What is human will in psychology.  will is what will is: definition - pedagogy.nes. Definition of will. Volitional process

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?

Answer options

Reply number

Total

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.

Very often we hear from people that they cannot do this or that act because they don’t have enough. For example, start doing exercises every morning or stop eating sweets in large quantities. This requires a person to make some effort on himself. What is will? Is it inherent in every person? Is it possible to develop willpower?

Concept of will

Will is a function of the human psyche, thanks to which we have the opportunity to exercise control over our actions and manage our actions, making this or that decision, and achieving our goals.

Will encourages people to achieve their desires and at the same time allows them to control them. With its help, a person is able to overcome difficulties and get out of difficult life situations. People whose will is not developed prefer to go with the flow and do not strive to change their existence for the better. It’s easier for them to give up on their dreams than to make an effort and start taking action.

Volitional qualities of a person

The concept of will includes a number of qualities of human character. These include, first of all, self-control and endurance. These qualities are manifested in restraining, when necessary, their emotions in order to avoid committing rash actions that can lead to disastrous consequences. For example, you should not start a fight, even if you have been insulted or humiliated.

Another strong-willed quality is determination. It consists of overcoming internal doubts and hesitations, quickly moving to active action, be it setting a goal or taking steps towards achieving it.

Human independence is also one of the strong-willed qualities. People should be able to make decisions, guided only by their own principles and beliefs, and be independent of other people's opinions.

Strong-willed qualities also include persistence and stubbornness, as well as determination. They help a person not to give up on his plans, to continue to strive and act, even if not everything works out right away.

Freedom and freedom

Very often the word “will” is associated with freedom. In expressions such as “unleash” or “let loose,” these words are practically synonymous. However, there are significant differences between these two words. Will is a broader concept, in contrast to freedom, which implies the ability of a person to live and act as he wants. At the same time, the will can to some extent limit freedom, force a person to act not only as he wants, but also as common sense requires.

There is also the concept of “free will,” which means that a person has a choice independent of external circumstances. People have the right to make their own decisions - how to live, what values ​​to set as priorities for themselves, what goals to choose and how to strive to achieve them.

What is the will of God

Many people wonder whether a person has a choice at all and whether he can influence his destiny. What is the will of God? How does it manifest itself in our world and can it be influenced?

God's will implies that everything that happens in our lives is predetermined from above. There is nothing that can happen without God's knowledge and permission. The will of the Almighty is unchangeable and does not depend on any external factors. People are unable to influence it, no matter how much they wish. It is hidden, inaccessible to the understanding of humanity.

Hiding behind God's will, people could do whatever they wanted - kill, steal, while saying that it was destined to be so. However, this is far from the case, and responsibility from a person for his evil deeds is not removed. In addition to the hidden, there is also a comprehensible, or open, will of God for people. It is reflected in the Bible and tells people how they should live, what to fear and what to strive for. A person is responsible before God when he does not fulfill His will, rejects His laws and neglects them.

The will of the Russian people

Each country, as a rule, has its own distinctive characteristics inherent in its inhabitants. Russia is famous for the unbending willpower of its people. There are many examples of its manifestation in the history of our state. Only thanks to unprecedented willpower, Russia was able to win many wars and maintain its sovereignty to this day.

One of the most striking examples when the will of the people manifested itself in full force is the siege of Leningrad. It lasted almost 900 days. During this time, many people died of hunger, but the city did not give up, despite all the difficulties.

Of course, not all Russian people have a powerful will. At all times, in our country there were many traitors, cowards who were ready to sell their fatherland. However, the majority of Russian people still have willpower, and it manifests itself not only in times of danger for the country, but also in everyday life.

How to develop willpower

Very often people decide to dramatically and radically change their lives, gathering all their will into a fist. For example, a person wants to start playing sports tomorrow. To do this, he decides to get up early every morning, do exercises, run, and after work go to the gym. However, out of habit, after a couple of days of such a rhythm of life, a person becomes so tired that he completely abandons his idea, and he no longer has the desire to train willpower. As a result, instead of a positive result, it only got worse.

How to develop strong-willed qualities without harming yourself? First, you need to stop delaying the start of your actions, citing some reasons. For example, promises “I’ll start doing exercises on Monday” or “I won’t eat sweets from the beginning of the month” do not strengthen willpower, but, on the contrary, make it even weaker.

What is will? It is the ability to control behavior to achieve one's goals. That is why you need to start moving towards them today. It is much easier to get up right now and do a few exercises than to suddenly jump straight into heavy loads.

Willpower training is a systematic process. It is impossible to become a strong-willed person in one day; you need to go to this for a long time and gradually. Every time you make even a small effort on yourself, you get closer to your goal. The main thing is not to kill your desire to develop willpower through wrong actions.

The concept of will. The term “will” reflects that side of mental life, which is expressed in a person’s ability to act in the direction of a consciously set goal, while overcoming various obstacles. The concept of will was originally introduced to explain the impulse to act according to a person's own decisions, but not in accordance with his desires. Then it began to be used to explain the possibility of free choice when there is a conflict of desires. Will is manifested in the ability to force oneself to do what is necessary, to suppress desires and drives that prevent this. In other words, will is power over oneself, control of one’s actions, conscious regulation of one’s behavior.

Will – it is a form of mental reflection in which reflected is an objective goal, incentives to achieve it, and emerging objective obstacles; reflected becomes a subjective goal, a struggle of motives, a volitional effort; result is action and satisfaction in achieving a goal. The obstacles that a person has to overcome on the way to achieving a goal can be both internal and external.

Domestic obstacles appear in cases where there is a conflict, a clash of contradictory impulses (you want to sleep, but you need to get up), fear, uncertainty, and doubt arise.

The will also manifests itself in overcoming external obstacles: objective circumstances, work difficulties, various kinds of obstacles, resistance from other people, etc. A person with a strong will knows how to achieve his goal and see things through to the end.

Overcoming obstacles requires volitional effort - a special state of neuropsychic tension that mobilizes a person’s strength.

Most often in a person’s life, will manifests itself in the following typical situations when:

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

No matter what, you must purposefully move towards your intended goal;

You should refrain from implementing the decision due to changed circumstances.

Will is not an isolated property of the human psyche, therefore it should be considered in close connection with other aspects of his mental life, first of all, with motives and needs. Will is especially needed when the motives and needs that directly motivate activity are relatively weak or there are strong motives and needs that compete with them. A strong-willed person suppresses some of his motives and needs in order to satisfy others. We can say that will consists of the ability to act in accordance with a goal, suppressing immediate desires and aspirations.

The powerful engine of will is feelings. A person who is indifferent to everything cannot be a person of strong will, because will presupposes awareness of one’s feelings, their assessment and power over them. “Slaves of their passions” (gamblers, drug addicts, etc.) are always weak-willed people. Volitional action in itself can give rise to a new strong feeling - a feeling of satisfaction from a duty accomplished, an obstacle overcome, a goal achieved, against the background of which the old, suppressed feeling is often forgotten.

The connection between the will and the thinking. A volitional action is a deliberate action: before forcing oneself to act as is necessary in given circumstances, a person must understand, realize, and think through his actions. Before overcoming external obstacles that stand in the way of the goal, you need to find the optimal paths, think about the idea of ​​​​action and draw up a plan for it.

The participation of thinking, imagination, motives, emotions and other mental processes in volitional regulation led to an exaggerated assessment by scientists of either intellectual or affective processes. There were also theories in which the will was considered as the primary ability of the soul. This is, in particular, the so-called voluntarism – an idealistic movement in philosophy and psychology that recognizes will as a special supernatural force underlying the psyche and existence. According to voluntarism, volitional acts are not determined by anything, but they themselves determine the course of mental processes. The volitional principle is opposed to the laws of nature and society.

Idealists considered the will to be a spiritual force, unrelated either to the activity of the brain or to the environment. They argued that the will is the highest agent of our consciousness, which is called upon to perform administrative functions, that the will is not subordinate to anyone or anything. In their opinion, a person in any case can do as he pleases, regardless of anything, because he is free in his actions.

Materialists affirm the objective determinacy of volitional actions. The volitional regulation of human behavior and actions is formed and developed under the control of society, and then the self-control of the individual, and is associated primarily with the formation of a rich motivational and semantic sphere, a strong worldview and beliefs of a person, as well as the ability to exert volitional efforts in special situations of action.

Analysis of volitional action. As a social new formation of the human psyche, conditioned by the development of labor activity, will can be represented as special internal action, including external and internal means. All human actions can be divided into involuntary and voluntary.

Involuntary actions are performed as a result of the emergence of unconscious impulses (drives, attitudes, etc.), they lack a clear plan, are impulsive and most often arise in a state of passion (fear, delight, anger, amazement). These actions can be called involuntary, since they are carried out without human control and do not require conscious regulation. These include unconditional reflex, instinctive actions (turning the head towards a suddenly flashing light or sound, tilting the body forward or to the side to maintain balance, etc.).

free actions presuppose awareness of the goal, a preliminary representation of those operations that can ensure its achievement, and their order. All voluntary actions can be considered volitional.

Volitional actions, like all mental activity, are related to the functioning of the brain. An important role is played by the frontal lobes of the brain, in which the achieved result is compared with a previously compiled goal program. Damage to the frontal lobes leads to abulia – painful lack of will, when a person does not have enough will to even take the item he needs from the table, get dressed, etc.

In its most elementary form, volitional action is expressed in the direct influence of thoughts or ideas on behavior. The most striking example of this is the ideomotor act, i.e. the ability of just the thought of movement to cause the movement itself. Whenever we are just about to make any movement, it is involuntarily accomplished in micromovements of the eyes, fingers, and in a barely noticeable tension of the corresponding muscles. This is used by artists who find a hidden object in the auditorium, touching during the search the hand of a person who knows where it is hidden and constantly thinks about it.

In volitional action two main stages can be distinguished:

1) preparatory (“mental action”), ending with decision-making;

2) final (“actual action”), consisting in the execution of the decision made.

IN simple volitional actions, performing which a person without hesitation goes towards the intended goal, it is quite clear to him what and in what way he will achieve, and the decision directly turns into execution.

IN complex volitional action has many more stages:

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

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

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

4) struggle of motives and choice;

5) accepting one of the possibilities as a solution;

6) implementation of the decision made;

7) overcoming external obstacles in implementing the decision and achieving the goal.

The first stage (awareness of the goal and the desire to achieve it) is not always accompanied by a struggle of motives in a complex action. If the goal is set from the outside and the achievement of this goal is mandatory for the performer, then all that remains is to cognize it by forming a certain image of the future result of the action. The struggle of motives arises at this stage when a person has the opportunity to choose goals, at least the order of their achievement. The struggle of motives that arises when goals are realized is not a structural component of volitional action, but rather a certain stage of volitional activity, of which action is a part. Each of the motives, before becoming a goal, goes through the stage of desire (in the case when the goal is chosen independently). Desire is the content of a need that exists ideally (in a person’s head). To desire something means first of all to know the content of the incentive.

Since a person at any moment has various significant desires, the simultaneous satisfaction of which is objectively excluded, there is a clash of opposing, divergent motives, between which a choice must be made. This situation is called the struggle of motives. At the stage of awareness of the goal and the desire to achieve it, the struggle of motives is resolved by choosing the goal of action, after which the tension caused by the struggle of motives at this stage weakens.

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

At the third stage (the emergence of motives...), possible ways and means of achieving a goal are correlated with a person’s existing system of values, including beliefs, feelings, norms of behavior, and leading needs. Here, each of the possible paths is discussed in terms of the correspondence of a particular path to the value system of a given person.

The fourth stage (the struggle of motives and choice) turns out to be central in complex volitional action. Here, as at the stage of choosing a goal, a conflict situation may be observed due to the fact that a person understands the possibility of an easy way to achieve a goal (this understanding is one of the results of the second stage), but at the same time, due to his moral qualities or principles, he does not can accept it. Other paths are less economical (and a person also understands this), but following them is more consistent with a person’s value system.

The result of resolving this situation is the fifth stage (accepting one of the possibilities as a solution). It is characterized by a decrease in tension as internal conflict is resolved. Here the means, methods, and sequence of their use are specified, i.e., refined planning is carried out. After this, the sixth stage begins (implementation of the decision made). It, however, does not free a person from the need to make volitional efforts, since the practical implementation of the intended goal also involves overcoming obstacles.

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

Will, as one of the most complex mental processes, creates certain mental states in a person - activity, composure, readiness for activity.

Education and development of will. The characteristics of will testify to its social essence, i.e., that it develops not according to biological, but according to social laws. Therefore, we can highlight the following basic conditions and directions for the education of the will.

1. Formation of a worldview, enrichment of a person’s motivational and moral spheres, development of ethical feelings and, above all, the cultivation of a sense of duty, since the will is expressed in overcoming difficulties, and a person can overcome them only by understanding why he is doing this.

2. The development of volitional regulation of behavior begins from the moment in a person’s life when he masters speech and learns to use it as an effective means of self-regulation, which first appears in the form of external speech regulation and only then, much later, in terms of the intraspeech process. Without this, it is impossible to control voluntary processes, movements and actions, and behavior. Therefore, the central direction in the development of human will is the transformation of involuntary mental processes into voluntary ones.

3. A person who strives to cultivate a strong will in himself must treat each of his decisions and intentions as a serious and responsible matter, remembering that failure to implement a decision corrupts the will.

4. Formation of control over one’s behavior, the habit of evaluating one’s actions, and being aware of their consequences. Without developing a critical attitude towards yourself and your actions, it is impossible to cultivate a strong will in yourself. Great demands on oneself are one of the characteristic signs of a person of strong will.

5. An important direction in the development of the will is the development of volitional qualities of the individual: discipline, determination, self-control, independence, determination, perseverance, initiative, courage, courage, bravery, etc.

6. Constantly training yourself to overcome internal and external obstacles, constant exercise of willpower. Where no effort is required, there is no reason to talk about a serious volitional task. The ability to overcome obstacles develops through practice. The will is formed in action.

Will- This is one of the most complex concepts in psychology. It is considered both as a mental process, and as an aspect of most other important mental processes and phenomena, and as a unique ability of an individual to voluntarily control his behavior.

Will- This is a person’s conscious overcoming of difficulties on the path to carrying out an action. When faced with obstacles, a person either refuses to act in the chosen direction, or “intensifies” efforts to overcome the barrier, that is, carries out a special action that goes beyond the boundaries of his initial motives and goals; this special action consists in changing the very impulse to action. A person intentionally attracts additional motives for action, in other words, builds a new motive. An important role in the construction of new motives is played by a person’s imagination, foresight and ideal “playing out” of certain possible consequences of activity.

Ultimately, the complexity of the concept of “will” is explained by the fact that it is very closely related to the concept of “consciousness,” an extremely complex psychological phenomenon, and is one of its most important attributes. Being closely connected also with the motivational sphere of the individual, will is a special voluntary form of human activity. It involves initiation, stabilization and inhibition (inhibition) of a number of aspirations, impulses, desires, motives; organizes systems of actions towards achieving perceived goals.

Three main functions volitional processes.

1. Initiating, or incentive, function(directly related to motivational factors) is to force one to start one or another action, behavior, activity, overcoming objective and subjective obstacles.

2. Stabilizing function associated with volitional efforts to maintain activity at the proper level in the event of external and internal interference of various kinds.

3. Inhibitory or braking function consists in inhibiting other, often strong motives and desires, other behavior options that are not consistent with the main goals of activity (and behavior) at a given point in time. A person is able to inhibit the awakening of motives and the execution of actions that contradict his idea of ​​what should be, he is able to say “no!” motives, the implementation of which could jeopardize higher-order values. Regulation of behavior would be impossible without inhibition.

Along with this, volitional actions also have three main characteristics.

The first is awareness. freedom implementation of actions, a sense of fundamental “unpredetermination” of one’s own behavior.

The second is mandatory objective determinism any, even seemingly extremely “free” action.



Third - in volitional action (behavior) personality is manifested generally - as fully and clearly as possible, since volitional regulation acts as the highest level of mental regulation.

Will as a conscious organization and self-regulation of activity aimed at overcoming internal difficulties, This is, first of all, power over oneself, over one’s feelings and actions. It is well known that different people have different degrees of expression of this power. Ordinary consciousness records a huge range of individual characteristics of the will, differing in the intensity of their manifestations, characterized at one pole as strength, and at the other as weakness of will. The range of manifestations of weak will is as wide as the characteristic qualities of a strong will. The extreme degree of weakness of will is beyond the bounds of the mental norm. These include, for example, abulia and apraxia.

Abulia - This is a lack of motivation for activity arising on the basis of brain pathology, the inability, when understanding the need, to make a decision to act or carry it out.

Apraxia - a complex disorder of purposefulness of actions caused by damage to brain structures. If the damage to the nervous tissue is localized in the frontal lobes of the brain, apraxia occurs, manifested in a violation of the voluntary regulation of movements and actions that do not obey a given program and, therefore, make it impossible to carry out a volitional act.

Abulia and apraxia - relatively rare phenomena, inherent in people with severe mental disorders. The weakness of will that a teacher encounters in everyday work is, as a rule, not caused by brain pathology, but by certain conditions of upbringing. Correction of lack of will is possible, as a rule, only against the background of a change in the social situation of personality development.

Since childhood, we have all heard such phrases as “willpower”, “weak-willed person” or “gather your will into a fist”. Each of us has an approximate idea of ​​what exactly the interlocutor means when he says these words. However, usually only a specialist in the field of psychology or philosophy can give a precise definition of the concepts of “will” and “functions of the will”. This is all the more surprising because without this term it is difficult to imagine a person as a whole and all aspects of his life. Therefore, in this article we will consider the concept of will and the functions of will.

Interpretation of the concept in philosophy and psychology

Since ancient times, philosophers and psychologists have been concerned with questions of will and They have been viewed from numerous angles and interpreted in completely different ways. For example, Schopenhauer conducted research on will in psychology. He revealed the rational nature of the will, but attributed it to the most hidden corners of the soul. During this period of time, it was believed that it represents a force that binds a person and obliges him to commit certain actions. Therefore, in order to have hope for a happy and free life, the individual had to get rid of the shackles of the will.

I would like to note that psychologists distinguish three main areas of human activity:

  • emotional;
  • intellectual;
  • strong-willed.

Experts believe that the latter area is the least studied, and it is often presented in a distorted version. For example, psychologists in the Soviet Union, defining the function of will and the concept itself, argued that it can be understood as the subordination of public goals and interests over individual ones. It is noteworthy that with this interpretation, individual values, formed by volitional nature, became just a set of accepted value guidelines of society as a whole. This approach raised several generations of citizens whose will was completely and unconditionally subordinated to public and state interests.

It is noteworthy that philosophers are still debating about free will. Some authors of works adhere to the ideas of determinism. Their meaning can be expressed in a few words as the absence of free will in principle. That is, a person cannot independently choose one path or another based on his own beliefs, and another group of philosophers promotes the theory of indeterminism. Representatives of this movement provide evidence for the ideas of free will. They argue that every person is free from birth and in such a context the will only contributes to development and movement forward.

In psychology, there are certain characteristics through which will is determined:

  • personality traits - determination, perseverance, self-control, and so on;
  • the ability to regulate mental and behavioral reactions;
  • volitional actions that have a number of clear signs - overcoming moral and other types of obstacles, awareness, and the like.

Of course, all of the above does not provide an accurate definition of the structure of the will and function. However, in general, the mechanism of its action in certain conditions becomes clear. In the following sections of the article we will take a closer look at the will, its main features and functions.

Definition

In the modern scientific world, the concept of will is considered one of the most complex and multifaceted. After all, when considering it, we have to take into account that will can act as an independent process, an indispensable aspect of certain actions, as well as the ability of an individual to subordinate and control his actions and emotions.

If we refer to the terminology of psychology, we can say that will is the ability of an individual to regulate his behavior by overcoming a number of difficulties and obstacles. This process occurs consciously and has a number of functions and characteristics. Will in this case appears as a certain property of the human psyche. Indeed, in order to achieve his goal, a person must not only overcome a number of obstacles, but also apply all his emotional and physical strength to this end. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine human activity without the volitional aspect.

Volitional act

It is possible to reveal the signs of will and function only through understanding the act of will. This process is extremely complex; it includes several successive stages, which can be represented as follows:

  • a need that performs a motivational function;
  • awareness of the emerging need;
  • internal determination of motives that motivate action;
  • selection of options to fulfill the need;
  • first steps towards the goal;
  • control over the process of implementing a well-thought-out plan.

It is noteworthy that each stage is accompanied by tension of will. She participates in all the processes described above. Psychologists believe that every time a person checks his action against a picture drawn in his head, accepted as an ideal. The real plan is adjusted and put into action again.

Experts also call all the items on our list “volitional actions” and believe that it is in them that the personality is revealed most fully, and also enters a new stage of development.

Signs

Before talking about the functions of the will, it is necessary to consider its characteristics. There are several of them:

  • concentration of efforts for an act of will;
  • availability of a detailed action plan;
  • attention to one's own efforts;
  • lack of positive emotions in the process of their actions;
  • mobilization of all the forces of the body;
  • extreme concentration on the goal and the path to it.

The listed signs reveal the psychological basis of will. After all, such actions are aimed primarily at overcoming one’s own fears and weaknesses. In the process of implementing volitional action, a person is determined to fight with himself, which is considered characteristic only of a highly developed personality.

Signs of volitional action

We have already said that will is the main aspect of all human activity. She imperceptibly penetrates into all spheres of life and sometimes subjugates them to herself. This process has three main features that explain that the will and volitional processes and functions of the will are closely interrelated concepts:

  • Providing a purpose for any human activity, as well as streamlining life. Volitional actions can change the world around a particular person, subordinating it to certain goals.
  • The ability to control oneself through will gives a person freedom. Indeed, in this case, external circumstances cannot have a decisive influence and the personality turns into an active subject who has the ability to make conscious decisions.
  • Conscious overcoming of obstacles on the way to the goal activates all volitional processes. After all, when faced with difficulties, only the person himself can decide whether he should continue moving forward or whether it’s time to stop. Will gives him the impetus to make a decision.

It is worth noting that the mental function we describe is manifested in various properties of the human personality. It is worth talking about them in more detail.

Manifestation of will

Each personality has certain qualities. Many of them are a clear reflection of the will:

  • Perseverance. It can be interpreted as the ability to gather all your strength and concentrate on the task at hand.
  • Excerpt. Subjugation and restraint of the mind, emotions and actions for the sake of one single goal.
  • Determination. The desire to make decisions as quickly as possible and implement an action plan.
  • Mandatory. Completing all actions on time and in full.

Of course, these are not all personality traits. In reality, there are many more of them, but even from this small list it becomes clear that will literally permeates all human activities, his thoughts and dreams. Without it, the person would not be able to realize any of the ideas that arose. In this, the will and volitional processes are fully revealed.

Functions of the will

Science has been identifying them for a long time. Initially, psychologists spoke of the presence of two functions of the will, but now their number has increased to three. This is considered the most accurate definition of the functional role of this mental aspect. Today we can highlight:

  • incentive function;
  • brake;
  • stabilizing.

In the following sections of the article we will consider in detail the main functions of the will.

Incentive

Many scientists consider this to be the main function of the will. It ensures human activity, both voluntary and conscious. It is noteworthy that this function is often confused with reactivity. However, there are serious differences between them that are noticeable even to beginners in psychology. Reactivity causes action in response to a particular situation. For example, a walking person almost always turns around when he hears a shout, and teasing will definitely cause offense and negativity. In contrast to this process, the incentive function is expressed in action caused by certain states within the personality. An example is a situation where the need for some information forces a person to shout out and start a conversation with a friend or classmate. This is what primarily distinguishes the basic function of the will, as it is called, from the reactivity described.

It is noteworthy that activity caused by the impulse of the will allows one to rise above the situation. The action can be carefully thought out in advance and go beyond what is happening right now.

It is worth keeping in mind that the incentive function often provokes a person to engage in activity that is not obligatory. No one expects it from a person and no one will judge him for failure to perform any actions. But despite this, an action plan is being drawn up and implemented.

The incentive function helps to mobilize all forces even when the need for activity does not exist right now. For example, it can be difficult for a school graduate to study hard every day for a year, but thoughts about the final exam and admission to the coveted university force him to mobilize and start studying.

Braking function

The functions of the will in psychology have been studied for a long time, so experts argue that the inhibitory and incentive functions act in unity and work for the same goal in a person’s life. Any personality is capable of suspending actions that contradict its principles, moral principles and worldview formed as a result of upbringing. Remarkably, the inhibitory function can even stop the development of unwanted ideas. Without it, not a single person would be able to regulate his behavior in society.

The habit of controlling oneself is especially important in a team. She is nurtured as a person from infancy. First, parents, and then kindergarten teachers, teach the child to inhibit himself in various negative manifestations. Even Anton Semenovich Makarenko in his works more than once emphasized how important it is to cultivate self-regulation in a growing individual. Moreover, control should become a habit and be as natural as possible. For example, banal politeness is considered one of the manifestations of the inhibitory function. It is at the same time a certain framework that regulates a person’s relationship with society.

We have already said that a person cannot exist without incentives to action. They can be divided into lower and higher. The former form our need for the simplest and most necessary things: food, drink, clothing and the like. But the higher ones give us the opportunity to experience a wide range of emotions and feelings associated with moral experiences. The will allows the individual to restrain his lower needs for the sake of higher ones. Thanks to her, a person can bring the work he has begun to its logical conclusion, despite all temptations and difficulties.

The incentive and inhibitory functions in their unity work to achieve the goal, despite all the problems encountered along the way.

Stabilizing

Defining the functions of the will is impossible without describing the stabilizing function. She plays her very significant role in the development and formation of personality. Thanks to it, the required degree of activity is maintained when encountering obstacles. At the moment when a person realizes a number of problems that he will have to overcome to achieve his goal, and is ready to retreat, it is the stabilizing function that prevents activity from decreasing and motivates the person to continue the struggle.

Definition of the function of the will: voluntary and volitional regulation

When talking about the will and its functions, it is impossible not to mention voluntary and volitional regulation. This is not the easiest topic, because in psychology there is still no unity among specialists regarding terminology. It is noteworthy that most psychologists equate voluntary and volitional regulation, but apply these definitions in different situations.

In the broad sense of the word, voluntary regulation refers to control over the behavior and activities of a person as a whole. This process has its own characteristics, but it is worth considering that not every action that is subject to self-regulation is volitional. For example, a person who abuses alcohol does it arbitrarily. That is, he consciously destroys himself every day, but he doesn’t have enough to radically change the situation. However, in other life situations, it is the voluntary regulation of behavior that becomes the very mechanism that triggers the process of dominance of higher motives and needs over lower ones. This depends on the level of development of the individual himself and the conditions in which certain actions should take place.

When psychologists mention volitional regulation, this most often means action in a situation that is critical or difficult for a particular individual, requiring the concentration of physical and, above all, moral forces. Any volitional action includes a struggle of motives and is accompanied by continuous movement towards a consciously set goal. regulation can be considered using a simple example. Many people are actively involved in sports and go for morning jogging. What motivates them to do these actions almost daily? Let's find out:

  • First of all, the need for physical activity is determined, which is transformed into a specific and clear goal.
  • Every morning there is a struggle of motives, because often you want to sleep much more than to go out into the fresh air in the very early hours, when everyone in the household is still sweetly dozing.
  • At this stage, volitional regulation comes into play, forcing the person to get out of bed and go for a run.
  • In parallel, this process weakens the motivation that inclines a person to abandon his intentions regarding the morning run.
  • Before returning home, the individual clearly regulates his actions so as not to be tempted by going into a store, for example, or jogging a shorter distance than originally planned.

Based on the foregoing, it can be understood that volitional regulation contributes to the manifestation, formation and development of various mental processes. Thanks to them, the strong-willed qualities of the individual become more noticeable. A person’s consciousness, determination, determination and self-control increases. Some psychologists call this mechanism the genetic function of will. However, not all scientists agree with this term, so it is used extremely rarely in scientific works.

To summarize, I would like to say that will is a mental process that has not yet been fully studied. But it is difficult to argue about its significance, because it is thanks to it that humanity still lives and develops.

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