Psychology and pedagogy. Volitional acts

Will- conscious regulation by a person of his actions, aimed at overcoming external and internal difficulties in achieving the set goals.

The most important sign volitional behavior is its connection with overcoming obstacles, regardless of what type these obstacles are - internal or external. Internal, or subjective, obstacles are the motives of a person aimed at not performing a given action or at performing actions that are opposite to it. Fatigue, a desire to have fun, inertia, laziness can act as internal obstacles. An example of external obstacles is, for example, the lack of the necessary tool for work or the opposition of other people who do not want the goal to be achieved.

Main function will consists in the conscious regulation of activity in difficult conditions of life. In accordance with this, it is customary to distinguish two others as a specification of the general function - activating and inhibiting.

1. A activating function : the will encourages a person to overcome difficulties and achieve goals, encourages a person to be active, even if the results of the activity will be noticeable in the distant future.

2. braking function : will is manifested not only in the ability to achieve a goal, but also in restraining undesirable manifestations of activity. For example, when there is a conflict between social norms and those that a person has.

Pavlov considered the will as an instinct of freedom, i.e. the manifestation of vital activity when it encounters obstacles that limit this activity. Without will, every slightest obstacle would interrupt the flow of life.

The most important feature of volitional actions aimed at overcoming obstacles is awareness of the value of the goal, for which one must fight, the consciousness of the need to achieve it. The more significant the goal for a person, the more obstacles he overcomes. Therefore, volitional actions can differ not only in the degree of their complexity, but also in the degree awareness.

Will is associated with mental activity And feelings.

Will implies the presence of a person's purposefulness, which requires certain thought processes. The manifestation of thinking is expressed in a conscious choice goals and selection funds to achieve it. Thinking is also necessary in the course of carrying out a planned action.

The connection between will and feelings is expressed in the fact that, as a rule, we pay attention to objects and phenomena that cause certain feelings in us. What is indifferent, not causing any emotions, as a rule, does not act as a goal of actions.

The structure of volitional action.

In the structure of volitional action (volitional act), several stages can be distinguished.

1. Preparatory. The basis of the will, as well as the activity of a person as a whole, is his needs, which form the motivation for volitional action.

Motive explains:

a) why a person has a state of activity, i.e. what needs motivate a person to act,

b) what the activity is aimed at, why such behavior is chosen,

c) motivation is a means of self-regulation of human behavior.

Thus, volitional action has a motive. The motives of volitional actions always have a more or less conscious character. Motives are lower level(selfish) and top level(call of Duty). Sometimes the situation may arise struggle of motives: one desire is opposed to another desire, collides with it. There may be a struggle of motives of the same level (go for a walk or watch TV) or different levels (go for a walk or prepare for classes). The struggle of motives can be experienced painfully, or it can be painless, in a simple discussion of the arguments "for" and "against".

As a result of the discussion or struggle of motives, a decision is made, i.e. a certain goal and a way to achieve it are chosen.

2. Executive. The decision taken can be immediately implemented, or it can be somewhat delayed. In the latter case, a lasting intention arises. It is believed that the will of a person is manifested if both stages are completed.

Decision-making and its implementation often cause a special emotional state, which is called volitional effort.

Willpower- a special state of neuropsychic stress, in which the physical, intellectual and moral forces of a person are mobilized. Willpower is a necessary element of all heroic deeds. But volitional effort cannot be identified with muscular effort. In volitional effort, the movements are often minimal, and the internal tension can be enormous. Although volitional effort may be present and muscular effort (to strain the muscles of the face, clench your fists).

The intensity of volitional effort depends on the following factors: the outlook of the individual, moral stability, the presence of social significance of goals, attitudes towards activities, the level of self-organization and self-government of the individual.

Volitional qualities of the personality.

Will is power over oneself, one's feelings, actions. Different people have different levels of power. A person with a strong will is able to overcome any difficulties, a weak-willed person gives in to them. The most typical manifestation of weak will is laziness- the desire of a person to refuse to overcome difficulties.

There are the following volitional qualities:

purposefulness- submission by a person of his behavior to some life goal and its systematic achievement.

Independence- subordinating one's behavior to one's own views and beliefs. Independence can be opposed, on the one hand, to suggestibility, and on the other, to stubbornness. suggestible a person does not have his own opinion and acts under the influence of circumstances or pressure from other people. The consequence of lack of will is stubbornness when a person acts contrary to the arguments of reason and the advice of others.

Determination- the ability to make the right decisions in a timely manner and implement them (but we are not talking about hasty decisions). It is especially manifested in difficult situations or in situations associated with risk. The opposite quality indecision.

Excerpt (composure) - the ability to constantly control one's behavior, refrain from unnecessary actions, maintain composure in difficult circumstances. The opposite is impulsiveness (from the Latin “impulse” - a push), when a person acts on the first impulse, without thinking about his actions. Although, it should be noted that the concept of endurance is somewhat broader than the concept of self-control.

Courage and courage- willingness to go to the goal, despite the danger to life, overcoming adversity. The more complex of the two is the concept of courage (it implies the presence of both courage and endurance and composure in the face of danger). Opposite - cowardice.

Discipline is the subordination of one's behavior to social rules. The opposite is indiscipline.

A particularly important step in volitional development is childhood. First of all, parents, and then teachers, should show which methods of will development are most effective and which are not useful (for example, do not laugh during the movie, walk along the edge of the roof, cut your hand with a knife). Most of the shortcomings of children's volitional behavior are associated, as a rule, with permissiveness in the family or, conversely, with overloading children with overwhelming tasks (as a result, a habit is formed not to complete the work begun).

In the education of the will, the personal example of parents, educators, teachers, reading semantic literature, watching films is also important. In addition, it is important that each person engage in self-education of the will. First of all, the will is formed in small, everyday affairs, because. overcoming just small difficulties, a person trains the will (daily routine, sports, etc.)

Will- the highest level of arbitrary regulation of activity, which ensures overcoming difficulties in achieving the goal.

Among the levels of regulation of behavior are the following:

1.Involuntary regulation:

2. Arbitrary regulation:

• speech-thinking level of regulation.

3.Volitional regulation. Structure and content of volitional action:

• Emergence of Motivation and Preliminary Goal Setting
• The stage of discussion and the "struggle of motives" as a clash in the process of choosing one or another action of conflicting tendencies, desires, motives.
• making a decision regarding the choice of one or another variant of behavior is a kind of phase of “resolution” of the struggle of motives. At this stage, either a feeling of relief arises associated with resolving the situation and relieving tension, or a state of anxiety associated with uncertainty about the correctness of the decision made;
• execution, the implementation of the decision taken, the embodiment of one or another variant of actions in one's behavior (activity).

In most cases, decision-making and volitional behavior in general are associated with great internal tension, which sometimes acquires a stressful character. The presence of volitional effort, experienced by the subject as his mental reality, is a very characteristic feature of the volitional act.

Volitional regulation is a lifetime education. Volitional regulation is associated with the manifestation of efforts that realize the activity of the individual, aimed at the conscious mobilization of her mental and physical forces.

Volitional effort is a mechanism of volitional regulation, a means of mobilizing the subject of his mental and physical capabilities.

A volitional action is a conscious and purposeful action, taken by the decision of the subject himself. The situation is overcoming difficulties, both external and internal, determined by additional motives, connections with changes in the meaning of the action (you cannot solve the problem at once, you need to make some effort).

Volitional behavior is the purposeful behavior of a person, manifested in the ability to manage oneself, one's actions and deeds on the basis of the desire to achieve a specific goal, by implementing special actions. The specifics of volitional regulation.

Will and regulation of activity.

It is traditionally believed that the main thing for the emergence of volitional regulation is the presence of barriers, obstacles in achieving the goal.L. M. Wecker believes that volitional regulation begins where there is at least a two-level hierarchy of activity programs, where it is necessary to correlate the levels of these programs and choose among them the level that meets the criteria of intellectual, emotional, moral and general social value.

Approximately the same meaning was put into the concept of will by I.M. Sechenov when he wrote that the will is the active side of the mind and moral feelings.

Volitional regulation includes the following components:

1. cognitive
2. emotional
3. behavioral (active)

The structure of the act of will includes the following components:

1. motivation and awareness of the goal;
2. struggle of motives;
3. the act of making a decision;
4. execution.

Volitional action is connected with needs, but does not follow directly from them. It is mediated by awareness of motives for action as motives and its result as goals (S. L. Rubinshtein).

Will arises when a person is capable of reflecting his own desires, can somehow relate to them. The will is inextricably linked with the available plan of action. Through volitional action, a person plans to achieve the goal facing him, subordinating his impulses to conscious control and changing the surrounding reality in accordance with his plan.

The main characteristics of the will. Volitional regulation of behavior. The concept of will is one of the most ancient, Aristotle tried to study it. Descartes. It was introduced as an explanatory concept. According to Aristotle, the concept of will was necessary to explain the generation of an action based not on the desires of a person, but on a reasonable decision about its existence. Realizing that knowledge in itself does not have motivation, but constantly confronted with the reality of human ethical actions, when the action is carried out not because one wants to, but because it is necessary, Aristotle was forced to look for a force capable of initiating such behavior.

The problem of the will, according to Aristotle, is the problem of giving the subject of action a motive power and thereby providing an incentive to action (or inhibiting, if necessary, a decrease in the motive power of the subject of action).

Previously, the will was seen as a supernatural force that takes precedence over other mental processes. There is no absolute will. We can speak of will when the impulse arises:

1. Volition phase: desire + aspiration + motive.
2. Choice phase: struggle of motives, decision making.
3. The phase of implementation by action, the decision turns into a bodily action. Our decision, behavior is determined by a strong motive. In the concept of Aristotle, the will determined not only the initiation of arbitrary actions, but also their choice and their regulation during implementation. Moreover, the will itself could be understood both as an independent force (formation) of the soul, and as a person's ability to a certain activity coming from himself.

Thus, the first paradigm within which the problem of will was posed was the generation of a person's action coming from himself. Consideration of the will in the context of the generation of action presupposes, first of all, the incentive function of the will, and such an approach can be conditionally designated as motivational, it is the most powerful in the study of the will.

It is characterized by the fact that the will is analyzed as the ability to initiate actions, or to strengthen the impulse to act when it is deficient, due to external or internal obstacles, the absence of an actually experienced desire for action, the presence of motives competing with the action being performed. Depending on the ideas about the mechanisms of this ability, the will is understood as:

• or as an independent mental education,
• either as an independent force of a non-psychological nature,
• either as a motivational or emotional formation (desire, affects, needs),
• or reduced to the state of the brain as a regulatory mechanism.

Later, a second approach to the study of the will was formulated, the Free Choice approach. Within the framework of this approach, the will is endowed with the function of choosing motives, goals and actions. One of the trends in the development of this approach is the transfer of studies of choice and, more generally, decision-making into such areas of research that are not directly related to the problem of will and have their own conceptual apparatus. Therefore, the actual tasks of the "free choice" approach are to isolate the volitional aspects of the problem of choice and the development of adequate methods for their experimental study.

Within the framework of this approach, two variants of ideas about the will can be distinguished:

1. Will is considered as an independent force (voluntaristic type of theory);
2. The will is reduced to the functioning of cognitive processes (intellectualistic theories).

Thus, in modern psychology, the problem of will is presented in two versions: as a problem of self-determination (motivational approach and the approach of “free choice”) and as a problem of self-regulation (regulatory approach).

When a person voluntarily accepts moral norms, the highest moral law and is guided by it in his actions, we can say that a person is morally free. To be free means to obey reason, not passions (Leibniz, Spinoza).

In psychology, freedom of choice is understood when a person, as a result of a struggle of motives, chooses the one that is stronger. Modern researchers of the will are Selivanova, Ivannikov, Platonov, the Will is defined by them as a conscious regulation by a person of his behavior as a result of overcoming internal and external obstacles to the path and goal. Will Structure: Purpose; Claim level; Volitional effort; Fighting motives; Decision-making; Performance.

Volitional effort can be at any stage of volitional action associated with overcoming obstacles. Volitional effort is a form of emotional stress that mobilizes all the internal resources of a person, creating additional motives for action and experienced mental states of significant stress (Ivannikov). The psychological mechanism of volitional effort is to attract a new motive, thereby changing the meaning of the action in order to strengthen the primary motivation.

Will functions.

• Incentive;
• Brake (restrains unwanted actions)

In Western psychology:

• initiation of action (formation of intention);
• maintaining the primary intention in an active state until the goal is achieved.
• overcoming an obstacle.

Volitional regulation of behavior.

Volitional regulation is a particular type of arbitrary control and is characterized by the use of significant volitional efforts aimed at overcoming obstacles and difficulties, i.e. is a mechanism of self-mobilization.

Volitional regulation is necessary in order to keep in the field of consciousness the object that a person is thinking about for a long time, 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 the lowest to the highest means the acquisition by a person of volitional control over them.

Often a judgment about the presence or absence of volitional regulation (volitional behavior) is made on the basis of the results achieved by a person. However, you can try to overcome the difficulty, but not overcome it.

In everyday use, the concept of “volitional regulation” is identified with the idea of ​​“willpower”. In this regard, it is customary to divide people into strong-willed and weak-willed.

The specific content of volitional regulation is understood by psychologists in different ways.

"Willpower" as the power of motive. The volitional activity of a person is determined by the strength of the motive (need), because the latter affects the degree of manifestation of volitional effort: if I really want to achieve the goal, then I will show more intense and longer volitional effort. Therefore, willpower is often replaced by the power of motive: if I want, then I do it. Yu.Yu. Palaima believes that “willpower” is, in essence, the strength of a motive, and that a person with a strong will is, first of all, a person with a strong motivation for behavior. Therefore, it is the mechanism of volitional regulation that a person has that determines the greater or lesser possibilities for the realization of desire.

"Willpower" as a struggle of motives. Often, willpower is reduced only to the "struggle of motives", which is one of the internal obstacles to activity. There are many situations when the choice of one or another alternative solution is not required, but volitional regulation is necessary, because. On the way to achieving the goal, there are various obstacles and difficulties. In such situations, the need remains, but the accompanying energy is not enough to overcome the difficulties that have arisen and achieve the goal, and the inclusion of a volitional mechanism is required to enhance the energy of action.

Inclusion in the regulation of emotions. Some psychologists believe that mobilization (additional energization) is carried out due to the emotion that arises in the presence of an obstacle as a reaction to the mismatch "I must-I can't", "I don't want - but I must." However, at the same time, volitional effort should not be replaced by such an emotional reaction. In addition, volitional efforts are also applied against the background of negative emotions, which contribute not to the mobilization, but to the demobilization of a person's capabilities. Therefore, volitional effort is considered to be the main mechanism of energy mobilization.

"Willpower" as an independent volitional quality. The moral component of the will (for example, a sense of duty) is non-specific in relation to different volitional qualities; there is no “willpower” that is manifested equally in all situations. One and the same person, as practice and experiments show, when meeting with various difficulties behaves differently: in some situations he shows great "willpower", in others - insignificant.

Therefore, the position of A. Puni is true that the manifestations of the will are always specific and conditioned by the difficulties that a person overcomes. On the other hand, attempts to define “willpower” as some kind of abstract indicator are also incorrect, as well as distinguishing people with high, medium and low levels of willpower development. “Willpower” as a general personality construct is either a product of a correlation analysis of self-assessments of various volitional manifestations, between which in most cases connections are found, or any one volitional manifestation taken for “willpower”, most often purposefulness and perseverance. It is more correct to speak about various manifestations of “willpower” (volitional regulation), called volitional qualities.

Will is one of the most complex concepts in psychology. Will is considered both as an independent mental process, and as an aspect of other major mental phenomena, and as a unique ability of a person to arbitrarily control his behavior.

Will is a mental function that literally permeates all aspects of human life. In the content of volitional action, three main features are usually distinguished:

1. Will provides purposefulness and orderliness of human activity. But the definition of S.R. Rubinshtein, "Volitional action is a conscious, purposeful action by which a person achieves the goal set for him, subordinating his impulses to conscious control and changing the surrounding reality in accordance with his plan."
2. Will as a person's ability to self-regulate makes him relatively free from external circumstances, truly turns him into an active subject.
3. Will is a person's conscious overcoming of difficulties on the way to the goal. Faced with obstacles, a person either refuses to act in the chosen direction, or increases efforts. to overcome the difficulties encountered.

Will Functions

Thus, volitional processes perform three main functions:

• initiator, or incentive, providing the beginning of this or that action in order to overcome the emerging obstacles;
• stabilizing associated with volitional efforts to maintain activity at the proper level in the event of external and internal interference;
• brake which is to restrain other, often strong desires that are not consistent with the main goals of the activity.

act of will

The most important place in the problem of will is occupied by the concept of "volitional act". Each volitional act has a certain content, the most important components of which are decision-making and its execution. These elements of the volitional act often cause significant mental stress, similar in nature to the state.

The following main components are distinguished in the structure of a volitional act:

• urge to commit a volitional action, caused by a particular need. Moreover, the degree of awareness of this need can be different: from a vaguely realized attraction to a clearly realized goal;
• the presence of one or more motives and the establishment of the order of their implementation:
• "struggle of motives" in the process of choosing one or another of conflicting motives;
• making a decision in the process of choosing one or another variant of behavior. At this stage, either a feeling of relief or a state of anxiety associated with uncertainty about the correctness of the decision may arise;
• implementation of the decision taken, the implementation of one or another option of action.

At each of these stages of a volitional act, a person manifests will, controls and corrects his actions. At each of these moments, he compares the result obtained with the ideal image of the goal that was created in advance.

In the personality of a person, its main features are clearly manifested.

Will manifests itself in such personality traits as:

• purposefulness;
• independence;
• determination;
• persistence;
• excerpt;
• self-control;

Each of these properties is opposed by opposite character traits, in which lack of will is expressed, i.e. lack of one's own will and submission to someone else's will.

The most important volitional property of a person is purposefulness how to achieve your life goals.

Independence manifests itself in the ability to perform actions and make decisions based on internal motivation and one's own knowledge, skills and abilities. A dependent person is focused on subordination to another, on shifting responsibility to him for his actions.

Determination It is expressed in the ability to make a well-considered decision in a timely manner and without hesitation and put it into practice. The actions of a decisive person are characterized by thoughtfulness and speed, courage, confidence in their actions. The opposite of decisiveness is indecision. A person characterized by indecision constantly doubts, hesitates in making decisions and using the chosen methods of decision. An indecisive person, even having made a decision, begins to doubt again, waits for what others will do.

Endurance and self-control there is the ability to control oneself, one's actions and the external manifestation of emotions, constantly control them, even with failures and big failures. The opposite of endurance is the inability to restrain oneself, which is caused by the lack of special education and self-education.

persistence It is expressed in the ability to achieve the set goal, overcoming difficulties on the way to its achievement. A persistent person does not deviate from the decision made, and in case of failures, he acts with redoubled energy. A person deprived of perseverance, at the first failure, deviates from the decision made.

Discipline means the conscious submission of one's behavior to certain norms and requirements. Discipline manifests itself in various forms, both in behavior and in thinking, and is the opposite of indiscipline.

Courage and boldness are manifested in the readiness and ability to fight, to overcome difficulties and dangers on the way to achieving the goal, in the readiness to defend one's life position. Courage is opposed to such a quality as cowardice, usually caused by fear.

The formation of the listed volitional properties of the personality is determined mainly by the purposeful education of the will, which should be inseparable from the education of feelings.

Willpower and volitional regulation

To move on to a conversation about differences in the will, you need to understand this concept itself. Will, as you know, is the ability to choose the goal of an activity and the internal efforts necessary for its implementation. This is a specific act, not reducible to consciousness and activity as such. Not every conscious action, even associated with overcoming obstacles on the way to the goal, is volitional: the main thing in the volitional act is the awareness of the value characteristics of the goal of the action, its compliance with the principles and norms of the individual. The subject of the will is characterized not by the experience of “I want”, but by the experience of “I must”, “I must”. Carrying out a volitional action, a person opposes the power of actual needs, impulsive desires.

In its structure, volitional behavior breaks down into decision-making and its implementation.. When the goal of a volitional action and the actual need do not coincide, the decision-making is often accompanied by what is called in the psychological literature a struggle of motives (the act of choice). The decision made is realized in different psychological conditions, ranging from those in which it is enough to make a decision, and the action after that is carried out as if by itself (for example, the actions of a person who sees a drowning child), and ending with those in which the implementation of volitional behavior is opposed by some or a strong need, which gives rise to the need for special efforts to overcome it and achieve the intended goal (manifestation of willpower).

Various interpretations of the will in the history of philosophy and psychology are connected, first of all, with the opposition of determinism and indeterminism: the first considers the will as conditioned from the outside (by physical, psychological, social reasons, or divine predestination - in supranaturalistic determinism), the second - as an autonomous and self-sustaining force. In the teachings of voluntarism, will appears as the original and primary basis of the world process and, in particular, human activity.

The difference in philosophical approaches to the problem of will is reflected in the psychological theories of will, which can be divided into two groups: autogenetic theories that consider will as something specific, not reducible to any other processes (W. Wundt and others), and heterogeneous theories that define the will as something secondary, a product of some other mental factors and phenomena - a function of thinking or representation (intellectualistic theory, many representatives of the school of I.F. Herbart, E. Meiman and others), feelings (G. Ebbinghaus and others), a complex of sensations, etc.

Soviet psychology at one time, relying on dialectical and historical materialism, considered the will in the aspect of its socio-historical conditioning. The main direction was the study of the phylo- and ontogeny of voluntary (originating from the will) actions and higher mental functions (voluntary perception, memorization, etc.). The arbitrary nature of the action, as shown by L.S. Vygotsky, is the result of mediating the relationship between man and the environment with tools and sign systems. In the process of development of the child's psyche, the initial involuntary processes of perception, memory, etc. acquire an arbitrary character, become self-regulating. At the same time, the ability to keep the goal of the action develops.

An important role in the study of the will was played by the work of the Soviet psychologist D.N. Uznadze and his schools on the theory of attitude.

The problem of educating the will is also of great importance for pedagogy, in connection with which various methods are being developed that aim to train the ability to maintain the efforts necessary to achieve the goal. The will is closely connected with the character of a person and plays a significant role in the process of its formation and restructuring. According to the widespread point of view, character is the same basis of volitional processes as intelligence is the basis of thought processes, and temperament is the basis of emotional processes.

Like other types of mental activity, the will - reflex process in terms of physiological basis and type of performance.

The evolutionary prerequisite for volitional behavior is the so-called freedom reflex in animals, an innate reaction for which a forcible restriction of movements serves as an adequate stimulus. "Not be it (freedom reflex), - wrote I.P. Pavlov, “every slightest obstacle that an animal would meet on its way would completely interrupt the course of its life.” According to the Soviet scientist V.P. Protopopov and other researchers, it is the nature of the obstacle that determines in higher animals the enumeration of actions from which an adaptive skill is formed. Thus, the will, as an activity conditioned by the need to overcome the encountered obstacle, has a certain independence in relation to the motive that initially initiated the behavior. Selective inhibition of the coping reaction. as well as the specific effect of certain medicinal substances on this reaction, we can speak of the presence of a special brain apparatus that implements the freedom reflex in Pavlovian understanding of it. The system of speech signals plays an important role in the mechanisms of human volitional effort (L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontiev, A.R. Luria). A competing need often becomes an obstacle to purposeful human behavior. Then the dominance of one of the motives will be determined not only by its correlative strength, but also by the emergence of activity, in relation to which the subdominant motive is an obstacle, an internal hindrance. A similar situation occurs in those cases when it is customary to talk about the volitional suppression of emotions, more precisely, the needs that caused these emotions. Being closely connected with the actions, consciousness and emotions of a person, will is an independent form of his mental life. While emotions ensure the mobilization of energy resources and the transition to those forms of response that are oriented to a wide range of supposedly significant signals (emotional dominants), the will prevents excessive generalization of emotional arousal and helps to maintain the initially chosen direction. In turn, volitional behavior can be a source of positive emotions before the final goal is achieved, by satisfying the very need to overcome obstacles. That is why the combination of a strong will with an optimal level of emotional stress is the most productive for human activity.

The problem of will, arbitrary and volitional regulation of human behavior and activity has long occupied the minds of scientists, causing heated disputes and discussions. Fine in Ancient Greece, there were two points of view on understanding the will: affective and intellectualistic.

Plato understood the will as a certain ability of the soul, which determines and encourages the activity of a person.

Aristotle connected the will with the mind. He used this term to designate a certain class of actions and deeds of a person, namely those that are determined not by needs, desires, but by an understanding of need, necessity, i.e. conscious actions and actions or aspirations mediated by reflection. Aristotle spoke of voluntary movements in order to separate them from involuntary, carried out without reflection. He referred to arbitrary actions as those about which "We consulted with ourselves beforehand."

From the history of psychology, it is known that the concept of "will" was introduced as an explanatory about the origin of an action, which is based not only on the desires of a person, but also on a mental decision about its implementation.

In the future, intensive development of ideas about the will begins only in the 17th century. and continues in the XVIII-XIX centuries, in the New Age, marked by the rapid development of natural science and psychological knowledge. These ideas can be divided into three directions, which in modern psychology are presented as motivational and regulatory approaches, as well as the “free choice” approach.

motivational approach. Within the framework of this approach, ideas about the nature of freedom are reduced either to the initial moment of action motivation (desire, aspiration, affect), or to the recognition of freedom as closely related to motivation, but not identical to it, the ability to induce actions, in particular, to overcome obstacles.

The identification of the will and the desire dominating in consciousness can be traced in the views of a significant part of the researchers. So, some of them explained the will as the ability of the soul to form desires, others - as the last desire preceding the action. Thus, the will did not arise as an independent reality. but as one of the desires, the benefit of which is established by reason. In this case, the essence of the motive was emotions, and the volitional process had two moments: affect and the action caused by it (R. Descartes, T. Hobbes, W. Wundt, T. Ribot).

TO regulatory approach in the study of the will belongs to the concept of free will as the ability to consciously deliberately overcome obstacles. If motivation is only a factor, the initiator of an action, then the existence of obstacles on the way to the performance of an action and their deliberate overcoming becomes a factor in an act of will. This is how L.S. overcomes obstacles. Vygotsky and S.L. Rubinstein. At the same time, they also include coercion as a function of the will. At the same time, noting the complex nature of the will, scientists point to the importance of the regulatory function.

Free choice approach. For the first time, the question of spontaneous, undetermined free choice of behavior was raised by the ancient philosopher Epicurus. In the future, this led to the allocation of the problem of free will.

The positions of the representatives of this approach were fundamentally differentiated. One part of the scientists believed that the versatility of the world is manifested in the will. In their opinion, in the Universe there is a single world will, which is completely free in its manifestations, is not limited by anything and therefore powerful. Man has a universal will, which is represented in his own character. It is given to man from birth as unchanging and generally unknowable. These scientists interpreted the will as an independent force of the soul capable of free choice (A. Schopenhauer, W. James). Such ideas were considered voluntaristic, because they declared the will to be the highest principle of being and asserted the independence of the human will from the surrounding reality.

They took a different position. who considered the will not as an independent force, but as the ability of the mind to make decisions (make a choice). At the same time, choice was either the main function of the will, or only one of the moments of volitional action (B. Spinoza, I. Kant, V. Frankl, and others).

In the will as a synthetic characteristic of the personality, its systemic property, the practical side of consciousness is expressed. One cannot but agree with those who believe: if there is a will, there is a person; if there is no will, there is no person; how much will, there is so much a person.

The data available today make it possible to interpret the will as a systemic quality in which the whole personality is expressed in an aspect that reveals the mechanisms of its independent, initiative activity. According to this criterion, all human actions can be considered as a successively more complex series from involuntary (impulsive) to arbitrary and actually volitional actions. It manifests itself in arbitrary actions, according to I.M. Sechenov, the ability of a person to lead the challenge, termination, intensification or weakening of activity aimed at achieving consciously set goals. In other words, there is always an action instructions and self-instructions.

Actually, they cannot but be arbitrary at the same time, since they also always represent actions on self-instruction. However, their characterization does not end there. Volitional actions (will as a generalized designation of the highest level of control specific to a person with all his psychophysical data) presuppose the ability of a person to subordinate the satisfaction of lower needs to higher, more significant, albeit less attractive from the point of view of the actor. The presence of will in this sense reliably testifies to the predominance of higher, socially conditioned needs in a person and the higher (normative) feelings corresponding to them.

The basis of volitional behavior, driven by higher feelings, is thus the social norms learned by the individual. The code of human norms, which determines which course of action he will choose in a particular situation, is one of the most eloquent characteristics of a person, especially in terms of the degree to which it takes into account (or ignores) the rights, legitimate claims and aspirations of other people.

In those cases when lower needs subjugate higher ones in human activity, we speak of lack of will, although a person can overcome great difficulties in order to achieve his goal (trying, for example, to get alcohol, drugs, etc.). Consequently, the essence of a morally educated, good will lies in the subordination of lower (in some cases antisocial) needs to higher ones, expressing the needs of larger groups, sometimes humanity as a whole.

An important psychological mechanism for the conscious hierarchization of motives is volitional effort. Volitional effort is a conscious self-motivation associated with tension to prefer higher aspirations and inhibit lower ones, to overcome the corresponding external and internal difficulties. As you know, submission to lower impulses, directly more attractive, leading to easier and more pleasant actions, does not require effort.

Volitional components included in the regulation of integral acts of activity are closely intertwined with a person's emotions and the level of his orientation in the environment. This can be traced in any manifestations of activity. Thus, the more perfect, more adequate to the problem to be solved the orienting activity, the higher, other things being equal, the higher the level of organization and its direct consequence—the economy of activity. Features of the connection of volitional manifestations with the nature of a person's awareness of reality and one's own activity are fixed in such volitional properties of a person as the criticality of the will, its adherence to principles, etc.

An analysis of behavioral acts that include emotions of heightened and sometimes extreme intensity, from the point of view of the correlation of the strength of emotions in them with the level of orientation and organization, can shed light on the nature of the striking difference between affects that disorganize activity and feelings that ensure its productivity with the highest mobilization of all resources. . A typical affect is, for example, panic. This state is characterized, firstly, by the experience of horror associated with a passive-defensive reaction, which paralyzes the ability to orientate. This, as a rule, is exacerbated by the disruption of communication channels, misinformation. Hence the complete disorganization of both the system of joint actions and the actions of each individual. Affects, which are an expression of active-defensive reactions, can also lead to disorganization of activity. It is important to emphasize that the disorganization of activity is not a direct consequence of an extreme emotion. The intermediate and connecting link here is always a violation of orientation. Anger, rage, like horror, cloud the mind. However, in cases where the strongest emotional stress corresponds to a clear orientation in the environment and high organization, a person is able to literally work miracles.

In an attempt to explain the mechanisms of human behavior within the framework of the problem of will, a direction arose that in 1883, with the light hand of the German sociologist F. Tennis, received the name "voluntarism" and recognizes the will as a special, supranatural force. According to voluntarism, volitional acts are not determined by anything, but they themselves determine the course of mental processes. Shaping this is essentially philosophical. direction in the study of the will is associated with the early works of A. Schopenhauer, with the works of I. Kant. Thus, in its extreme expression, voluntarism opposed the volitional principle to the objective laws of nature and society, asserted the independence of the human will from the surrounding reality.

Will- this is a conscious regulation by a person of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome internal and external difficulties in the performance of purposeful actions and deeds.

Volitional actions- consciously controlled actions aimed at overcoming difficulties and obstacles in achieving the goals.

The key characteristic of volitional action is the struggle of motives.

• Conscious mediation.
• Mediation by the inner intellectual plane.
• Relationship with the motive "should".
• Communication with other mental processes: attention, memory. thinking, emotions, etc.

• Improving the efficiency of relevant activities.
• Volitional reflation is necessary in order to keep in the field of consciousness the object that a person is thinking about for a long time, to maintain attention concentrated on it.
• Regulation of basic mental functions: perception, memory, thinking, etc. The development of these cognitive processes from the lowest to the highest means the acquisition by a person of volitional control over them.

• worldview of the individual;
• moral stability of the individual;
• the degree of social significance of the goals set;
• attitudes towards activities;
• the level of self-management and self-organization of the individual.

• Reassessment of the significance of the motive.
• Attraction of additional motives.
• Anticipation and experience of subsequent events/actions.
• Actualization of the motive (through the imagination of the situation).
• Through the motivational-semantic sphere.
• Strong mindset and beliefs.

• according to the degree of complexity - simple, complex;
• according to the degree of awareness - arbitrary, involuntary.

• strength of will;
• energy;
• persistence;
• excerpt.

• Choice of motives and goals.
• Regulation of motives for action.
• Organization of mental processes (into a system adequate to the activity performed).

Mobilization of physical and psychological capabilities. So, will is a generalized concept behind which many different psychological phenomena are hidden.

G. Münsterberg, noting, for example, the role of attention and representation in the formation of voluntary actions, writes that a child's weak will is his inability to keep his attention on a goal for a long time.

“Learning to want this or that is not important. The main thing is to learn to really do what is planned, and not be distracted by all sorts of random impressions.

A number of authors believe that the volitional properties of a person are formed in the process of activity. Therefore, for the development of “willpower” (volitional qualities), the path that seems most simple and logical is most often proposed: if “willpower” manifests itself in overcoming obstacles and difficulties, then the path of its development goes through the creation of situations that require such overcoming. However, practice shows that this does not always lead to success. Speaking about the development of “willpower” and volitional qualities, one should take into account their multi-component structure. One of the components of this structure is the moral component of the will, according to I.M. Sechenov, i.e. ideals, worldview, moral attitudes. - is formed in the process of education, others (for example, typological features of the properties of the nervous system), as genetically predetermined, do not depend on educational influences, and practically do not change in adults. Hence, the development of one or another volitional quality largely depends on the ratio in the structure of this quality of these components.

Of great importance for the formation of the volitional sphere of the child's personality is not only the presentation of requirements to him, verbalized in the words "must" and "impossible", but also control over the fulfillment of these requirements. If an adult says “no”, and the child continues to perform the forbidden action, if after the words “toys must be removed”, the child runs away and failure to comply with the requirements remains without consequences for him, the necessary stereotype of volitional behavior is not developed.

With age, the complexity of the demands placed on the child should increase. In this case, he himself is convinced that adults take into account his increased capabilities, i.e. recognize it as "big". However, it is necessary to take into account the degree of difficulties. which the child must overcome, and not turn the development of his volitional sphere into a boring and tedious task, in which the development of the will becomes an end in itself, and the whole life of the child turns, as S. L. Rubinshtein wrote, "into one continuous performance of different duties and tasks."

The younger the child, the more he needs help in overcoming difficulties in order for him to see the final result of his efforts.

Constant pulling, rude shouting, excessive fixation of the child's attention on his shortcomings and dangers of the upcoming activity, teasing, etc. lead to uncertainty, and through it to anxiety, indecision, fear.

In our manual, it is necessary to say about the role of taking into account gender characteristics. So, experiments were repeatedly carried out on self-education of will by high school students, in which differences were identified in the development of certain volitional manifestations depending on gender. The girls managed much faster than the boys to achieve success in correcting their shortcomings. Compared to boys, more girls learned to command themselves, developed independence, overcame stubbornness, developed determination, perseverance and perseverance. However, they lagged behind the young men in the development of courage, adherence to principles, and courage.

Self-education of the will

Self-education of the will is part of the self-improvement of the individual and, therefore, must be carried out in accordance with its rules and, above all, with the development of a program of self-education "willpower".

Many psychologists understand a volitional act as a complex functional system (Fig. 14).

So. also G.I. Chelpanov singled out three elements in the act of will: desire, aspiration and effort.

L.S. Vygotsky singled out two separate processes in volitional action: the first corresponds to a decision, the closing of a new brain connection, the creation of a special functional apparatus; the second, executive, consists in the work of the created apparatus, in the action according to the instructions, in the implementation of the decision.

The multicomponent and multifunctionality of the volitional act is also noted by V.I. Selivanov.

Based on the consideration of the will as an arbitrary control, the latter should include self-determination, self-initiation, self-control and self-stimulation.

Self-determination (motivation)

Determination is the conditionality of human and animal behavior by some reason. The involuntary behavior of animals, like the involuntary reactions of humans, are determined, i.e. due to some reason (most often - an external signal, stimulus). With arbitrary behavior, the ultimate cause of the action, the deed, is in the person himself. It is he who decides to react or not to this or that external or internal signal. However, decision-making (self-determination) in many cases is a complex mental process called motivation.

Rice. 14. Structure of a volitional act

Motivation - it is the process of forming and justifying the intention to do something or not to do something. The formed basis of one's act, action is called a motive. In order to understand a person's act, we often ask ourselves the question: what motive was the person guided by when performing this act?

Formation of a motive(the grounds for an action, deed) goes through a number of stages: the formation of a person's need, the choice of a means and method for satisfying a need, decision making and the formation of an intention to perform an action or deed.

Self-mobilization. This is the second function of the will. Self-initiation is concerned with starting an action to achieve a goal. The launch is carried out by means of a volitional impulse, i.e. command given to oneself with the help of inner speech - words or exclamations uttered to oneself.

self control

Due to the fact that the implementation of actions occurs most often in the presence of external and internal interference that can lead to a deviation from a given program of action and failure to achieve the goal, it is required to exercise conscious self-control over the results obtained at different stages. For this control, an action program is used that is stored in short-term and operative memory, which serves as a standard for a person to compare with the resulting result. If a deviation from the given parameter (an error) is fixed in the mind of a person during such a comparison, he makes a correction to the program, i.e. carries out its correction.

Self-control is carried out with the help of conscious and deliberate, i.e. voluntary attention.

Self-mobilization (manifestation of willpower)

Very often, the implementation of an action or activity, the commission of an act encounters difficulties, external or internal obstacles. Overcoming obstacles requires an intellectual and physical effort from a person, referred to as an effort of will. The use of volitional effort means that arbitrary control has changed into volitional regulation, aimed at the manifestation of the so-called willpower.

Volitional regulation is determined by the strength of the motive (therefore, will is often replaced by motives: if I want, then I do; however, this formula is not suitable for cases when a person really wants, but does not do, and when he really does not want, but still does). Undoubtedly, however, that in any case, the strength of the motive determines the degree of manifestation of volitional effort: if I really want to achieve the goal, then I will show more intense and longer volitional effort; it is the same with the prohibition, the manifestation of the inhibitory function of the will: the more one wants, the greater the volitional effort must be exerted in order to restrain one's desire aimed at satisfying the need.

Volitional qualities are features of volitional regulation that have become personality traits and are manifested in specific specific situations due to the nature of the difficulty being overcome.

It should be borne in mind that the manifestation of volitional qualities is determined not only by a person’s motives (for example, the motive for achievement, determined by two components: striving for success and avoiding failure), his moral attitudes, but also by innate individual, personality-differentiating features of the manifestation of the properties of the nervous system: strengths - weaknesses , mobility - inertia, balance - imbalance of nervous processes. For example, fear is more pronounced in persons with a weak nervous system, mobility of inhibition, and a predominance of inhibition over excitation. Therefore, it is more difficult for them to be brave than for persons with opposite typological features.

Consequently, a person can be timid, indecisive, impatient, not because he does not want to show willpower, but because, for its manifestation, he has less genetically determined opportunities (less innate inclinations).

This does not mean that efforts should not be made to develop the volitional sphere of the personality. However, it is necessary to avoid both excessive optimism and standard, especially voluntaristic, approaches in overcoming the weakness of the human volitional sphere. You need to know that on the path to developing willpower you can encounter significant difficulties, so patience, pedagogical wisdom, sensitivity and tact will be required.

It should be noted that in the same person, different volitional qualities manifest themselves differently: some are better, others are worse. This means that the will understood in this way (as a mechanism for overcoming obstacles and difficulties, i.e. as willpower) is heterogeneous and manifests itself differently in rough situations. Consequently, there is no single will (understood as willpower) for all cases, otherwise in any situation the will would manifest itself in a given person either equally successfully or equally badly.

Will- this is a conscious regulation by a person of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome internal and external difficulties in the performance of purposeful actions and deeds. The main function of the will is the conscious regulation of activity in difficult conditions of life.

The will ensures the performance of two interrelated functions - incentive and inhibitory.

Incentive function is provided by human activity. brake the function of the will, acting in unity with the motivating function, manifests itself in the containment of undesirable manifestations of activity.

Volitional actions differ from each other primarily in the level of their complexity. There are very complex volitional actions that include a number of simpler ones. The basis for the complication of actions is the fact that not every goal that we set can be achieved immediately.

Another most important sign of volitional behavior is its connection with overcoming obstacles, regardless of what type these obstacles are - internal or external. Fatigue, a desire to have fun, inertia, laziness, etc. can act as internal obstacles. External: lack of the necessary tool for work or opposition from other people.

The most important feature of volitional actions aimed at overcoming obstacles is the consciousness of the significance of the goal set, for which one must fight, the consciousness of the need to achieve it. Therefore, volitional actions can differ not only in the degree of their complexity, but also in the degree of awareness.

Will implies the presence of a person's purposefulness, 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 in the course of carrying out a planned action. In carrying out the intended action, we encounter many difficulties. For example, the conditions for performing an action may change, or it may be necessary to change the means to achieve the goal. Therefore, in order to achieve the set goal, a person must constantly compare the goals of the action, the conditions and means of its implementation and make the necessary adjustments in a timely manner. Without the participation of thinking, volitional actions would be devoid of consciousness, that is, they would cease to be volitional actions.

The connection between will and feelings is expressed in the fact that, as a rule, we pay attention to objects and phenomena that cause certain feelings in us. The desire to achieve or achieve something, just like avoiding something unpleasant, is related to our feelings. However, often we are faced with a situation where feelings act as an obstacle to achieving the goal. Therefore, we have to make strong-willed efforts to resist the negative impact of emotions.

Volitional action has a complex structure.

The first link is awareness of the purpose of the action and the motive associated with it. With a clear awareness of the goal and the motive that causes it, the desire for the goal is usually called desire.

But not every striving for a goal is sufficiently conscious. Depending on the degree of awareness of needs, they are divided into attraction and desire. Before a desire turns into a direct motive, and then into a goal, it is evaluated by a person.

Having a motivating force, desire sharpens the awareness of the purpose of future action and the construction of its plan. In turn, in the formation of the goal, its content, nature and significance play a special role. The greater the goal, the more powerful aspiration can be evoked by it.

Struggle of motives and decision making. The mental state, which is characterized by a collision of several desires or several different impulses for activity, is commonly called struggle of motives. The struggle of motives includes a person's assessment of those reasons that speak for and against the need to act in a certain direction, considering how to act. The final moment of the struggle of motives is the adoption of a decision, which consists in choosing a goal and a method of action.

The struggle of motives and the subsequent decision-making are considered as the main link in the act of will.

Executive stage volitional action has a complex structure. The implementation of the decision must be carried out within a certain period of time. If the execution of the decision is delayed for a long time, then in this case it is customary to talk about intention to carry out the decision. We usually talk about intention when faced with complex activities: for example, to enter a university, to get a certain specialty. The simplest volitional actions, such as quenching thirst or hunger, changing the direction of one's movement so as not to collide with a person walking towards, are performed immediately. Intention, in its essence, is an internal preparation for a delayed action and is a direction fixed by a decision towards the achievement of a goal. However, intention alone is not enough. As in any other volitional action, if there is an intention, one can single out the stage of planning ways to achieve the goal. The plan can be detailed to varying degrees. Some people are characterized by the desire to foresee everything, to plan every step. At the same time, others are content with only the general scheme. not implemented immediately. To implement a planned action, a conscious volitional effort is needed. Under by force of will is understood as a special state of internal tension, or activity, which causes the mobilization of a person's internal resources necessary to perform the intended action.

The executive stage of a volitional action can be expressed in two ways: in some cases it manifests itself in an external action, in other cases, on the contrary, it consists in refraining from any external action (such a manifestation is usually called an internal volitional action).

The most important place in the problem of will is occupied by the concept of an act of will, which has a certain structure and content. The most important links of a volitional act - decision-making and execution - often cause a special emotional state, which is described as an effort of will.

Volitional effort is a form of emotional stress that mobilizes a person’s internal resources (memory, thinking, imagination, etc.), creates additional motives for action that are absent or insufficient, and is experienced as a state of significant stress. The components of the act of will are the following main stages:
1) the presence of the purpose of the action and its awareness;
2) the presence of several motives and also their awareness with the alignment of certain priorities between the motives according to their intensity, significance. As a result of volitional effort, it is possible to slow down the action of some and ultimately strengthen the action of other motives;
3) "struggle of motives" as a clash in the process of choosing one or another action of conflicting tendencies, desires, motives. It becomes the stronger, the more weighty the opposing motives, the more equal they are to each other in their strength and significance. Taking a "chronic form", the struggle of motives can give rise to a personal quality of indecision; in situational terms, it provokes the experience of internal conflict;
4) making a decision regarding the choice of one or another variant of behavior is a kind of phase of “resolving” the struggle of motives. At this stage, there is either a feeling of relief associated with resolving the situation and relieving tension (in this case they speak of “victory over oneself”), or a state of anxiety associated with uncertainty about the correctness of the decision made;
5) implementation of the adopted decision, the embodiment of one or another variant of actions in one's behavior (activity).

In most cases, decision-making and volitional behavior in general are associated with great internal stress, often acquiring a stressful character.

Domestic classic of psychology A. N. Leontiev reveals an important component of the volitional act. He believes that volitional action is a process of victory over openly social and ideal motives in the individual system of the hierarchy of motives over object-subject ones. This means that in the struggle of motives in a sufficiently mature personality, social motives most often win, taking precedence over biological ones. So, a man can force himself to eat dinner (biological action) if he knows that his wife will be pleased with this action (social motive - relationship with his wife). A. N. Leontiev calls this effect “the primacy of openly social motivation”. The same is true with respect to "ideal in form" motifs that take precedence over visual and object-subject motifs, according to A. N. Leontiev.