Psychology views the concept of “will” ambiguously, and over the course of different historical eras it has meant different phenomena.
In the most general terms, will can be perceived as a property of a person that allows him to consciously control his thoughts and actions. Based on this understanding, it can be considered one of the most important properties of which the human psyche is capable of manifestation: doesn’t it put the most striking, demarcating line between an animal and a person? If the former are driven by their instincts, then the latter are able to suppress them with the help of willpower.
So, as we have already expressed, there are several models for understanding the will. Modern psychology adheres to the fact that the will of a person is manifested in the ability to consciously achieve one’s goal, and among the main qualities of its manifestation are courage, determination, perseverance, self-control, independence, etc.
In order to understand the will, you need to have a good understanding of what freedom is, because these concepts are closely related.
Will in psychology is a concept with a unique history, because within the framework of this science it was revised three times, which gave rise to three different definitions.
At first, will was understood as a peculiar mechanism of actions that were performed by a person contrary to his desires, but, nevertheless, prompted by reason. Then the will began to be perceived as a struggle of motives, which makes it similar to the theme of the problem of choice.
And at the final stage of the evolution of the understanding of will, it was defined as a way to overcome obstacles that prevent one from achieving a goal. This definition gives a rather superficial idea of will, because it illuminates only one facet of its manifestation, but in reality there are more of them: for example, with the help of will a person can overcome himself, his desires, his natural needs, although this will not be the goal. There are cases when people saved the lives of others, deliberately sacrificing their own, and to characterize one of such situations as “overcoming difficulties to achieve a goal” would be incorrect and incomplete.
From Latin it is translated as “will” and in this philosophical movement it was given the role of the fundamental principle, the highest principle of being.
In understanding will as the psychology of behavior “in spite of”, the most interesting part of this mental ability of a person is revealed; we see that a person knows how not to accept circumstances as they are. What is given can be assessed negatively by many people, but you need to have a sufficiently developed will to decide to change what is given. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, in one of his books, told a story about tame gazelles that grew up in a pen. As the animals grew older, they began to strive to break free, but all they did was stand at the fence and look out into the open spaces. This is a fictional story, but animals tend to behave this way: sooner or later they resign themselves and give up trying to act contrary to the situation. Trying to break out of a cage out of instinct and trying to do so out of a belief in something are of a different nature, where in the second case the word “despite” is the key word, unlike in the first.
Some philosophers (B. Spinoza, J. Locke) tried to comprehend the relationship between will and freedom of choice. J. Locke believed that freedom is the ability to act or not act, and during an act of will, a person is always subject to necessity, and therefore he shared these concepts. Benedict Spinoza, like many ancient thinkers, turned out to be closer to the truth - he believed that internal freedom consists in voluntarily deciding to overcome the contradiction that has arisen between “I want” and “I am.”
Julius Kuhl identified several types of control during a volitional impulse, which allow it to be realized:
- 1. Selective attention. It is aimed at the object that needs to be achieved, while all other elements of the environment are eliminated.
- 2. Control of emotions. There are some emotions that prevent the realization of aspirations, and a strong-willed person refuses them.
- 3. Environment control. Everything that interferes with achieving the goal is eliminated from the nearest space.
Thus, will is an amazing property of a person, without which, probably, our evolutionary path would have had a completely different trajectory.
The problem of will, voluntary and volitional regulation of human behavior and activity has long occupied the minds of scientists, causing heated debates and discussions. Even in Ancient Greece, two points of view on the understanding of will emerged. Plato understood will as a certain ability of the soul that determines and motivates human activity. Aristotle connected will with reason, explaining human behavior in accordance with knowledge, which in itself is devoid of motivating power. Spinoza considered the will, endowing it with the function of choice in case of conflicts of motives and goals. In the 20th century, in the works of domestic psychologists K. N. Kornilov, V. I. Selivanov, P. A. Rudik, A. Ts. Puni, the phenomenon of will was associated with the mobilization of efforts to overcome external and internal obstacles that arise during the implementation of actions. L. S. Vygotsky posed the problem of will in connection with the task of “self-mastery,” that is, the development of volition, a person’s conscious control of his processes and behavior. From the general problem of will, more specific problems emerged as independent ones: free will, decision making, goal setting, self-regulation and others.
Throughout his entire conscious life, a person sets one goal after another that he strives to achieve, and this requires overcoming obstacles, that is, exerting mental and physical strength, mobilizing volitional efforts. Will is a generalized concept that denotes a certain class of mental processes and actions subordinated to a single functional task - the conscious and deliberate control of human behavior and activity.
Will is a person’s ability to consciously control his behavior, to mobilize all forces to achieve his goals.
Will manifests itself in actions (deeds) performed in accordance with a predetermined goal. The features of will realized in actions are: conscious determination, connection with thinking (planning) and movement (activity).
Obstacles and difficulties that a person has to overcome can be of two types - external and internal. External are objective difficulties and obstacles, unexpected conditions, circumstances, and opposition from other people. Internal ones include manifestations of mutually exclusive motives, motivations, human inertia, a depressed emotional state, laziness, a feeling of fear, etc. In addition, obstacles and difficulties vary in strength and significance.
Will is inherent only to man; it arose in the process of collective labor along with the development of consciousness. All volitional actions are reflexive in nature and are formed under the influence of influences from the real world. “The mechanism of volitional movement,” noted I. P. Pavlov, “is a conditional process that obeys all the described laws of higher nervous activity.”
Basic functions of the will:
choice of motives and goals;
regulation of the impulse to action with insufficient or excessive motivation;
organization of mental processes into an appropriate system;
mobilization of physical and mental capabilities in a situation of overcoming obstacles in achieving set goals.
The importance of will in human life and in the development of society cannot be overestimated. All great achievements and historical changes in people's social relations are associated with volitional efforts.
FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION
State educational institution of higher professional education
FAR EASTERN STATE UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS
FACULTY OF ECONOMICS
Will and its main features. Theories of will. Volitional regulation of behavior. Development of will.
Essay
students gr.
Vladivostok
1 Will and its main features
Will is a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior, associated with overcoming internal and external obstacles, which has a number of characteristics: the presence of efforts and a well-thought-out plan for performing a particular act of will; increased attention to such behavioral action; lack of direct pleasure received in the process and as a result of its execution; a state of optimal mobilization of the individual, concentration in the right direction.
The manifestation of will is reflected in the following properties (qualities):
willpower - the degree of willpower required to achieve a goal;
perseverance – a person’s ability to mobilize to overcome difficulties for a long time;
endurance - the ability to restrain feelings, thoughts, actions;
decisiveness - the ability to quickly and firmly implement decisions;
courage - the ability to quickly and firmly implement decisions;
self-control - the ability to control oneself, to subordinate one’s behavior to solving assigned tasks;
discipline – conscious subordination of one’s behavior to generally accepted norms and established order;
Commitment - the ability to fulfill assigned duties on time;
organization – rational planning and ordering of one’s work, etc.
Will is present in many acts of human behavior, helping to overcome resistance, as well as other desires and needs on the way to the intended goal. Most often, a person shows his will in the following typical situations:
it is necessary to make a choice between two or more thoughts, goals, feelings that are equally attractive, but require opposite actions, and are incompatible with each other;
no matter what, it is necessary to purposefully move towards the intended goal;
On the path of a person’s practical activity, internal (fear, uncertainty, doubts) or external (objective circumstances) obstacles arise that must be overcome.
In other words, will (its presence or absence) manifests itself in all situations related to choice and decision-making.
The main features of a volitional act:
a) applying effort to perform an act of will;
b) the presence of a well-thought-out plan for the implementation of a behavioral act;
c) increased attention to such a behavioral act and the absence of direct pleasure received in the process and as a result of its execution;
d) often the efforts of the will are aimed not only at defeating circumstances, but at overcoming oneself.
The main functions of the will are:
choice of motives and goals;
regulation of the impulse to act when there is insufficient or excessive motivation;
organization of mental processes into a system that is adequate to the activity performed by a person;
mobilization of physical and mental capabilities in achieving set goals in a situation of overcoming obstacles.
Will presupposes self-restraint, restraining some fairly strong drives, consciously subordinating them to other, more significant and important goals, and the ability to suppress desires and impulses that directly arise in a given situation. At the highest levels of its manifestation, will presupposes reliance on spiritual goals and moral values, beliefs and ideals.
Another sign of the volitional nature of an action or activity regulated by the will is the presence of a well-thought-out plan for its implementation. An action that does not have a plan or is not carried out according to a predetermined plan cannot be considered volitional. Volitional action is a conscious, purposeful action through which a person achieves the goal facing him, subordinating his impulses to conscious control and changing the surrounding reality in accordance with his plan.
Essential signs of volitional action are increased attention to such action and the absence of direct pleasure received in the process and as a result of its implementation. This means that volitional action is usually accompanied by a lack of emotional, rather than moral, satisfaction. On the contrary, the successful completion of a volitional act is usually associated with moral satisfaction from the fact that it was possible to fulfill it.
Often, a person’s efforts of will are directed not so much at winning and mastering circumstances, but at overcoming himself. This is especially typical for people of the impulsive type, unbalanced and emotionally excitable, when they have to act contrary to their natural or characterological data.
Not a single more or less complex human life problem can be solved without the participation of the will. No one on Earth has ever achieved outstanding success without possessing outstanding willpower. Man, first of all, differs from all other living beings in that, in addition to consciousness and intellect, he also has will, without which abilities would remain an empty phrase.
2 Theories of will
Currently, there is no unified theory of will in psychological science, although many scientists are making attempts to develop a holistic doctrine of will with its terminological certainty and unambiguity.
Traditionally, will is defined as a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome internal and external difficulties when performing purposeful actions and deeds.
Among the most popular directions in the study of the problem of will are the so-called heteronomous and autonomous (or voluntaristic) theories of will.
Heteronomous theories reduce volitional actions to complex mental processes of a non-volitional nature - associative and intellectual processes. G. Ebbinghaus gives an example: a child instinctively, involuntarily reaches for food, establishing a connection between food and satiety. The reversibility of this connection is based on the phenomenon in which, having felt hunger, he will purposefully search for food. A similar example can be given from another area - personality psychology. According to Ebbinghaus, will is an instinct that arises on the basis of the reversibility of associations or on the basis of the so-called “sighted instinct”, aware of its goal.
For other heteronomous theories, volitional action is associated with a complex combination of intellectual mental processes (I. Herbart). It is assumed that impulsive behavior first arises, then on its basis an action developed on the basis of habit is actualized, and only after that an action controlled by the mind, i.e. volitional action. According to this point of view, every act is volitional, because every action is reasonable.
Heteronomous theories have advantages and disadvantages. Their advantage is the inclusion of the factor of determinism in the explanation of will. Thus, they contrast their point of view on the emergence of volitional processes with the point of view of spiritualistic theories, which believe that will is a kind of spiritual force that is not amenable to any determination. The disadvantage of these theories is the assertion that the will is not substantial, does not have its own content and is actualized only when necessary. Heteronomous theories of will do not explain the phenomena of arbitrariness of actions, the phenomenon of internal freedom, the mechanisms of the formation of volitional action from involuntary action.
An intermediate place between heteronomous and autonomous theories of will is occupied by W. Wundt's affective theory of will. Wundt sharply objected to attempts to derive the impulse for volitional action from intellectual processes. He explains the will using the concept of affect. The most essential thing for the emergence of a volitional process is the activity of external action, which is directly related to internal experiences. In the simplest act of will, Wundt distinguishes two moments: affect and the action associated with it. External actions are aimed at achieving the final result, and internal actions are aimed at changing other mental processes, including emotional ones.
Theories of autonomous will explain this mental phenomenon based on the laws inherent in the volitional action itself. All theories of autonomous will can be divided into three groups:
motivational approach;
free choice approach;
regulatory approach.
Motivational approach means that the will, one way or another, is explained using the categories of the psychology of motivation. In turn, it is divided into:
1) theories that understand will as a superhuman, world power:
Will as a world force embodied in man was the subject of research by E. Hartmann, A. Schopenhauer, G.I. Chelpanova. Schopenhauer believed that the essence of everything is the world will. It is a completely irrational, blind, unconscious, aimless and, moreover, never-ending or weakening impulse. It is universal and is the basis for everything that exists: it gives birth to everything (through the process of objectification) and governs everything. Only by creating the world and looking into it as in a mirror, does she gain the opportunity to realize herself, first of all, that she is the will to live. The will that exists in every person is simply an objectification of the world's will. This means that the doctrine of the world will is primary, and the doctrine of human will is secondary, derivative. Schopenhauer presents different ways of getting rid of the world's will. The common point is that all methods are realized through spiritual activity (cognitive, aesthetic, moral). It turns out that knowledge and aesthetic contemplation can free one from “serving” the world will. He pays great attention to moral ways.
The same approximately understanding of will as an active force that ensures human actions was characteristic of G.I. Chelpanova. He believed that the soul has its own power to make choices and motivate action. In the act of will, he distinguished aspiration, desire and effort; later he began to connect the will with the struggle of motives.
2) theories that consider will as the initial moment of motivation for action:
Will as the initial moment of motivation for action is the subject of research by various authors (T. Hobbes, T. Ribot, K. Levin). Common to all concepts is the proposition that the will has the ability to motivate actions. T. Ribot added that it can not only encourage action, but also inhibit some undesirable actions. Kurt Lewin's identification of the incentive function of the will with quasi-need as a mechanism for inducing intentional action led Western psychology to the identification of motivation and will. Lewin distinguished between volitional behavior, carried out in the presence of a special intention, and field behavior, performed in accordance with the logic (forces) of the field. Levin invested mainly in the dynamic aspect of understanding the will. This is internal tension caused by some unfinished action. The implementation of volitional behavior consists of relieving tension through certain actions - movements in the psychological environment (locomotion and communications).
3) theories that understand will as the ability to overcome obstacles:
Will as the ability to overcome obstacles was studied in the works of Yu. Kuhl, H. Heckhausen, D.N. Uznadze, N. Akha, L.S. Vygotsky. In this case, the will does not coincide with motivation, but is actualized in a difficult situation (in the presence of obstacles, struggle of motives, etc.), such an understanding of the will is primarily associated with volitional regulation.
Yu. Kul connects volitional regulation with the presence of difficulties in implementing intentions. He distinguishes between intention and desire (motivation). Active intentional regulation is activated at the moment an obstacle or competing tendencies arise in the path of desire.
H. Heckhausen identifies four stages of motivation for action, which involve different mechanisms - motivational and volitional. The first stage corresponds to motivation before making a decision, the second - volitional effort, the third - the implementation of actions, and the fourth - evaluation of the results of behavior. Motivation determines the choice of action, and will determines its strengthening and initiation.
D.N. Uznadze correlates the formation of will with activities that are aimed at creating values independent of actual human needs. Satisfaction of an urgent need occurs through impulsive behavior. Another type of behavior is not associated with the impulse of an actual need and is called volitional. Volitional behavior, according to Uznadze, differs from impulsive behavior in that it has a period preceding the act of decision-making. Behavior becomes volitional only thanks to a motive that modifies behavior in such a way that the latter becomes acceptable to the subject.
Overcoming obstacles, according to N. Akh, is possible with the actualization of volitional processes. Motivation and will are not the same. Motivation determines the general determination of action, and will strengthens determination. There are two sides to a volitional act: phenomenological and dynamic. Phenomenological includes such moments as 1) a feeling of tension (figurative moment), 2) determining the goal of an action and its relationship with the means (objective), 3) performing an internal action (actual), 4) experiencing difficulty, making an effort (state moment) . The dynamic side of a volitional act lies in the implementation, embodiment of a motivated (volitional) action.
L.S. Vygotsky considers overcoming obstacles as one of the signs of will. As a mechanism for strengthening the impulse to action, he defines the operation of introducing an auxiliary motive (means). Such an additional motive could be drawing lots, counting by one, two, three, etc. In his early works, L.S. Vygotsky explains the arbitrary form of regulation of mental processes through the intentional organization of external stimuli. “If you force a child to often do something in a count of “one, two, three,” then he himself gets used to doing exactly the same thing as, for example, we do when throwing ourselves into the water. Often we know that we need something... or do, say, following the example of W. James, get out of bed, but we don’t want to get up... And at such moments, a proposal to ourselves from the outside helps us get up... and we, unnoticed by ourselves, find ourselves up" (Vygotsky L.S. ., 1982. P. 465). In later works, he changes his view of the will, using the concept of semantic formations of consciousness, which, if the semantic emphasis in them is changed, can strengthen/weaken the impulse to action. In his opinion, an interesting trend is found when performing meaningless tasks. It consists in coming to an understanding of it by creating a new situation, making changes in the psychological field.
With the motivational approach, will was studied as an independent mental phenomenon, but the disadvantages of this direction are that the explanation of the mechanisms of the emergence of will did not have a specific source: they came from teleological interpretations, then from natural sciences, then from cause-and-effect ones.
Free choice approach consists in the correlation of volitional processes with the problem of making a choice, with the situation in which any person often finds himself. I. Kant was interested in the question of compatibility, on the one hand, with the determinism of behavior, and on the other, with freedom of choice. He compared the causality of the material world with the determinism of behavior, and morality presupposed freedom of choice. The will becomes free when it is subordinated to the moral law.
In addition to the philosophical point of view, there are a number of psychological interpretations of will in line with the problem of free choice. Thus, W. James believed that the main function of the will is to make a decision about action in the presence of two or more ideas. In such a situation, the most important feat of will is to direct consciousness towards an attractive object. S.L. also considers choice as one of the functions of the will. Rubinstein.
Regulatory approach correlates the will not with certain contents, but with the function of exercising control, management and self-regulation. M.Ya. Basov understood will as a mental mechanism through which a person regulates his mental functions. Volitional effort is defined as the subjective expression of the regulatory volitional function. The will is deprived of the ability to generate mental or other actions, but it regulates them, revealing itself in attention. According to K. Lewin, the will can indeed control affects and actions. This fact was proven by many experiments conducted at his school.
Research on the regulation of mental processes, carried out within the framework of the problem of will, has given rise to a completely independent direction in psychology, dealing with the problem of self-regulation of the individual. Despite the close connection with will and volitional processes, the subject of research in this area of psychological knowledge is techniques and ways of regulating behavior, states and feelings.
3 Volitional regulation of behavior
The psychology of will studies volitional actions, the problem of choosing motives and goals, volitional regulation of mental states, and volitional qualities of the individual.
Volitional regulation is understood as intentional control of the impulse to action, consciously accepted out of necessity and carried out by a person according to his own decision. If it is necessary to inhibit a desirable, but socially disapproved action, what is meant is not the regulation of the impulse to action, but the regulation of the action of abstinence.
Among the levels of mental regulation the following are distinguished:
involuntary regulation (pre-psychic involuntary reactions; figurative (sensory) and perceptual regulation);
voluntary regulation (speech-mental level of regulation);
volitional regulation (the highest level of voluntary regulation of activity, ensuring overcoming difficulties in achieving the goal).
The function of volitional regulation is to increase the efficiency of the corresponding activity, and volitional action appears as a conscious, purposeful action of a person to overcome external and internal obstacles with the help of volitional efforts.
At the personal level, will manifests itself in such properties as willpower, energy, perseverance, endurance, etc. They can be considered as primary, or basic, volitional qualities of a person. Such qualities determine behavior that is characterized by all or most of the properties described above.
A strong-willed person is distinguished by determination, courage, self-control, and self-confidence. Such qualities usually develop in ontogenesis somewhat later than the group of properties mentioned above. In life, they manifest themselves in unity with character, so they can be considered not only as volitional, but also as characterological. Let's call these qualities secondary.
Finally, there is a third group of qualities that, while reflecting a person’s will, are at the same time associated with his moral and value orientations. This is responsibility, discipline, integrity, commitment. This group, designated as tertiary qualities, includes those in which the will of a person and his attitude to work simultaneously appear: efficiency, initiative. Such personality traits are usually formed only by adolescence.
Volitional qualities are a dynamic category, i.e. capable of change and development throughout life. Volitional qualities are often aimed not so much at mastering circumstances and overcoming them, but at overcoming oneself. This especially applies to people of the impulsive type, unbalanced and emotionally excitable, when they have to act contrary to their natural or characterological data.
The mechanisms of volitional regulation are: mechanisms for replenishing the deficit of motivation, making a volitional effort and deliberately changing the meaning of actions.
The mechanisms for replenishing the motivation deficit consist in strengthening weak, but socially more significant motivation through the assessment of events and actions, as well as ideas about what benefits the achieved goal can bring. Increased motivation is associated with emotional revaluation of value based on the action of cognitive mechanisms. Cognitive psychologists paid special attention to the role of intellectual functions in replenishing motivational deficits. Associated with cognitive mechanisms is the mediation of behavior by an internal intellectual plan, which performs the function of conscious regulation of behavior. Strengthening motivational tendencies occurs due to the mental construction of a future situation. Anticipating the positive and negative consequences of an activity evokes emotions associated with achieving a consciously set goal. These impulses act as additional motivation for the deficit motive.
The need to make a volitional effort is determined by the degree of difficulty of the situation. Volitional effort is the method by which difficulties are overcome in the process of performing a purposeful action; it ensures the possibility of successful activities and the achievement of previously set goals. This mechanism of volitional regulation is correlated with various types of self-stimulation, in particular with its speech form, with frustration tolerance, with the search for positive experiences associated with the presence of an obstacle. Usually there are four forms of self-stimulation: 1) direct form in the form of self-orders, self-encouragement and self-suggestion, 2) indirect form in the form of creating images, ideas associated with achievement, 3) abstract form in the form of constructing a system of reasoning, logical justification and conclusions, 4) combined form as a combination of elements of the three previous forms.
An intentional change in the meaning of actions is possible due to the fact that the need is not strictly connected with the motive, and the motive is not clearly related to the goals of the action. The meaning of activity, according to A.N. Leontiev, consist in the relation of motive to goal. The formation and development of an impulse to action is possible not only by replenishing the deficit of impulse (by connecting additional emotional experiences), but also by changing the meaning of the activity.
A change in the meaning of an activity usually occurs:
1) by reassessing the significance of the motive;
2) through changing the role, position of a person (instead of a subordinate, become a leader, instead of a taker, a giver, instead of a desperate person, a desperate one);
3) through the reformulation and implementation of meaning in the field of fantasy and imagination.
Volitional regulation in its most developed forms means connecting an insignificant or insignificant, but obligatory action to the semantic sphere of the individual. Volitional action means the transformation of pragmatic action into action due to its attachment to moral motives and values.
The problem of volitional regulation of personality is closely related to the question of volitional qualities of a person. Volitional qualities are understood as such features of a person’s volitional activity that contribute to overcoming external and internal difficulties and, under certain circumstances and conditions, manifest themselves as stable personality traits.
The most important volitional properties are purposefulness, perseverance, determination, initiative, courage, etc.
Determination is understood as a person’s ability to subordinate his actions to his goals. It manifests itself in the ability to be tolerant, i.e. resistant to possible obstacles, stress, unexpected turns of events when focusing on a specific goal.
Perseverance is the ability to mobilize to overcome difficulties, the ability to be strong, as well as reasonable and creative in difficult life situations.
Decisiveness is the ability to make and implement timely, informed and firm decisions.
Initiative is the ability to make independent decisions and implement them in activities, spontaneous expression of a person’s motives, desires and motives.
Volitional regulation is necessary in order to keep in the field of consciousness for a long time the object that a person is thinking about and to maintain attention concentrated on it. The will is involved in the regulation of almost all basic mental functions: sensations, perception, imagination, memory, thinking and speech. The development of these cognitive processes from lower to higher means that a person acquires volitional control over them.
Volitional action is always associated with the consciousness of the purpose of the activity, its significance, and the subordination of the actions performed to this purpose. Sometimes there is a need to give a special meaning to a goal, and in this case the participation of the will in the regulation of activity comes down to finding the appropriate meaning, the increased value of this activity. Otherwise, it is necessary to find additional incentives to carry out, to complete an already started activity, and then the volitional meaning-forming function is associated with the process of performing the activity. In the third case, the goal may be to teach something and actions associated with learning acquire a volitional character.
Volitional regulation can be included in activity at any of the stages of its implementation: initiation of activity, choice of means and methods of its implementation, adherence to the intended plan or deviation from it, control of execution. The peculiarity of the inclusion of volitional regulation at the initial moment of activity is that a person, consciously abandoning some drives, motives and goals, prefers others and implements them contrary to momentary, immediate impulses. Will in choosing an action is manifested in the fact that, having consciously abandoned the usual way of solving a problem, the individual chooses another, sometimes more difficult, and tries not to deviate from it. Finally, volitional regulation of control over the execution of an action consists in the fact that a person consciously forces himself to carefully check the correctness of the actions performed when there is almost no strength and desire left to do this. Particular difficulties in terms of volitional regulation are presented for a person by such activities where problems of volitional control arise throughout the entire path of the activity, from the very beginning to the end.
A typical case of the inclusion of will in the management of activity is a situation associated with the struggle of difficultly compatible motives, each of which requires the performance of different actions at the same moment in time. Then the consciousness and thinking of a person, being included in the volitional regulation of his behavior, look for additional incentives in order to make one of the drives stronger, to give it greater meaning in the current situation. Psychologically, this means an active search for connections between the goal and the activity being carried out with the highest spiritual values of a person, consciously giving them much greater significance than they had at the beginning.
With the volitional regulation of behavior generated by actual needs, a special relationship develops between these needs and the human consciousness.
Knowledge of the mechanisms of volitional regulation and methods of developing will is necessary for every person striving for systematic and successful self-development and achieving life goals.
4 Development of will
The development of volitional regulation of behavior in humans occurs in several directions. On the one hand, this is the transformation of involuntary mental processes into voluntary ones, on the other hand, a person gains control over his behavior, and on the third, the development of volitional personality traits. All these processes ontogenetically begin from the moment in life when the child masters speech and learns to use it as an effective means of mental and behavioral self-regulation.
The development of will in a person is associated with:
a) with the transformation of involuntary mental processes into
arbitrary;
b) with a person acquiring control over his behavior;
c) with the development of volitional qualities of the individual;
d) with the fact that a person consciously sets himself more and more difficult tasks and pursues more and more distant goals that require significant volitional efforts over a long time.
Within each of these directions of development of the will, as it strengthens, its own specific transformations occur, gradually raising the process and mechanisms of volitional regulation to higher levels. For example, within cognitive processes, the will first appears in the form of external speech regulation and only then in terms of the intra-speech process. In the behavioral aspect, volitional control first concerns voluntary movements of individual parts of the body, and subsequently - planning and control of complex sets of movements, including inhibition of some and activation of other muscle complexes. In the field of formation of volitional qualities of a person, the development of will can be represented as a movement from primary to secondary and then to tertiary volitional qualities.
Another direction in the development of the will is manifested in the fact that a person consciously sets himself more and more difficult tasks and pursues more and more distant goals that require the application of significant volitional efforts for quite a long time. For example, a schoolchild, while still in adolescence, may set himself the task of developing abilities for which he does not have clear natural inclinations. At the same time, he can set himself the goal of engaging in a complex and prestigious activity in the future, the successful implementation of which requires such abilities. There are many life examples of how people who became famous scientists, artists, writers achieved their goals without having good inclinations, mainly due to increased efficiency and will.
The development of will in children is closely correlated with the enrichment of their motivational and moral sphere. The inclusion of higher motives and values in the regulation of activity, increasing their status in the general hierarchy of incentives that govern activity, the ability to highlight and evaluate the moral side of performed actions - all these are important points in the education of will in children. The motivation for an act, which includes volitional regulation, becomes conscious, and the act itself becomes voluntary. Such an action is always performed on the basis of an arbitrarily constructed hierarchy of motives, where the top level is occupied by a highly moral motivation, which gives moral satisfaction to a person if the activity is successful. A good example of such activity is extra-standard activity associated with the highest moral values, performed on a voluntary basis and aimed at benefiting people.
Improving the volitional regulation of behavior in children is associated with their general intellectual development, with the emergence of motivational and personal reflection. Therefore, it is almost impossible to cultivate a child’s will in isolation from his general psychological development. Otherwise, instead of will and perseverance as undoubtedly positive and valuable personal qualities, their antipodes may arise and take hold: stubbornness and rigidity.
Games play a special role in the development of will in children in all of these areas, and each type of play activity makes its own specific contribution to the improvement of the volitional process. Constructive object-based games, which appear first in a child’s age-related development, contribute to the accelerated formation of voluntary regulation of actions. Role-playing games lead to the consolidation of the necessary volitional personality traits in the child. In addition to this task, collective games with rules solve another problem: strengthening the self-regulation of actions. Learning, which appears in the last years of preschool childhood and turns into a leading activity in school, makes the greatest contribution to the development of voluntary self-regulation of cognitive processes.
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Coursework >> Psychology... sign strong-willed behavior ... strong-willed regulation"(1991). In this definition V.A. Ivannikov tried to put everything together basic ... DEVELOPMENT WILLS AND CHILDREN'S PRODUCTIVITY Development strong-willed personality traits and arbitrary behavior children All strong-willed ... theory ...
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Test >> PsychologyIn unity with her neurophysiological substrate - ..., accumulated knowledge about signs and properties of objects. ...observation. WILL. CHARACTERISTIC BASIC VOLITIONAL PROPERTIES Strong-willed regulation behavior and... problems for further development theories and teaching practices...
Will- a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior (activity and communication), associated with overcoming internal and external obstacles. This is a person’s ability, which manifests itself in self-determination and self-regulation of his behavior and mental phenomena.
The main features of a volitional act:
a) applying effort to perform an act of will;
b) the presence of a well-thought-out plan for the implementation of a behavioral act;
c) increased attention to such a behavioral act and the absence of direct pleasure received in the process and as a result of its execution;
d) often the efforts of the will are aimed not only at defeating circumstances, but at overcoming oneself.
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 human reactions 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 is how volitional actions differ from impulsive actions, i.e. actions performed involuntarily and not sufficiently controlled by consciousness.
At the personal level, the manifestation of will finds its expression in such properties as strength of will(the degree of willpower required to achieve the goal), perseverance(a person’s ability to mobilize their capabilities to overcome difficulties for a long time), excerpt(the ability to inhibit actions, feelings, thoughts that interfere with the implementation of the decision made), energy etc. These are the primary (basic) volitional personal qualities that determine most behavioral acts.
There are also secondary volitional qualities that develop in ontogenesis later than the primary ones: determination(ability to make and implement quick, informed and firm decisions), courage(the ability to overcome fear and take justifiable risks to achieve a goal, despite the dangers to personal well-being), self-control(the ability to control the sensory side of your psyche and subordinate your 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 from the point of view of his fulfillment of moral requirements), discipline(conscious subordination of one’s behavior to generally accepted norms, established order), integrity(fidelity to a certain idea in beliefs and consistent implementation of this idea in behavior), obligation(the ability to voluntarily assume responsibilities and fulfill them). This group also includes qualities of will associated with a person’s attitude to work: efficiency, initiative(the ability to work creatively, taking actions on one’s own initiative), organization(reasonable planning and ordering of your work), diligence(diligence, fulfilling assignments and duties on time), 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.
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 instincts 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, dysfunctional families, in which they grew up, etc. The Marxist thesis about the fundamental dependence of good and evil in man on external (social) conditions has always been a pretext for avoiding personal responsibility.
Control questions
1. What are the concepts and main signs of will?
2. Show the importance of will in organizing activities and communication.
3. What is the volitional regulation of behavior?
4. What are the primary, secondary and tertiary volitional qualities of a person?
5. Do you consider yourself a strong-willed person?
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”:
1. 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 break away and then return to it again?
2. Do you easily overcome internal resistance when you need to do something unpleasant to you (for example, go on duty on a day off)?
3. 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?
4. If you are prescribed a diet, can you overcome culinary temptations?
5. Will you find the strength to get up earlier than usual in the morning, as planned in the evening?
6. Will you remain at the scene to testify?
7. Do you respond quickly to emails?
8. If you are afraid of an upcoming plane flight or a visit to the dentist's office, can you easily overcome this feeling and not change your intention at the last moment?
9. Will you take a very unpleasant medicine that the doctor persistently recommends to you?
10. 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?
11. Do you hesitate to go on a business trip (business trip) to an unfamiliar city?
12. Do you strictly adhere to the daily routine: time to wake up, eat, study, clean and other things?
13. Do you disapprove of library debtors?
14. The most interesting TV show will not make you put off urgent work. Is it so?
15. 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?
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I don't know, sometimes | ||||||||||||||||
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. Your willpower is not going well. 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 can cause various troubles for you. Your position is expressed by the well-known saying “what do I need more than anyone else?..” 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 it will help you change your attitude towards others and “remake” something in your character. If you succeed, you will only benefit from this.
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. You won’t overdo it, but you’ll keep your word. You will try to do unpleasant work, although you will grumble. You cannot 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. Volitional activity of schoolchildren and methods of studying it. - Chelyabinsk, 1979. - P. 67.
Gomezo M.V., Domashenko I.A. Atlas of psychology. - P. 194, 204 - 213.
Kotyplo V.K. Development of volitional behavior in preschool children. - Kyiv, 1971. - P. 11 - 51.
Nemov R.S. Psychology. Book 1. - pp. 357 - 366.
General psychology. - M., 1986. - P. 385 - 400.
Psychological Dictionary. - P. 53, 54.
Psychology. Dictionary. - P. 62, 63.
Rubinshtein S.L. Fundamentals of general psychology. T. 2. - P. 182 - 211.
Collection of tests for selecting candidates for employment (US Methodology). - P. 20 - 22.
Experimental studies of volitional activity. - Ryazan, 1986. - P. 3 - 23.
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in the academic discipline "General Experimental Psychology"
Psychological theories of will
Introduction
1. General concept of will
3. Basic theories of will
Conclusion
Bibliography
Application
Introduction
Will is the ability of an individual to consciously and purposefully regulate and control his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to mobilize mental and physical capabilities to overcome difficulties and obstacles that stand in the way of the goal.
Carrying out an act of will, a person acts arbitrarily and without submitting to the actions of external causes.
The will combines three main properties of consciousness: cognition, attitude and experience, being the motivating and administrative forms of their regulation, performing activating or inhibitory functions. Volitional states are manifested in activity - passivity, restraint - lack of restraint, confidence - uncertainty, determination - indecisiveness.
Will is an element of personal consciousness. Therefore, it is not an innate quality, but is formed and developed in the process of personality formation. The development of a person’s will is associated with the transformation of involuntary mental processes into voluntary ones, with a person acquiring control over his behavior, with the development of volitional personality traits into a complex form of activity.
The problem of will, voluntary and volitional regulation of human behavior and activity has long occupied the minds of scientists, causing heated debates and discussions. To date, several scientific directions have emerged that interpret the concept of “will” in different ways. This work is devoted to a review of these theories of will.
Purpose of the work: To characterize psychological theories of will
1. Consider the general concept of will
2. Identify the relationship between the components of will in theories of will
1. General concept of will
Will is present in many acts of human behavior, helping to overcome resistance, as well as other desires and needs on the way to the intended goal. If, for example, a person does not want to drink bitter medicine, but he knows that it is extremely necessary for his health, then, suppressing his reluctance by willpower, he forces himself to systematically carry out the prescribed treatment. Another example: a student wants to go to a disco, but his homework test is not ready for tomorrow. Overcoming a momentary desire with an effort of will, the student forces himself to work, setting the goal of tomorrow's success. We also observe the manifestation of will in various communication situations. For example, a person is unpleasant to us, but our further advancement objectively depends on him, therefore, through an effort of will, we restrain our hostility, put on a psychological “mask” suitable for the given situation, and as a result we achieve our goal.
Most often, a person shows his will in the following typical situations:
it is necessary to make a choice between two or more thoughts, goals, feelings that are equally attractive, but require opposite actions, and are incompatible with each other;
no matter what, it is necessary to purposefully move towards the intended goal;
On the path of a person’s practical activity, internal (fear, uncertainty, doubts) or external (objective circumstances) obstacles arise that must be overcome.
In other words, will (its presence or absence) manifests itself in all situations related to choice and decision-making.
The main functions of the will are:
choice of motives and goals;
regulation of the impulse to act when there is insufficient or excessive motivation;
organization of mental processes into a system that is adequate to the activity performed by a person;
mobilization of physical and mental capabilities in achieving set goals in a situation of overcoming obstacles.
Will as a phenomenon of the human psyche attracted the attention of thinkers back in antiquity. Aristotle introduced the concept of will into the system of categories of the science of the soul in order to explain how human behavior is realized in accordance with knowledge, which in itself is devoid of motivating power. Aristotle's will acted as a factor, along with desire, capable of changing the course of behavior: initiating it, stopping it, changing direction and pace. However, thinkers of antiquity, and later the Middle Ages, did not interpret will in its modern personal understanding. Thus, in antiquity the concept of “will” was absorbed by the concept of “logic”. According to Aristotle, for example, any action follows primarily from a logical conclusion.
During the Middle Ages, there was a ritual of exoris - exorcism of the devil. Man in those days was perceived only as a passive principle, in which the will manifested itself in the form of good and evil spirits. This understanding of will was due to the fact that traditional society actually denied independent behavior. S.I. Rogov notes that the personality appears in him only as a genus, as a program according to which the ancestors lived. The right to deviate was recognized only for certain members of society, for example, a shaman - a person who communicates with the spirits of ancestors; a blacksmith - a person who has the power of fire and metal; robber - a criminal man who opposed himself to a given society.
The concept of will seems to be revived in modern times along with the emergence of the concept of personality, one of the main values of which is free will. A new worldview is emerging - existentialism, the “philosophy of existence”, according to which freedom is absolute, free will. M. Heidegger, K. Jaspers, J.-P. Sartre and A. Camus believed that any person is essentially self-willed and irresponsible, and any social norms are a suppression of human essence.
In Russia, an interesting interpretation of will was presented by I.P. Pavlov, considering will as an “instinct” (reflex) of freedom. As an instinct of freedom, will is no less a stimulus for behavior than the instincts of hunger or danger.
Much controversy has arisen and is arising on the issue of the conscious or unconscious origin of the concept of “will”.
Psychoanalytic psychology represented the human will as a kind of energy of human actions. Proponents of psychoanalysis believed that human actions are controlled by a certain biological energy of a person, converted into mental energy. Freud identified this energy with the psychosexual energy of sexual desire - the unconscious libido, thereby explaining human behavior first by the “cultivated” manifestations of this life-affirming force (Eros), and then by its struggle with a person’s equally subconscious craving for death (Thantos).
The theological interpretation of will is that will is identified with the divine principle in the world: God is the exclusive owner of free will, endowing it with people at his own discretion.
Materialists interpret will as a side of the psyche that has a material basis in the form of nervous brain processes. Volitional or voluntary actions develop on the basis of involuntary movements and actions. The simplest of involuntary actions are reflex ones. This type also includes impulsive actions, unconscious, not subordinate to the general goal of the reaction. In contrast to involuntary actions, a person’s conscious actions are aimed at achieving his goal, which is characteristic of volitional behavior.
The material basis of voluntary movements is the activity of giant pyramidal cells located in one of the layers of the cerebral cortex in the region of the anterior central gyrus. Impulses for movement are generated in these cells. Scientists came to this conclusion by studying the causes of abulia (painful lack of will), which develops on the basis of brain pathology and appraxia (impaired voluntary regulation of movements and actions that make it impossible to carry out a volitional act), resulting from damage to the frontal lobes of the brain.
The doctrine of the second signal system I.P. Pavlova significantly supplemented the materialistic concept, proving the conditioned reflex essence of will.
Modern research on will in psychology is carried out in different scientific directions: in behaviorist-oriented science, certain forms of behavior are studied; in the psychology of motivation, the focus is on intrapersonal conflicts and ways to overcome them; in personality psychology, the main attention is focused on the identification and study of the corresponding volitional characteristics of the individual. At the same time, modern psychology strives to give the science of will an integrative character.
2. 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, that is, 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.
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. Our expressive movements are usually involuntary in nature.
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 outside the window, to an object that can satisfy a need. 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. Volitional actions differ from each other primarily in the level of their complexity.
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.
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 of 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. Consequently, the will is associated 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 the conscious choice of a goal and the selection of means to achieve it. Thinking is also necessary during the execution of a planned action. Carrying out our intended action, we encounter many difficulties. 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.
3. Basic 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 the concepts of goal and awareness are categories of intellectual behavior, and, in his opinion, there is no need to introduce new terms. 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 by some members of the community, for example, by a blacksmith - a person who is subject to the power of fire and metal, or by a robber - a criminal who opposed himself to a given society, etc.
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 the worldview of existentialism - the “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, taken outside of 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 man as a representative of the species Homo sapiens and the animal world lies in his 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.” For a human action, such an obstacle can be not only an external obstacle that limits motor activity, but also the content of his own consciousness, his interests, etc. Thus, the will in the interpretation of I.P. Pavlova 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 S. 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 initial aggressiveness of a person. 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, these are the desire for power and social dominance, and for Horney and Fromm, the individual’s desire for self-realization in culture.
In fact, various concepts of psychoanalysis represent an absolutization of individual, albeit essential, needs as sources of human actions. Objections are raised not so much by the exaggerations themselves as by the 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.
Conclusion
In this work, I examined the main psychological theories of will, and also identified the relationship between the components of will in theories of will.
Will plays a decisive role in a person’s life; thanks to it, desires come true. It’s not very often that dreams in everyday life come true by themselves; much more often you have to make an effort, even do something that you don’t want to do at all. People with a weak will are called weak-willed. One way or another, in everyday life you have to face difficulties and obstacles. They need to be overcome. This requires willful effort.
It is possible to understand what will is only if it is possible to bring together extreme points of view, each of which absolutizes one of the mentioned sides of will: obligation, taken for will, in one case, or freedom of choice, to which will is reduced, in in another case. The above approaches to understanding the essence of will reflect its various aspects, indicate its various functions and do not contradict each other at all. Moreover, understanding the phenomenon of will is possible only on the basis of a synthesis of various theories, based on taking into account the multifunctionality of will as a psychological mechanism that allows a person to consciously control his behavior.
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Annex 1
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