” to “mine.” Thus, the value orientations of an individual are the social values shared by this individual, which act as goals of life and the main means of achieving these goals. Being a reflection of the fundamental social interests of the individual, COLs express the subjective social position of individuals, their worldview and moral principles.
The greatest importance for the regulation of social behavior is formed social attitudes of a given individual, that is, a person’s general orientation towards a certain social object, phenomenon, predisposition to act in a certain way regarding a given object, phenomenon. Social attitudes include a number of phases: cognitive, that is, the perception and awareness of the object (goal); emotional, that is, an emotional assessment of the object (mood and internal mobilization); and finally, behavioral, that is, the readiness to carry out a series of sequential actions in relation to the object (behavioral readiness).
These are the main regulators of an individual’s social behavior. The first four (position, role, norms and expectations) are relatively static in nature and are the simplest. Sometimes in the psychological literature they are combined with the concept of “external motivation of a subordinate.”
COL and social attitude are the most complex regulators and provide for the active interaction of the individual with objective reality. They are united by the concept of “internal motivation of subordinates.” Intrinsic motivation is decisive for the success of a person’s activity; it reveals the reason for a person’s desire to do their work efficiently. Let's remember the well-known rule: in order to force a person to do something, he must want to do it. The value orientations of the individual and the social attitudes of the subordinate form this “want”.
Of particular interest is question about techniques and methods of influence , allowing for the transfer of external environmental requirements to the level of internal regulators.
Orienting situation. The essence of this method is that conditions are created under which subordinates begin to act on their own, without coercion or reminders, according to the logic of the designed circumstances. In other words, a person himself chooses the method of behavior, but his choice is consciously directed by the leader who organizes the appropriate conditions.
What are the advantages of this method? Firstly, a person included in an orienting situation, although he acts according to the logic of circumstances and conditions, nevertheless chooses specific methods of action and behavior himself. This increases independence and responsibility. Secondly, the opportunity for creativity of the individual and the team always remains. The situation directs actions, but does not dictate how to perform them. Thirdly, the method allows everyone to take the place of the other, that is, change roles.
Changing role characteristics. This method is based on the use of the role and the expectations associated with it as factors regulating a person’s activities and behavior. Changing some elements of a role causes changes in the behavior of individuals and entire groups. For example, you can assign a subordinate the duties of a temporarily absent immediate supervisor. In most cases, this stimulates a different attitude towards business, increases responsibility and diligence in one’s area of work. In another case, a subordinate is entrusted with a responsible task. Moreover, it is emphasized that the result of this task is very important for the organization, for each of its members. Thanks to the use of this method, the subordinate, in addition to high-quality performance of the task, begins to fulfill his official duties more responsibly.
Stimulation. The main rule when using this method is that it must be deserved and at the same time some kind of “advance”. When summing up, it is advisable to first talk about the positive, and then about the shortcomings. Incentives should be structured in such a way that the individual is aware of the prospects for career and professional growth. To the number the most important incentives The subordinate's activities include:
* material and monetary incentives;
* creating opportunities for distinction, prestige and personal influence;
* maintaining good operating conditions (cleanliness, a calm, friendly environment or the presence of a separate office, computer, etc.);
* pride in the profession, in belonging to a given organization, in the status position occupied in this organization;
* satisfaction with relationships with colleagues in the organization;
*a sense of involvement in large and important affairs of the organization.
Based on a number of psychological studies, we point out that monetary reward will achieve its goal if its amount is no less than 15-20% from official salary. Otherwise, the reward will be perceived indifferently, as something taken for granted. Well, if the amount of the remuneration does not exceed 5% of the salary, it is perceived negatively (“It would be better not to have this remuneration”).
Use of rituals and symbols. Time-tested forms of work include the ritual of introducing young employees into a specialty, dedicating them to members of the organization, the ritual of rewarding advanced employees, birthday greetings, joint holding of sporting events and recreation, etc. This will be discussed in more detail in the next paragraph.
So, In managing the regulation of social behavior and personality activity of a subordinate, the manager must:
* treat him not only as an object of leadership, but as an individual, an interaction partner;
* constantly focus on the best features, qualities, and virtues of the people he leads;
* organically combine direct and indirect management methods;
* make full use of the team's capabilities.
The organizational aspect of mental activity and the conscious regulation of human behavior and activity are ensured by volitional processes. The main purpose of the will is to consciously program one’s own behavior, which is characteristic only of humans. Acts of will are characterized by overcoming not only external difficulties and obstacles that arise in activity, but first of all by a person overcoming himself, his own immediate desires and aspirations. Volitional behavior differs significantly from “field” behavior, which is determined by the situation and various external stimuli.
In an act of will, the struggle of multidirectional motives can always be traced. Volitional behavior presupposes a person’s conscious choice of motivation that meets the goal and its strengthening. However, a person’s immediate impulses can also prevail, and then the activity loses the character of volitional regulation. An act of will always involves cognitive processes - thinking and imagination, which make it possible to imagine the development of a situation and consciously approach the prediction of the consequences of choosing a line of behavior, as well as evaluate the “costs” of actions that can be committed under the influence of impulsive immediate desires. The image of the desired result acquires additional motivating power if it is associated in the mind with positive emotions and the expectation of a favorable result of the chosen behavior. Thus, volitional regulation is constructed as a meaningful choice of the “direction of movement” and methods of action in accordance with the goals set. A semantic choice in favor of one of the motives means that the struggle of motives is completed. Making a decision and developing a plan to achieve a goal ensures the integrity of the behavior of the person who has the intention.
Let's list Main characteristics deliberate volitional behavior of a person:
Volitional regulation is necessary so that for a long time a person is able to hold the object with which he interacts in the field of consciousness. The will is involved in the regulation of all mental processes: sensations, perception, memory, thinking, attention, imagination. In the course of mental development, in the process of formation of higher mental functions, a person acquires the ability of volitional control over his impulses, as a result of which his motivational sphere takes the form of a hierarchy, and behavior is constructed as internally determined. The voluntary movement provides the opportunity to develop various motor skills and actions. In addition, the development of will is associated with the formation of volitional qualities of the individual, which form the basis of character.
Education of will in children is a complex process associated with their general intellectual and personal development. Of particular importance in the development of arbitrariness of mental processes and behavior are various types of activities (constructive object-based, play, educational), which rebuild the mechanisms of mental regulation of the child, forming his ability to arbitrarily regulate mental processes and behavior.
Structure of volitional action includes several levels. Any volitional action begins with awareness of the purpose of the action and the motive associated with it, as a result of which a person either first vaguely feels his desires, or already begins to understand his desires. “Active” motives can come into conflict with opposite motivational and value formations, as a result of which a person will need to evaluate all the pros and cons in the current situation and make a final decision about the goal and methods of future action. A decision-making situation requires a person to be decisive and understand responsibility for the consequences of his choice. This level can be considered as the core, the central link of volitional action. Subsequently, volitional regulation ensures the execution of the decision made - either immediately or with a temporary delay. The result of volitional effort is an external action or, conversely, its “inhibition”, if such was the decision made.
In everyday life, there is usually no difficulty in identifying phenomena that relate to manifestations of the will. Volitional includes all actions and deeds that are performed not out of internal desires, but out of necessity, as well as those actions that are associated with overcoming various life difficulties and obstacles. In addition, there are a number of personality traits that are traditionally designated as volitional: perseverance, endurance, determination, patience, etc.
In scientific psychology there is no such clarity; the concept of will is one of the most complex in psychological science. Moreover, the problem of will is often completely denied - instead, the regulation of behavior in connection with the needs, motives, desires and goals of a person is discussed. Within the framework of the motivational approach, will is considered as the ability to initiate action or strengthen the impulse to action when it is deficient due to major and/or internal obstacles, the absence of an actual experienced desire to act, or in the presence of motives competing with the action being performed.
Will is interpreted by researchers both as an independent mental process, and as an aspect of most other mental processes and phenomena, and as a unique ability of an individual to voluntarily control his behavior. The complexity of the scientific understanding of will is explained by the fact that it is closely connected with an extremely psychological phenomenon - consciousness - and is one of its most important attributes. Being closely connected also with the motivational sphere of the individual, will is a special voluntary form of human activity.
In its most general form, the concept will can be defined as a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior and activities associated with overcoming internal and external obstacles (Fig. 17).
Rice. 17. Functions of the will
Volitional processes ensure the performance of two interrelated functions: incentive and inhibitory. The first - incentive - is directly related to motivational factors and consists in initiating one or another action, activity to overcome objective and subjective obstacles. Will is a special form of human activity. Unlike reactivity, when an action occurs in response to an external situation (a person is called out - he turns around), volitional activity generates action based on the internal state of the subject, his desires and goals.
Behavior, which is a set of reactive-impulsive responses to environmental stimuli, is called in psychology field Field behavior can be observed in young children, as well as in some mental disorders of adults. In contrast to unintentional field behavior, a person’s own activity is arbitrary and purposeful. It is supra-situational, i.e. goes beyond the limits of the given situation and is associated with setting goals that are redundant in relation to the original task.
The second function of volitional processes - inhibitory - consists of restraining motives and desires that are inconsistent with the main goals of activity, ideals, values, views, and worldview of the individual. In their unity, the inhibitory and incentive functions of the will ensure overcoming difficulties on the way to achieving the goal, i.e. provide volitional regulation of human behavior.
Volitional actions are realized in volitional acts that have a certain structure and content. Volitional acts can be simple and complex. In a simple act of will, the impulse to action turns into action itself almost automatically. In a complex volitional act, action is preceded by taking into account its consequences, awareness of motives, decision-making, intention to carry it out, and drawing up a plan for implementation. Thus, the structure of a complex act of will is formed by the following main stages: 1) the emergence of motives for activity; 2) struggle of motives; 3) decision on action; 4) execution of the decision made. Often the 1st, 2nd and 3rd stages are combined, calling this part of the volitional action preparatory stage The 4th stage is in this case executive level.
Motivation is the actualization of motivation with awareness and setting of a goal towards which this action is directed. The goal is the desired or intended result of an action aimed at an object with the help of which a person intends to satisfy a particular need.
The situation of the struggle of motives as specific stimulants of action (one desire is opposed to another, collides with it) can require a person to master his behavior and forces him to make appropriate efforts to comprehend it. The struggle of motives is the stronger, the more weighty the opposing motives are, the more equal in strength and significance they are for a person.
Possible ways and means of achieving a goal are correlated with a person’s systemic values, including beliefs, feelings, norms of behavior, and driving needs. The stage of the struggle of motives and the choice of ways to achieve a goal is central in a complex act of will.
Having assessed the situation, weighing various motives and possible consequences of his actions, a person makes a decision. At the same time, he sets himself a specific task and draws up an action plan. This stage is characterized by a decline in internal tension that accompanied the struggle of motives. Volitional action ends with the execution of the decision made.
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 also involves overcoming obstacles. The duration of each stage varies in different cases, and there are no clear transitions between them.
In most cases, decision-making and volitional behavior in general are associated with great internal tension, sometimes acquiring a stressful nature. The presence of volitional effort experienced by the subject is a very characteristic feature of the volitional act.
It should be noted that the concept “volitional regulation of activity and behavior” used in psychology in two main meanings. In the first (broad) meaning, this concept essentially covers voluntary regulation as a whole. In this case, it is understood as the highest, i.e. voluntarily controlled, conscious level of regulation of behavior and activity. In the second (narrow) meaning, volitional regulation of activity and behavior is limited to specific forms of organization and regulation of behavior and activity in complex, often critical conditions.
In volitional actions, personality and its mental processes are manifested, formed and developed. In this regard, another function of the will is identified - genetic. It helps to increase the level of awareness and organization of other mental processes, as well as the formation of the so-called volitional personality traits: independence, determination, perseverance, self-control, determination, etc.
Self-test questions:
1. What are emotions? What are their functions in human life?
2. What types of emotions do you know?
3. How do feelings differ from emotions?
4. What is the difference between moods and affects?
5. What is stress?
6. What are volitional processes and what are their main functions?