Cheat sheet: Will and its main features. Theories of will

Chapter 15. Will

Summary

General characteristics of volitional actions. Will as a process of conscious regulation of behavior. Voluntary and involuntary movements. Features of voluntary movements and actions. Characteristics of volitional actions. The connection between will and feelings.

Basic psychological theories of will. The problem of will in the works of ancient philosophers, The problem of will during the Middle Ages. The concept of “free will” in the Renaissance, Existentialism - “philosophy of existence?. I. P. Pavlov's approach to considering the problem of will. Interpretation of will from the position of behaviorism. The concept of vili in the works of N. A. Bernstein. Psychoanalytic concepts of will.

Physiological and motivational aspects of volitional actions. Physiological foundations of will. Apraxia and abulia. The role of the second signaling system in the formation of volitional actions. Main and secondary motives of volitional actions. The role of needs, emotions, interests and worldview in the formation of volitional actions.

Structure strong-willed actions. Components of volitional actions. The role of drive and desires in the formation of motives and goals of activity. Content, goals and nature of volitional action. Decisiveness and the decision-making process. Types of determination according to James. The struggle of motives and the execution of the decision.

Strong-willed human qualities and their development. Basic qualities of will. Self-control and self-esteem. The main stages and patterns of formation of volitional actions in a child. The role of conscious discipline in the formation of will.

15.1. General characteristics of volitional actions

Any human activity is always accompanied by specific actions, which can be divided into two large groups: voluntary and involuntary. The main difference between voluntary actions is that they are carried out under the control of consciousness and require certain efforts on the part of the person aimed at achieving a consciously set song. For example, let’s imagine a sick person who with difficulty takes a glass of water in his hand, brings it to his mouth, tilts it, makes movements with his mouth, i.e. performs a whole series of actions united by one goal - to quench his thirst. All individual actions, thanks to the efforts of consciousness aimed at regulating behavior, merge into one whole, and the person drinks water. These efforts are often called volitional regulation, or 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 main function of the will is the conscious regulation of activity in difficult living conditions. This regulation is based on the interaction of the processes of excitation and inhibition of the nervous system. In accordance with this, it is customary to single out two other functions as a specification of the above general 4" function - activating and inhibitory.

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Voluntary or volitional actions develop on the basis of involuntary movements and actions. The simplest of involuntary movements are reflex ones: constriction and dilation of the pupil, blinking, swallowing, sneezing, etc. The same class of movements includes withdrawing a hand when touching a hot object, involuntarily turning the head towards a sound, etc. Involuntary nature Our expressive movements are also usually worn: when we are angry, we involuntarily clench our teeth; when surprised, we raise our eyebrows or open our mouth; when we are happy about something, we begin to smile, etc.

Behavior, like actions, can be involuntary or voluntary. The involuntary type of behavior mainly includes impulsive actions and unconscious, not subordinated to a common goal, reactions, for example to noise behind a window, an object that can satisfy a need, etc. Involuntary behavior also includes human behavioral reactions observed in situations of affect, when a person is under the influence of an emotional state uncontrolled by consciousness.

In contrast to involuntary actions, conscious actions, which are more characteristic of human behavior, are aimed at achieving a set goal. It is the consciousness of actions that characterizes volitional behavior. However, volitional actions can include as separate links such movements that, during the formation of the skill, became automated and lost their initially conscious character.

Volitional actions differ from each other primarily in the level of their complexity. There are very complex volitional actions that include a number of simpler ones. Thus, the above example, when a person wants to quench his thirst, gets up, pours water into a glass, etc., is an example of complex volitional behavior, which includes individual less complex volitional actions. But there are even more complex volitional actions. For example, climbers who decide to conquer a mountain peak begin their preparation long before the ascent. This includes training, inspecting equipment, adjusting bindings, choosing a route, etc. But the main difficulties lie ahead when they begin their ascent.

The basis for complicating actions is the fact that not every goal that we set can be achieved immediately. Most often, achieving a goal requires performing a number of intermediate actions that bring us closer to the goal.

Another important sign of volitional behavior is its connection with overcoming obstacles, regardless of what type these obstacles are - internal or external. Internal, or subjective, obstacles are a person’s motivations aimed at not performing a given action or at performing actions that are opposite to it. For example, a schoolchild wants to play with toys, but at the same time he needs to do his homework. Internal obstacles can include fatigue, the desire to have fun, inertia, laziness, etc. An example of external obstacles can be, for example, the lack of the necessary tools for work or the opposition of other people who do not want the goal to be achieved.

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It should be noted that not every action aimed at overcoming an obstacle is volitional. For example, a person running away from a dog can overcome very difficult obstacles and even climb a tall tree, but these actions are not volitional, since they are caused primarily by external reasons, and not by the person’s internal attitudes. Thus, the most important feature of volitional actions aimed at overcoming obstacles is the awareness of the significance of the goal set, for which one must fight, the awareness of the need to achieve it. The more significant a goal is for a person, the more obstacles he overcomes. Therefore, volitional actions can differ not only in the degree of their complexity, but also in the degree awareness.

Usually we are more or less clearly aware of why we perform certain actions, we know the goal we are striving to achieve. There are times when a person is aware of what he is doing, but cannot explain why he is doing it. Most often this happens when a person is overwhelmed by some strong feelings and experiences emotional arousal. Such actions are usually called impulsive. The degree of awareness of such actions is greatly reduced. Having committed rash actions, a person often repents of what he did. But the will lies precisely in the fact that a person is able to restrain himself from committing rash acts during affective outbursts. Therefore, the will is connected with mental activity And feelings.

Will implies the presence of a person’s sense of purpose, which requires certain thought processes. The manifestation of thinking is expressed in conscious choice goals and selection funds to achieve it. Thinking is also necessary during the execution of a planned action. Carrying out our intended action, we encounter many difficulties. For example, the conditions for performing an action may change or it may be necessary to change the means of achieving the goal. Therefore, in order to achieve the set goal, a person must constantly compare the goals of the action, the conditions and means of its implementation and make the necessary adjustments in a timely manner. Without the participation of thinking, volitional actions would be devoid of consciousness, that is, they would cease to be volitional actions.

The connection between will and feelings is expressed in the fact that, as a rule, we pay attention to objects and phenomena that evoke certain feelings in us. The desire to achieve or achieve something, just like to avoid something unpleasant, is associated with our feelings. What is indifferent to us and does not evoke any emotions, as a rule, does not act as a goal of action. However, it is a mistake to believe that only feelings are sources of volitional actions. Often we are faced with a situation where feelings, on the contrary, act as an obstacle to achieving our goal. Therefore, we have to make volitional efforts to resist the negative effects of emotions. Convincing confirmation that feelings are not the only source of our actions are pathological cases of loss of the ability to experience feelings while maintaining the ability to act consciously. Thus, the sources of volitional actions are very diverse. Before we begin to consider them, we need to get acquainted with the main and most famous theories of the will and how they reveal the reasons for the emergence of volitional actions in humans.

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15.2. Basic psychological theories of will

Understanding will as a real factor of behavior has its own history. At the same time, two aspects can be distinguished in views on the nature of this mental phenomenon: philosophical and ethical and natural science. They are closely intertwined and can only be considered in interaction with each other.

During antiquity and the Middle Ages, the problem of will was not considered from the positions characteristic of its modern understanding. Ancient philosophers considered purposeful or conscious human behavior only from the perspective of its compliance with generally accepted norms. In the ancient world, the ideal of the sage was primarily recognized, therefore ancient philosophers believed that the rules of human behavior should correspond to the rational principles of nature and life, the rules of logic. Thus, according to Aristotle, the nature of the will is expressed in the formation of a logical conclusion. For example, in his “Nicomachean Ethics” the premise “all sweet things must be eaten” and the condition “these apples are sweet” do not entail the injunction “this apple must be eaten,” but a conclusion about the necessity of a specific action - eating an apple. Therefore, the source of our conscious actions lies in the human mind.

It should be noted that such views on the nature of the will are completely justified and therefore continue to exist today. For example, Sh. N. Chkhartishvili opposes the special nature of will, believing that concepts target And awareness are categories of intellectual behavior, and, in his opinion, there is no need to introduce new terms here. This point of view is justified by the fact that thought processes are an integral component of volitional actions.

In fact, the problem of will did not exist as an independent problem during the Middle Ages. Man was considered by medieval philosophers as an exclusively passive principle, as a “field” on which external forces meet. Moreover, very often in the Middle Ages the will was endowed with independent existence and even personified in specific forces, turning into good or evil beings. However, in this interpretation, the will acted as a manifestation of a certain mind that set itself certain goals. Knowledge of these forces - good or evil, according to medieval philosophers, opens the way to knowledge of the “true” reasons for the actions of a particular person.

Consequently, the concept of will during the Middle Ages was more associated with certain higher powers. This understanding of will in the Middle Ages was due to the fact that society denied the possibility of independent, i.e., independent of traditions and the established order, behavior of a particular member of society. A person was considered as the simplest element of society, and the set of characteristics that modern scientists put into the concept of “personality” acted as a program by which ancestors lived and by which a person should live. The right to deviate from these norms was recognized only for some members of the community, for example, for a blacksmith - a man who is subject to the power of fire and metal, or for a robber - a criminal who opposed myself given society, etc.

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It is likely that the independent problem of will arose simultaneously with the formulation of the problem of personality. This happened during the Renaissance, when people began to recognize the right to creativity and even to make mistakes. The opinion began to prevail that only by deviating from the norm, standing out from the general mass of people, could a person become an individual. At the same time, freedom of will was considered to be the main value of the individual.

Using historical facts, we must note that the emergence of the problem of free will was not accidental. The first Christians proceeded from the fact that a person has free will, that is, he can act in accordance with his conscience, he can make a choice about how to live, act and what standards to follow. During the Renaissance, free will generally began to be elevated to the rank of absolute.

Subsequently, the absolutization of free will led to the emergence of a worldview existentialism -"philosophy of existence". Existentialism (M. Heidegger, K. Jaspers, J. P. Sartre, A. Camus, etc.) considers freedom as absolutely free will. not conditioned by any external social circumstances. The starting point of this concept is an abstract person, taking outside social connections and relationships, outside the socio-cultural environment. A person, according to representatives of this movement, cannot be connected with society in any way, and even more so he cannot be bound by any moral obligations or responsibility. A person is free and cannot be responsible for anything. For him, any norm acts as a suppression of his free will. According to J. P. Sartre, only a spontaneous unmotivated protest against any “sociality” can be truly human, and not in any way ordered, not bound by any framework of organizations, programs, parties, etc. .

This interpretation of will contradicts modern ideas about man. As we noted in the first chapters, the main difference between humans as a representative of the species Noto 5ar1ep5 from the animal world lies in its social nature. A human being, developing outside of human society, has only an external resemblance to a person, and in its mental essence has nothing in common with people.

The absolutization of free will led representatives of existentialism to an erroneous interpretation of human nature. Their mistake lay in not understanding that a person who commits a certain act aimed at rejecting any existing social norms and values certainly affirms other norms and values. After all, in order to reject something, it is necessary to have a certain alternative, otherwise such denial turns into nonsense at best, and into madness at worst.

One of the first natural scientific interpretations of will belongs to I.P. Pavlov, who viewed it as an “instinct of freedom,” as a manifestation of the activity of a living organism when it encounters obstacles that limit this activity. According to I.P. Pavlov, will as an “instinct of freedom” is no less a stimulus for behavior than the instincts of hunger and danger. “If it weren’t for him,” he wrote, “every slightest obstacle that an animal would encounter on its way would completely interrupt the course of its life” (Pavlov I.P.,

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Kornilov Konstantin Nikolaevich(1879-1957) - domestic psychologist. He began his scientific activity as an employee of G.I. Chelpanov. For several years he worked at the Institute of Psychology created by Chelpanov. In 1921 he wrote the book “The Teaching of Human Reactions.” In 1923-1924. began active work to create a materialistic psychology. The central place in his views was occupied by the position of the psyche as a special property of highly organized matter. This work ended with the creation of the concept of reactology, which, as Marxist psychology, Kornilov tried to contrast, on the one hand, with Bekhterev’s reflexology, and on the other, with introspective psychology. The main provision of this concept was the provision of “reaction”, which was considered as the primary element of life, similar to a reflex and at the same time differing from it by the presence of a “mental side”. As a result of the so-called “reactological discussion” held in 1931, Kornilov abandoned his views. Subsequently he studied problems of will and character. He headed the Moscow Institute of Psychology.

1952). For a human action, such an obstacle can be not only an external obstacle limiting motor activity, but also the content of his own consciousness, his interests, etc. Thus, the will in the interpretation of I. P. Pavlov is reflexive in nature, i.e. It manifests itself in the form of a response to an influencing stimulus. Therefore, it is no coincidence that this interpretation has found the widest distribution among representatives of behaviorism and received support in reactology (K. N. Kornilov) and reflexology (V. M. Bekhterev). Meanwhile, if we accept this interpretation of the will as true, then we must conclude that the will of a person depends on external conditions, and therefore, the act of will does not fully depend on the person.

In recent decades, another concept has been gaining strength and is finding an increasing number of supporters, according to which human behavior is understood as initially active, and the person himself is considered as endowed with the ability to consciously choose a form of behavior. This point of view is successfully supported by research in the field of physiology conducted by N. A. Bernstein and P. K. Anokhin. According to the concept formed on the basis of these studies, will is understood as a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior. This regulation is expressed in the ability to see and overcome internal and external obstacles.

In addition to these points of view, there are other concepts of will. Thus, within the framework of the psychoanalytic concept, at all stages of its evolution from Z. Freud to E. Fromm, attempts were repeatedly made to concretize the idea of will as a unique energy of human actions. For representatives of this direction, the source of people’s actions is a certain biological energy of a living organism transformed into a mental form. Freud himself believed that this is the psychosexual energy of sexual desire.

The evolution of these ideas in the concepts of Freud's students and followers is very interesting. For example, K. Lorenz sees the energy of will in the original

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human aggressiveness. If this aggressiveness is not realized in forms of activity permitted and sanctioned by society, it becomes socially dangerous, since it can result in unmotivated criminal actions. A. Adler, K. G. Jung, K. Horney, E. Fromm associate the manifestation of will with social factors. For Jung, these are universal archetypes of behavior and thinking inherent in every culture; for Adler, they are the desire for power and social dominance; and for Horney and Fromm, they are the individual’s desire for self-realization in culture.

By In fact, various concepts of psychoanalysis represent an absolutization of individual, albeit essential, needs as sources of human actions. It’s not so much the exaggerations themselves that cause objections, How many a general interpretation of the driving forces aimed, according to adherents of psychoanalysis, at self-preservation and maintaining the integrity of the human individual. In practice, very often the manifestation of will is associated with the ability to resist the need for self-preservation and maintaining the integrity of the human body. This confirms the heroic behavior of people in extreme conditions with a real threat to life.

In reality, the motives of volitional actions develop and arise as a result of a person’s active interaction with the outside world, and primarily with society. Free will does not mean the denial of the universal laws of nature and society, but presupposes knowledge of them and the choice of adequate behavior.

15.3. Physiological and motivational aspects of volitional actions

Volitional actions, like all mental phenomena, are associated with the activity of the brain and, along with other aspects of the psyche, have a material basis for a number of nervous processes.

The material basis of voluntary movements is the activity of the so-called giant pyramidal cells, located in one of the layers of the cerebral cortex in the region of the anterior central gyrus and whose size is many times larger than the other nerve cells surrounding them. These cells are very often called “Betz cells” after the professor of anatomy at Kiev University V.A. Betz, who first described them in 1874. Impulses for movement originate in them, and from here fibers originate, forming a massive bundle that goes deep brain, descends, passes inside the spinal cord and ultimately reaches the muscle on the opposite side of the body (pyramid path).

All pyramidal cells can be conditionally divided into three groups, depending on their location and functions (Fig. 15.1). Thus, in the upper sections of the anterior central gyrus there are cells that send impulses to the lower extremities, in the middle sections there are cells that send impulses to the hand, and in the lower sections there are cells that activate the muscles of the tongue,

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Rice. 15.1. Motor centers of the cerebral cortex in humans (according to Greenstein)

lips, larynx. All these cells and nerve pathways are the motor apparatus of the cerebral cortex. If one or another pyramidal cell is damaged, a person experiences paralysis of the corresponding organs of movement.

Voluntary movements are not performed in isolation from each other, but in a complex system of purposeful action. This occurs due to a certain organization of interaction between individual parts of the brain. A major role here is played by areas of the brain that, although not motor areas, provide the organization of motor (or kinesthetic) sensitivity necessary for the regulation of movements. These areas are located posterior to the anterior central gyrus. If they are defeated, a person ceases to feel his own movements and is therefore unable to perform even relatively simple actions, for example, taking an object located near him. The difficulties that arise in these cases are characterized by the fact that a person selects the wrong movements that he needs.

The selection of movements in itself is not sufficient for the action to be performed skillfully. It is necessary to ensure continuity of individual phases of movement. This smoothness of movement is ensured by the activity premotor zone cortex, which lies anterior to the anterior central gyrus. When this part of the cortex is damaged, the patient does not experience any paralysis (as with damage to the anterior central gyrus) and there are no difficulties in selecting movements (as with damage to areas of the cortex located behind the anterior central gyrus), but significant awkwardness is noted. A person ceases to control movements the way he previously controlled them. Moreover, he ceases to master the acquired skill, and the development of complex motor skills in these cases turns out to be impossible.

In some cases, when damage to this part of the cortex extends deep into the medulla, the following phenomenon is observed: having performed any movement, a person cannot stop it and continues for some time.

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From the history of psychology

Pathology of the will is most often expressed in a violation of the regulation of human behavior. This can manifest itself either in a violation of criticality or in spontaneity of behavior. As an illustration, we present several descriptions of similar patients from the book “Patopsychology” by B.V. Zeigarnik.

“...The behavior of these patients revealed pathological features. The adequacy of their behavior was apparent. So, they helped the nurses and orderlies if they asked them, but they were just as willing to fulfill any request, even if it went against accepted norms of behavior. So, patient K. took cigarettes and money from another patient without permission, because someone “asked him to do this”; another patient, Ch., who strictly obeyed the hospital regime, “wanted to swim in a cold lake on the eve of the operation, because someone said that the water was warm.”

In other words, their behavior and actions could be equally adequate and inadequate, because they were dictated not by internal needs, but by purely situational factors. In the same way, their lack of complaints was due not to restraint, not to the desire to disguise their defect, but to the fact that they were not aware of either their experiences or somatic sensations.

These patients did not make any plans for the future: they equally readily agreed both with the fact that they were not able to work in their previous profession, and with the fact that they could successfully continue their previous activities. Patients rarely wrote letters to their family and friends, and were not upset or worried when they did not receive letters. The absence of feelings of grief or joy often appeared in medical histories when describing the mental status of such patients. The feeling of caring for the family, the ability to plan their actions were alien to them. They did the work conscientiously, but with such same could have quit with success her at any moment.

After being discharged from the hospital, such a patient could equally well go home or to a friend who accidentally called him.

The patients' actions were dictated neither by internal motives nor by their needs. The patients' attitude towards their surroundings was profoundly changed. This changed attitude appears especially clearly if we analyze not the individual actions of the patient, but his behavior in a work situation. Labor activity is aimed at achieving the product of activity and is determined by a person’s attitude towards this activity and her product.

Consequently, the presence of such an attitude towards the final result forces a person to provide for certain particulars and details, compare individual links of his work, and make corrections. Labor activity includes task planning, control of one’s actions; it is, first of all, purposeful and conscious. Therefore, the disintegration of the action of aspontaneous patients, deprived of precisely this attitude, is most easily manifested in the work situation of training.

...WITH. Y. Rubinstein notes that [such] patients, having started to do something, rarely stopped working on their own initiative: this happened only when there were some

time to perform it many times in a row. Thus, when preparing to write the number “2” and having made the movement necessary to write the upper circle of the number, a person with a similar lesion continues the same movement and, instead of completing the writing of the number, writes a large number of circles.

In addition to the indicated areas of the brain, it is worth noting the structures that guide and support the purposefulness of volitional action. Any volitional action is determined by certain motives that must be maintained throughout the entire execution of the movement or action. If this condition is not met, then the movement (action) being performed will be interrupted or replaced by others. Parts of the brain located in the frontal lobes play an important role in maintaining the goal of action. These are the so-called prefrontal cortex, which were the last to form during the evolution of the brain. When they are defeated, apraxia, manifested in a violation of voluntary regulation

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From the history of psychology

external reasons, for example, when a tool breaks down, personnel is prohibited, etc. What attracted attention was the fact that they almost did not regulate their efforts, but worked with the maximum available intensity and pace, contrary to expediency. So, for example, patient A. was assigned to plan a board. He planed it quickly, putting excessive pressure on the plane, did not notice how he had planed it all, and continued planing the workbench. Patient K. was taught to sew stitches, but he so hastily and fussily pulled out the needle and thread, without checking the correctness of the puncture, that the loops turned out ugly and incorrect. He could not work slower, no matter how much he was asked to do so. Meanwhile, if the instructor sat next to the patient and literally “shouted” at the patient with every stitch; "Take your time! Check it out!" - the patient could make the loop beautiful and even, he understood how it needed to be done, but he could not help but rush.

While performing the simplest task, patients always made many unnecessary fussy movements. They tended to work by trial and error. If the instructor asked what they thought needed to be done, then very often he was able to get the right answer. Being, however, left to themselves, patients rarely used their thoughts as an instrument of foresight.

This indifferent attitude towards one’s activities was revealed during the process of experimental learning. For 14 days, systematic training was carried out with these patients: memorizing a poem, folding

mosaics according to the proposed pattern and sorting buttons. A group of patients with massive lesions of the left frontal lobe was identified, in whom clinical and psychological examination revealed a severe aspontaneity syndrome. Patients were able to mechanically learn a poem; they could easily lay out figures from a mosaic, but could not plan rational techniques or modify those suggested to them from the outside in order to consolidate or speed up the work. Thus, laying out a mosaic without a plan, they did not assimilate and did not transfer the techniques proposed to them from the outside, and the next day they repeated the same mistakes; they could not master the educational system that planned their activities. They were not interested in acquiring new learning skills, they were completely indifferent to it, and they were indifferent to the final results. Therefore, they could not develop new skills: they mastered the old skills, but it was difficult for them to master new ones.

Passive, spontaneous behavior was often replaced in these patients by increased responsiveness to random stimuli. Despite the fact that this kind of patient lies without any movement, not interested in his surroundings, he answers the doctor’s question extremely quickly; for all his passivity, he often reacts when the doctor talks with his roommate, interferes in the conversations of others, and becomes intrusive. In reality, this “activity” is not caused by internal motivations. Such behavior should be interpreted as situational.”

By: Zeigarnik B.V. Pathopsychology. - M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1986

movements and actions. A person with such brain damage, having started to perform any action, immediately stops or changes it as a result of some random influence, which makes it impossible to carry out an act of will. In clinical practice, a case was described when such a patient, passing by an open closet, entered it and began to look around helplessly, not knowing what to do next: the mere sight of the open doors of the closet was enough for him to change his original intention and enter closet. The behavior of such patients turns into uncontrollable, disrupted actions.

Due to brain pathology, there may also be abulia, manifested in the absence of motivation for activity, in the inability to make a decision and carry out the necessary action, although its necessity is recognized. Abulia is caused by pathological inhibition of the cortex, as a result of which the intensity of impulses to action is significantly lower than the optimal level. According to

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During the childhood of T. Ribot, one patient, upon recovery, spoke about his condition as follows: “The lack of activity was due to the fact that all my sensations were unusually weak, so that they could not have any influence on my will.”

It should be noted that the second signaling system, which carries out all conscious regulation of human behavior, is of particular importance in the performance of volitional action. The second signaling system activates not only the motor part of human behavior, it is a trigger signal for thinking, imagination, and memory; it also regulates attention, evokes feelings and thus influences the formation motives for volitional actions.

Since we have come to consider the motives of volitional actions, it is necessary to distinguish between motives and the volitional action itself. Under motives of volitional actions refers to the reasons that prompt a person to act. All motives for volitional actions can be divided into two main groups: basic And side effects. Moreover, speaking about two groups of motives, we cannot list the motives included in the first or second group, because in different conditions of activity or for different people the same motive (motivating reason) can be the main one in one case, and in another - side. For example, for one person, the desire for knowledge is the main motive for writing a dissertation, and achieving a certain social position is a secondary one. At the same time, for another person, on the contrary, achieving a certain social status is the main motive, and knowledge is a secondary motive.

The motives for volitional actions are based on needs, emotions and feelings, interests and inclinations, and especially our worldview, our views, beliefs and ideals, which are formed in the process of raising a person.

15.4. Structure of volitional action

Where does volitional action begin? Of course, with awareness of the purpose of the action and the motive associated with it. With a clear awareness of the goal and the motive that causes it, the desire for the goal is usually called desire(Fig. 15.2).

But not every desire for a goal is sufficiently conscious. Depending on the degree of awareness of needs, they are divided into attractions ts desires. If the desire is conscious, then the attraction is always vague, unclear: a person realizes that he wants something, that he lacks something, or that he needs something, but he does not understand what exactly. Usually people experience attraction as a specific painful state in the form of melancholy or uncertainty. Because of its uncertainty, attraction cannot develop into purposeful activity. Therefore, attraction is often viewed as a transitional state. The need presented in it, as a rule, either fades away or is realized and turns into a specific desire.

It should be noted that not every desire leads to action. Desire in itself will not restrain the active element. Before a desire turns into an immediate motive and then into a goal, it is evaluated by a person, i.e.

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Rice. 15.2. Psychological structure of the volitional act

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“filtered” through a person’s value system and receives a certain emotional coloring. Everything related to the realization of a goal is colored in positive tones in the emotional sphere, just as everything that is an obstacle to achieving a goal causes negative emotions.

Having a motivating force, desire sharpens the awareness of the goal of a future action and the construction of its plan. In turn, when forming a goal, a special role is played by its content, character And meaning. The more significant the goal, the more powerful the desire it can generate.

Desires are not always immediately translated into reality. A person sometimes has several uncoordinated and even contradictory desires at once, and he finds himself in a very difficult situation, not knowing which of them to realize. A mental state that is characterized by a collision of several desires or several different motivations for activity is usually called struggle of motives. The struggle of motives includes a person’s assessment of those reasons that speak for and against the need to act in a certain direction, thinking about how exactly to act. The final moment of the struggle of motives is decision-making, consisting in choosing a goal and method of action. When making a decision, a person shows determination; at the same time, he, as a rule, feels responsible for the further course of events. Considering the decision-making process, W. Dzheme identified several types of decisiveness.

1. Reasonable determination manifests itself when opposing motives begin to gradually fade away, leaving room for an alternative that is perceived completely calmly. The transition from doubt to confidence is experienced passively. It seems to a person that the grounds for action are formed on their own in accordance with the conditions of activity.

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 the wrong decision than not to make any. In this case, often some random circumstance upsets the balance, giving one of the prospects an advantage over others, and the person seems to submit to fate.

3. In the absence of motivating reasons, wanting to avoid the unpleasant feeling of indecision, a person begins to act as if automatically, simply striving to move forward. What happens next does not concern him at the moment. As a rule, this type of determination is characteristic of individuals with a vigorous desire for activity.

4. The next type of decisiveness includes cases of moral rebirth, awakening of conscience, etc. In this case, the cessation of internal hesitation occurs due to a change in the scale of values. It is as if an internal turning point occurs in a person, and a determination immediately arises to act in a specific direction.

5. In some cases, a person, without rational grounds, considers a certain course of action more preferable. With the help of the will, he strengthens a motive that by itself could not subjugate the others. Unlike the first case, the functions of the mind here are performed by the will.

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Should note that in psychological science is actively disputes over decision-making problem. On the one hand, the struggle of motives and subsequent decision-making are considered as the main link, the core of the act of will. On the other hand, there is a tendency to exclude from the act of will the internal work of consciousness associated with choice, deliberation and evaluation.

There is another point of view, characteristic of those psychologists who, without rejecting the significance of the struggle of motives and the internal work of consciousness, see the essence of the will in execution of the decision made, since the struggle of motives and the subsequent decision-making do not go beyond subjective states. It is the execution of a decision that constitutes the main point of human volitional activity.

The executive stage of volitional action has a complex structure. First of all, the execution of the decision made is associated with one time or another, i.e., with a certain deadline. If the execution of the decision is postponed for a long period, then in this case it is customary to talk about intention carry out the decision. We usually talk about intention when we are faced with complex activities: for example, entering a university, getting a certain specialty. The simplest volitional actions, such as quenching thirst or hunger, changing the direction of your movement so as not to collide with a person walking towards you, are usually performed immediately. Intention, in its essence, is the internal preparation of a deferred action and represents a decision-fixed focus on achieving a goal. However, intention alone is not enough. As in any other volitional action, if there is an intention, one can distinguish the stage of planning ways to achieve the goal. The plan can be detailed to varying degrees. Some people are characterized by the desire to foresee everything, to plan every step. At the same time, others are content with only the general scheme. In this case, the planned action is not implemented immediately. Its implementation requires conscious volitional effort. Volitional effort is understood as a special state of internal tension or activity, which causes the mobilization of a person’s internal resources necessary to carry out the intended action. Therefore, volitional efforts are always associated with a significant waste of energy.

This final stage of volitional action can receive a twofold expression: in some cases it manifests itself in external action, in other cases, on the contrary, it consists in abstaining from any external action (this manifestation is usually called internal volitional action).

Volitional effort is qualitatively different from muscle tension. In a volitional effort, external movements can be minimally represented, but internal tension can be very significant. At the same time, in any volitional effort, muscle tension is present to one degree or another. For example, when looking at or remembering something, we tense the muscles of the forehead, eyes, etc., but this does not give reason to identify muscular and volitional efforts.

In different specific conditions, the volitional efforts we demonstrate will vary in intensity. This is due to the fact that the intensity of volitional efforts primarily depends on both external and internal obstacles that the implementation of volitional action encounters. However, in addition to the situational

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James William(1842-1910) - American psychologist and philosopher, one of the founders of modern American functionalism. He proposed one of the first personality theories in psychology. In the “empirical self,” or personality, they identified: 1. physical personality, which includes one’s own bodily organization, home, family, state, etc. 2. Social personality as a form of recognition of personality in us by other people. 3. Spiritual personality as the unity of all spiritual properties and states of personality - thinking, emotions, desires, etc., with the center in the sense of activity of the “I”.

Djeme considered consciousness, understood as a stream of consciousness, in the context of its adaptive functions. At the same time, special importance was attached to the activity and selectivity of consciousness.

James is also the author of the theory of emotions known as the James-Lange theory. According to this theory, the emotional states experienced by the subject (fear, joy, etc.) are the effect of physiological changes in the muscular and vascular systems. He had a significant influence on the research of many psychologists at the beginning of the 20th century.

There are also relatively stable factors that determine the intensity of volitional efforts. These include the following: the worldview of the individual, manifested in relation to certain phenomena of the surrounding world; moral stability, which determines the ability to follow the intended path; the level of self-government and self-organization of the individual, etc. All these factors are formed in the process of human development, his formation as an individual and characterize the level of development of the volitional sphere.

15.5. Human volitional qualities and their development

The human will is characterized by certain qualities. First of all, it is customary to highlight willpower as a generalized ability to overcome significant difficulties that arise on the way to achieving a goal. The more serious the obstacle that you have overcome on the way to your goal, the stronger your will. It is the obstacles overcome through volitional efforts that are an objective indicator of the manifestation of willpower.

Among the various manifestations of willpower, it is customary to distinguish such personality traits as excerpt And self-control which are expressed in the ability to restrain one’s feelings when required, in preventing impulsive and rash actions, in the ability to control oneself and force oneself to carry out a planned action, as well as refrain from doing what one wants to do, but which seems unreasonable or wrong.

Another characteristic of will is determination. Purposefulness is usually understood as the conscious and active orientation of an individual towards achieving a certain result of activity. Very often when

388 Part II. Mental processes

talk about determination, use such a concept as persistence. This concept is almost identical to the concept of determination and characterizes a person’s desire to achieve a goal even in the most difficult conditions. Usually, a distinction is made between strategic purposefulness, that is, the ability to be guided in all one’s life activities by certain principles and ideals, and operational purposefulness, which consists in the ability to set clear goals for individual actions and not deviate from them in the process of achieving them.

It is customary to distinguish stubbornness from persistence. Stubbornness most often acts as a negative quality in a person. A stubborn person always tries to insist on his own, despite the inappropriateness of this action. As a rule, a stubborn person in his activities is guided not by the arguments of reason, but by personal desires, despite their failure. In essence, a stubborn person does not control his will, since he does not know how to control himself and his desires.

An important characteristic of the will is initiative. Initiative lies in the ability to make attempts to implement ideas that arise in a person. For many people, overcoming their own inertia is the most difficult moment of an act of will. Only an independent person can take the first conscious step towards the implementation of a new idea. Independence - this is a characteristic of will that is directly related to initiative. Independence is manifested in the ability to consciously make decisions and in the ability not to be influenced by various factors that impede the achievement of a goal. An independent person is capable of critically evaluating the advice and suggestions of other people, acting on the basis of his views and beliefs, and at the same time making adjustments to his actions based on the advice received.

Negativism should be distinguished from independence. Negativism manifests itself in an unmotivated, unfounded tendency to act contrary to other people, to contradict them, although reasonable considerations do not provide grounds for such actions. Negativism is regarded by most psychologists as weakness of will, expressed in the inability to subordinate one’s actions to the arguments of reason, conscious motives of behavior, in the inability to resist one’s desires, leading to idleness, etc. Very often, idleness is associated with laziness. It is laziness that is a comprehensive characteristic of qualities that are opposite in meaning to the positive qualities of the will.

It should be noted that the initiative shown by a person, in addition to independence, is always associated with another quality of will - determination. Decisiveness lies in the absence of unnecessary hesitation and doubt when there is a conflict of motives, in timely and quick decision-making. First of all, determination is manifested in the choice of the dominant motive, as well as in the choice of adequate means of achieving the goal. Decisiveness also manifests itself when implementing a decision. Decisive people are characterized by a quick and energetic transition from the choice of actions and means to the actual execution of the action.

From decisiveness, as a positive volitional quality, it is necessary to distinguish impulsiveness, which is characterized by haste in making decisions,

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thoughtlessness of actions. An impulsive person does not think before taking action, does not take into account the consequences of what he does, and therefore often regrets what he has done. The haste in making a decision by such a person is usually explained by his indecision, the fact that making a decision for him is an extremely difficult and painful process, so he strives to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

An extremely important volitional quality of a person is subsequence human actions. The sequence of actions characterizes the fact that all actions performed by a person follow from a single guiding principle, to which a person subordinates everything secondary and incidental. The sequence of actions, in turn, is closely related to self-control And self-esteem.

The actions taken will only be carried out when a person controls his activities. Otherwise, the actions performed and the goal that a person strives for diverge. In the process of achieving a goal, self-control ensures the dominance of leading motives over secondary ones. The quality of self-control and its adequacy largely depend on the individual’s self-esteem. Thus, low self-esteem can lead to a person losing self-confidence. In this case, a person’s desire to achieve the goal may gradually fade away and what was planned will never be accomplished. Sometimes, on the contrary, a person overestimates himself and his capabilities. In this case, it is customary to talk about inflated self-esteem, which does not allow one to adequately coordinate and adjust one’s actions on the way to achieving the set goal. As a result, the ability to achieve what was planned becomes much more difficult and, more often than not, what was previously planned is not fully realized in practice.

The will, like most other higher mental processes, is formed during the age-related development of a person. Thus, in a newborn child, reflex movements predominate, as well as some instinctive actions. Volitional, conscious actions begin to form much later. Moreover, the child’s first desires are characterized by great instability. Desires quickly replace each other and very often are of an uncertain nature. Only in the fourth year of life do desires acquire a more or less stable character.

At the same age, children first experience the emergence of a struggle of motives. For example, two-year-old children, after some hesitation, can choose between several possible actions. However, a choice made depending on moral motives becomes possible for children no earlier than the end of the third year of life. This happens only when the child can already control his behavior. This requires, on the one hand, a fairly high level of development, and on the other, some formation of moral attitudes. Both develop under the influence of training and education, in the process of constant interaction with adults. The nature of the emerging moral attitudes largely depends on the moral attitudes of the adult, since in the first years of life the child strives to imitate the actions of adults, and gradually, in the process of mental development, he begins to analyze the actions of the adult and draw appropriate conclusions.

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Like all mental processes, the will does not develop on its own, but in connection with the general development of a person’s personality. Sometimes you can find a high development of will already at an early age. Moreover, a fairly high level of will development is most often observed in children of the creative type who are passionate about some activity, for example, in children with artistic or musical inclinations who are able to spend hours independently doing what they love. This happens because gradually passion for any activity, accompanied by systematic work (drawing, modeling, music or sports), contributes to the formation of volitional characteristics that manifest themselves in other areas of life.

What are the main ways to form the will? First of all, the success of this process depends on the parents. Research shows that parents who strive to give their child all-round development and at the same time place fairly high demands on him can count on the fact that the child will not have serious problems with volitional regulation of activity. Such shortcomings in the volitional behavior of children, such as whims and stubbornness, observed in early childhood, occur due to mistakes made by parents in nurturing the child’s will. If parents strive to please the child in everything, satisfy his every desire, do not make demands on him that must be fulfilled unconditionally, and do not teach him to restrain himself, then, most likely, the child will subsequently experience a lack of volitional development.

A necessary condition for raising a child in a family is the formation in him conscious discipline. The development of strong-willed qualities by parents in a child is a prerequisite for the formation of discipline in him, which not only helps to understand the need to comply with certain rules of behavior, but also provides him with internal discipline, expressed in the ability to regulate and compare his desires with the conditions of real activity.

School plays an important role in the development of strong-willed qualities. The school makes a number of demands on the child, without which schooling itself cannot be carried out normally, but at the same time a certain level of discipline is also formed. For example, a schoolchild must sit at his desk for a certain time, he cannot get up from his seat without the teacher’s permission, talk with his friends, he must prepare the lessons assigned to him at home, etc. All this requires from him a fairly high development of volitional qualities and at the same time time develops in him the qualities of will necessary to fulfill these rules. Therefore, the personality of the teacher and the school staff are of great importance for developing the will of schoolchildren.

The teacher with whom the child communicates at school has a direct influence on the formation of certain personal characteristics in him and, having a bright personality, leaves an indelible mark on the child’s life. Often this causes the child to desire to imitate the behavior of the teacher, and if the latter has well-developed volitional qualities, then there is a high probability that the same qualities will successfully develop in his students.

A similar picture is observed in relation to the school community. If the child’s activities take place in a team where there is an atmosphere of high

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demands, then the child can develop corresponding personality characteristics.

Equally important is the physical education of the child, as well as introducing him to artistic values. Moreover, the formation of volitional characteristics does not stop at an older age, when a young person begins independent work, during which volitional qualities reach their highest development. Thus, the entire process of raising a child determines the success of the formation of volitional qualities of the individual. Therefore, it is no coincidence that will is very often considered as one of the central and most informative characteristics of a person.

Control questions

1. Describe will as a process of conscious regulation of behavior.

2. Describe volitional actions.

3. What is the relationship between will and consciousness?

4. What theories of will do you know?

5. Reveal the views of ancient and medieval philosophers on the problem of will.

6. Tell us how the problem of will is considered in the works of N.A. Bernstein.

7. What is the physiological basis of will?

8. What do you know about violations of the will?

9. Reveal the content of the structural components of volitional actions.

10. What is willpower and determination?

11. What refers to the volitional qualities of a person?

12. Tell us about the main stages of the development of will in a child.

13. Expand the role of conscious discipline in the formation of will.

1. Bassin F.V. The problem of the "unconscious". (On unconscious forms of higher nervous activity). - M.: Medicine, 1968.

2. Vygotsky L. S. Collected works: In 6 volumes. T. 2: Questions of general psychology / Ch. ed. A.V. Zaporozhets. - M.: Pedagogy, 1982.

3. Zimin P. P. Will and its education in adolescents. - Tashkent, 1985.

4. Ivannikov V. A. Psychological mechanisms of volitional regulation. - M., 1998.

5. Ilyin E. P. Psychology of will. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2000.

6. Pavlov I. II. Full composition of writings. T. 3. Book. 2. - M.: Publishing house. USSR Academy of Sciences, 1952.

7. Rubinshtein S. L. Fundamentals of general psychology. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 1999.

8. Chkhartishvili Sh. N. The problem of will in psychology // Questions of psychology. - 1967. - No. 4.

Will is a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior and activities, associated with overcoming internal and external obstacles.

Will is a human ability, manifested in the self-determination and self-regulation of its activities and various mental processes. Thanks to the will, a person can, on his own initiative, based on a perceived need, perform actions in a pre-planned direction and with a predetermined force. Moreover, he can organize and direct his mental activity accordingly. With an effort of will, you can restrain the external manifestation of emotions or even show the completely opposite.

S. D Reznik identifies the following main functions of the 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 a system adequate to the activity performed by a person;

4. mobilization of physical and mental capabilities when overcoming obstacles in achieving the goal.

For the emergence of volitional regulation, certain conditions are necessary - the presence of obstacles and obstacles. Will manifests itself when difficulties appear on the way to the goal: external obstacles - time, space, people's opposition, physical properties of objects, etc.; internal obstacles - relationships and attitudes, painful conditions, fatigue, etc. All these obstacles, reflected in consciousness, cause volitional effort, which creates the necessary tone to overcome difficulties.

Volitional efforts are required:

1. when replenishing the lack of motivation to act in the absence of sufficient motivation;

2. when choosing motives, goals, types of actions in case of their conflict;

3. with voluntary regulation of external and internal actions and mental processes.

Will is inextricably linked with cognitive motives and emotional processes. In this regard, all human actions can be divided into two categories: involuntary and voluntary.

Involuntary actions are committed as a result of the emergence of unconscious or insufficiently clearly conscious impulses (drives, attitudes, etc.). They are impulsive and lack a clear plan. In other words, in involuntary actions there is no clear goal and efforts of the subject to achieve it. An example of non-productive actions can be the actions of people in a state of passion (amazement, fear, delight, anger).

Voluntary actions presuppose awareness of the goal, a preliminary representation of those operations that can ensure its achievement, and their order. In this regard, will manifests itself as a person’s confidence in his own abilities, as the determination to perform the act that the person himself considers appropriate and necessary in a particular situation.

The volitional regulation of human behavior is formed and developed under the influence of control over his behavior by society, and then by the self-control of the individual.

Depending on the difficulties of the external world and the complexity of a person’s inner world, there are 4 options for the manifestation of will:

1. in an easy world, where any desire is feasible, the will is practically not required (human desires are simple, unambiguous, any desire is feasible in an easy world);

2. in a difficult world, where there are various obstacles, strong-willed efforts are required to overcome the obstacles of reality, patience is needed, but the person himself is internally calm, confident in his rightness due to the unambiguousness of his desires and goals (the simple inner world of a person);

3. in an easy external world and in a complex internal world of a person, strong-willed efforts are required to overcome internal contradictions and doubts, a person is internally complex, there is a struggle of motives and goals, a person suffers when making a decision;

4. in a difficult external world and in a complex internal world of a person, intense volitional efforts are required to overcome internal doubts in order to choose a solution and carry out actions in conditions of objective obstacles and difficulties. Volitional action here acts as a conscious, intentional, purposeful action taken for implementation by one’s own decision on the basis of external and internal necessity.

The need for a strong will increases when you have:

1. difficult situations of the “difficult world”;

2. complex, contradictory inner world in the person himself.

By performing various types of activities, overcoming external and internal obstacles, a person develops strong-willed qualities: purposefulness, determination, independence, initiative, perseverance, endurance, discipline, courage.

In management activities, the following rules must be observed:

1. provide conditions for the success of the employee’s activities, but do not significantly facilitate his tasks;

2. to intensify the employee’s independent activity, to arouse in him a feeling of joy from what has been achieved, to increase his faith in his ability to overcome difficulties;

3. explain the expediency of those requirements, orders, decisions that the manager presents to the employee, and provide the employee with the opportunity to make decisions independently within reasonable limits.

The results of any volitional action have two consequences for a person: the first 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.

Emotional and volitional processes are thus closely interrelated. Will acts as a means of regulation and correction of the negative impact of emotions on activity. Emotions, in turn, give a subjective tone to volitional effort and can help increase its potential. Such a close relationship leads to the fact that in real behavior they are practically inseparable and are experienced by the subject in the form of mental states. The concept of state denotes the most integrative form of organization of all components of the psyche in a given period of time. This is the entire psyche, all its content, but at one or another interval of its functioning. The content, intensity, tone, and direction of such functioning can, of course, change greatly; at the same time, the very nature of mental states will change. A special branch of psychology deals with the study of mental states—the psychology of functional states.

In the study of managerial activity, the most significant thing is that all the main types of states and the patterns discovered during their study are not only preserved in the activities of the manager, but often appear in the most distinct form. In the psychology of functional states, there are different methods of classification. For example, by degree of intensity (high, medium, low activity); by content (in particular, states of fatigue, monotony, mental satiety, frustration, inspiration, anxiety, discomfort, etc.); by type of activity in which they arise (game, educational, work); on theft (positive, negative, ambivalent); by the nature of the impact on activities (positive and negative).

In the structure of any state, two components are distinguished, its two sides - content and dynamic (“energy”). It has been proven that the effectiveness of performing an activity is significantly influenced by both the content of states (for example, a state of depression can not only worsen, but also block activity, and a state of inspiration - on the contrary), and its intensity, “energy saturation”

The activation level can vary over a wide range of values. To designate this range in psychology, the concept of “activation continuum”, or “scale of wakefulness levels” is used. The following states are considered as such levels (in increasing order of their energy background): coma, deep sleep, REM sleep, shallow sleep, quiet wakefulness, active wakefulness, intense wakefulness, stress, emotional abortion of behavior.

Secondly, it has been proven that there is a direct connection between the degree of negative (destructive) influence of mental states and the complexity of those mental processes and formations in relation to which this influence takes place. Negative states have a stronger effect on more complex processes, formations, and activities than on simple ones. For example, under the influence of stress or fatigue, intellectual functions (as more complex) decrease first and to a greater extent, and then, to a relatively lesser extent, motor and executive functions (as simpler ones). These two patterns are most important for understanding the specifics of emotional-volitional regulation of states in general, and for its features in management activities.

The main and most general feature of the emotional-volitional regulation of states in management activities is the combination of the following two features. Firstly, it is managerial activity that is characterized by extremely high emotionality and stress, and contains a huge number of reasons for the occurrence of negative emotions and difficult conditions. Secondly, it is she who makes the highest demands on the effectiveness and rigidity of the emotional-volitional regulation of states, which is associated with her responsibility. Apparently, no other activity contains such a wide range of causes and factors that give rise to emotional reactions as management.

In addition to factors associated with the process of activity itself, with its organization, there is an additional and very powerful group of emotiogenic factors associated with interpersonal relationships. The complexity of the content of this activity, the presence of difficult and often extreme conditions for its implementation, combined with high responsibility for its results, form a constant symptom complex of characteristics of management activity. It acts as a source of development of unfavorable mental states, chronic “managerial stress”. At the same time, it is the leader who must “be able to restrain emotions,” “not give in to mood,” and control himself. Moreover, this is necessary not only to reduce the negative impact of emotions and states on his own activities. The point is also that the leader is “constantly in sight,” and any of his undesirable emotional manifestations and states (uncertainty, depression, nervousness, and even panic) are perceived by his subordinates and affect their activities.

Finally, it is management activity that requires the maximum inclusion of volitional processes, and the very concepts of “good leader” and “strong-willed leader” are often used synonymously. All of the above means that both the “world of emotions” and the “world of states”, and the entire spectrum of volitional processes and qualities are manifested in this activity in their maximum expression, most fully and brightly. At the same time, in the psychology of managerial activity, a circle of the most typical aspects, emotional-volitional regulation, which are of greatest importance for its organization, is usually highlighted. These include: the problem of stress in management activities, the problem of the state of frustration, the phenomenon of “readiness for emergency action”, the concept of emotional resistance of a manager, features of the cognitive regulation of dysfunctional states, patterns of expressive processes in management activities.

The concept of will
|Will is a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior (Activities and communication), associated with overcoming internal and external obstacles. This is a human ability, which manifests itself in self-determination and self-regulation of his behavior and mental phenomena.
The main features of a volitional act:
a) making efforts 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.
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. Apparently, this situation with the study of will is connected with the struggle between reactive and active concepts of human behavior that has been going on since the beginning of the 20th century. For the first concept, the concept of will is practically not needed, because its supporters represent all human behavior as a person’s reaction to external and internal stimuli. Supporters of the active concept of human behavior, which has recently become leading, understand human behavior as initially active, and the person himself as endowed with the ability to consciously choose forms of behavior.
Volitional, regulation of behavior Volitional regulation of behavior is characterized by a state of optimal mobilization of the individual, the required mode of activity, and the concentration of this activity in the required direction.
The main psychological function of the will is to strengthen motivation and improve the regulation of actions on this basis. This distinguishes volitional actions from impulsive actions, that is, actions performed involuntarily and not sufficiently controlled by consciousness.
At the level of the individual, the manifestation of will is expressed in such properties as willpower (the degree of willpower required to achieve a goal), perseverance (a person’s ability to mobilize one’s capabilities to overcome difficulties for a long time), endurance (the ability to inhibit actions, feelings, thoughts that interfere with the implementation of the adopted decisions), energy, etc. These are the primary (basic) volitional personal qualities that determine most behavioral acts.
There are also secondary, developing in ontogenesis later than the primary, volitional qualities: determination (the ability to make and implement quick, well-founded and firm decisions), courage (the ability to overcome fear and take justifiable risks in order to achieve a goal, despite the dangers to personal well-being), self-control (the ability to control the sensory side of one’s psyche and subordinate one’s behavior to solving consciously set tasks), self-confidence. These qualities should be considered not only as volitional, but also as characterological.
Tertiary qualities include volitional qualities that are closely related to moral ones: responsibility (a quality that characterizes a person in terms of fulfilling moral requirements), discipline (conscious subordination of one’s behavior to generally accepted norms, established order), integrity (loyalty to a certain idea in one’s beliefs and consistent carrying out this idea in behavior), commitment (the ability to voluntarily assume responsibilities and fulfill them). This group also includes the qualities of will associated with a person’s attitude to work: businesslikeness, initiative (the ability to work creatively, taking actions on one’s own initiative), organization (reasonable planning and ordering of one’s work), diligence (diligence, completing assignments and one’s own on time). responsibilities), etc. Tertiary qualities of will are usually formed only by adolescence, i.e., the moment when there is already experience of volitional actions.
Volitional actions can be divided into simple and complex. In a simple act of will, the impulse to action (motive) turns into the action itself almost automatically. In a complex volitional act, an action is preceded by taking into account its consequences, awareness of motives, decision-making, the emergence of an intention to carry it out, drawing up a plan for its implementation, etc. 1. The development of will in a person is associated with:
a) with the transformation of involuntary mental processes into voluntary ones;
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.
The formation of volitional qualities of a person can be considered as a movement from primary to secondary and then to tertiary qualities.
Free will and personal responsibility Consideration of the psychological interpretation of personality presupposes the interpretation of the phenomenon of its spiritual freedom. Personal freedom in psychological terms is, first of all, freedom of will. It is determined in relation to two quantities: vital drives and social conditions of human life. Drives (biological impulses) are transformed in him under the influence of his self-awareness, the spiritual and moral coordinates of his personality. Moreover, man is the only living being who can say “no” to his desires at any moment, and who does not have to always say “yes” to them (M. Scheler).
Man is not free from social conditions. But he is free to take a position in relation to them, since these conditions do not completely condition him. It depends on him, within the limits of his limitations, whether he will surrender, whether he will yield to the conditions (V. Frankl). In this regard, freedom is when a person himself must decide whether to choose good or give in to evil (F. M. Dostoevsky).
However, freedom is only one side of a holistic phenomenon, the positive aspect of which is being responsible. Personal freedom can turn into simple arbitrariness if it is not experienced from the point of view of responsibility (V. Frankl). A person is doomed to freedom and, at the same time, cannot escape responsibility. Another thing is that for many people, peace of mind turns out to be more valuable than a free choice between good and evil, and therefore they readily “attribute” their sins (ignoble deeds, meanness, betrayal) to “objective conditions” - the imperfection of society, bad educators, disadvantage families in which they grew up, etc. The Marxist thesis about the fundamental dependence of good and evil in a person on external (social) conditions has always been a pretext for avoiding personal responsibility.
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
What are the concepts and main signs of will?
Show the importance of will in organizing activities and communication.
What is the volitional regulation of behavior?
What are the primary, secondary and tertiary volitional qualities of a personality?
Do you consider yourself a strong-willed person?
Personality psychology General and individual in the human psyche 97
4 Psychology and pedagogy
6. Using a questionnaire, try to determine your level of willpower development.
When answering questions, mark in the table with a “+” sign the one of the three answers you have chosen: “yes”, “I don’t know (sometimes)”, “no”:
Are you able to complete the work you have started that is not interesting to you, regardless of the fact that time and circumstances allow you to turn away and then return to it again?
Do you overcome internal resistance without much effort when you need to do something unpleasant to you (for example, go on duty on a day off)?
When you find yourself in a conflict situation - at work (study) or at home - are you able to pull yourself together enough to look at the situation soberly with maximum objectivity?
If you are prescribed a diet, can you overcome culinary temptations?
Will you find the strength in the morning to get up earlier than usual, as planned in the evening?
Will you remain at the scene to testify?
Do you respond quickly to emails?
If you are afraid of an upcoming airplane flight or a visit to the dentist's office, will you be able to overcome this feeling without much difficulty and not change your intention at the last moment?
Will you take a very unpleasant medicine that your doctor insists on recommending?
Will you keep your word in the heat of the moment, even if fulfilling it will bring you a lot of trouble, in other words, are you a man of your word?
Do you hesitate to go on a business trip to an unfamiliar city?
Do you strictly adhere to the daily routine: time to wake up, eat, study, clean and other things?
Do you disapprove of library debtors?
The most interesting TV show will not make you put off urgent work. Is it so?
Will you be able to interrupt a quarrel and remain silent, no matter how offensive the words of the “opposite side” may seem to you? Options Answer number Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Yes No I don’t know, sometimes
answer
Key to the questionnaire
Sum up the answers received using a point system: “yes” - 2 points; “no” - 0 points; “I don’t know” - 1 point.
0-12 points. Things are not going well for you with willpower. You just do what is easier and more interesting, even if it may harm you in some way. You often take your responsibilities carelessly, which sometimes comes in handy.
cause all sorts of troubles for you. Your position is expressed by the famous saying “what do I need more than anyone?” You perceive any request, any obligation almost as physical pain. The point here is not only weak will, but also selfishness. Try to look at yourself taking into account such an assessment, maybe this will help you change your attitude towards others and “remake” something in your character. If you succeed, it will only make you worse.
13-21 points. Your willpower is average. If you encounter an obstacle, you take action to overcome it. But if you see a workaround, you will immediately use it. Don't overdo it, but also keep your word. You will try to do unpleasant work, although you will grumble. You will take on extra responsibilities of your own free will. This sometimes negatively affects the attitude of managers towards you and does not characterize you from the best side in the eyes of the people around you. If you want to achieve more in life, train your will.
22-30 points. Your willpower is fine. I can rely on you - you won't let me down. You are not afraid of new assignments, long trips, or those things that frighten others. But sometimes your firm and irreconcilable position on unprincipled issues annoys those around you. Willpower is very good, but you also need to have such qualities as flexibility, forbearance, and kindness.
LITERATURE
Vygotsky L. S. Collection. Op. In 6 vols. T. 3. - M., 1983. - P. 454-465.
Vysotsky A.I. Voluntary activity of schoolchildren and methods of studying it. - Chelyabinsk, 1979. - P. 67.
GomezoM. V., Domashenko I.A. Atlas on psychology.-S. 194.204-213.
Kotyplo V. K. Differences in volitional behavior in preschool children.
Kyiv, 1971 -S. 11-51.
Nemov R. S. Psychologist. Sq. 1. - pp. 357-366.
General psychology - M., 1986.-P. 385-400.
Psychological Dictionary. - P. 53.54.
Psychology. Dictionary. - pp. 62.63
Rubinstein S..L Fundamentals of general psychology. T. 2. - pp. 182-211.
Collection of tests for the selection of candidates for hiring (US Methodology) - pp. 20-22
Experimental studies of volitional activity.
Ryazan, 1986. - P. 3-23

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Will is a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior and activities, associated with overcoming internal and external obstacles.

Will is a human ability, manifested in self-determination and self-regulation of its activities and various mental processes. Thanks to the will, a person can, on his own initiative, based on a perceived need, perform actions in a pre-planned direction and with a predetermined force. Moreover, he can organize and direct his mental activity accordingly. With an effort of will, you can restrain the external manifestation of emotions or even show the completely opposite.

S. D Reznik identifies the following main functions of the will:

1) choice of motives and goals;

2) regulation of the incentive to act when there is insufficient or excessive motivation;

3) organization of mental processes into a system adequate to the activity performed by a person;

4) mobilization of physical and mental capabilities when overcoming obstacles in achieving the goal.

Volitional efforts are required:

1) when replenishing the lack of motivation to act in the absence of sufficient motivation;

2) when choosing motives, goals, types of actions in case of their conflict;

3) with voluntary regulation of external and internal actions and mental processes.

Will is inextricably linked with cognitive motives and emotional processes. In this regard, all human actions can be divided into two categories: involuntary and voluntary.

Volitional regulation of human behavior is formed and developed under the influence of control over his behavior by society, and then - self-control of the individual.

Depending on the difficulties of the external world and the complexity of a person’s inner world, there are 4 options for the manifestation of will:

1) in an easy world, where any desire is feasible, will is practically not required (human desires are simple, unambiguous, any desire is feasible in an easy world);

Development of the psyche and forms of behavior in the animal world. Qualitative differences between the human psyche and the animal psyche
Reflex theory formulates three main trends in the development of the psyche of living organisms: 1) complication of forms of behavior (forms of motor activity); 2) improving the ability to individually learn; 3) complication of forms of mental reflection. This or that character of reflection of the surrounding reality by a living organism...

Strengthening gender boundaries.
The idea that it is an "enhancement" for a girl to be like a boy is an acknowledgment of unequal gender roles. From these positions, other ways of strengthening intergender boundaries can be explained. B. Thorne calls the relationships between boys and girls that serve to reinforce gender boundaries “border actions.” He highlights...

Character Structure
The structure of character is revealed in the natural relationship between its individual traits. Psychologists, using factor analysis on a large number of subjects, have established which personality traits correlate with each other (positively or negatively) and which are weakly correlated. Positively correlated traits are those that are more often combined...