Will is the ability of a person to perform deliberate actions aimed at achieving consciously set goals, consciously regulate their activities and control their own behavior.
A person not only reflects reality in his feelings, perceptions, ideas and concepts, he also acts, changing his environment in connection with his needs, intentions and interests.
An animal in its life also affects the external environment, but this impact occurs in the process of unconscious adaptation. Aimed at changing the environment and adapting it to its needs, human activity has a different character than that of animals: it is expressed in volitional actions preceded by awareness of the goal and means required to achieve this goal.
Volitional actions are called such actions of a person in which he consciously strives to achieve certain goals.
A distinctive feature of volitional actions is their conscious purposefulness, which requires a certain degree of focus on their implementation. The ability to volitional actions has developed in a person in connection with labor activity.
Volitional actions are interconnected with the processes of thinking. If without thinking there can be no real conscious volitional act, then thinking itself is correctly carried out only in connection with activity. Thought, divorced from the practical solution of life's problems, becomes unable to correctly carry out its inherent function of understanding the essence and interconnection of phenomena. It finds its full and fruitful realization and development only in volitional actions.
Finally, the most important feature of volitional actions is their connection with movements. Whatever a person strives for, no matter what his will is directed to, he can achieve his goal only by making certain movements.
Strength of will
This is the inner strength of the individual. It manifests itself at all stages of the volitional act, but most clearly in what obstacles were overcome with the help of volitional actions and what results were obtained. It is the obstacles that are an indicator of willpower.
The volitional qualities that most characterize the willpower of an individual include independence and initiative.
Independence is the ability to do without someone else's help in one's actions, as well as the ability to be critical of other people's influences, evaluating them according to one's views and beliefs. The independence of the individual is manifested in the ability to organize activities on his own initiative, set goals, and, if necessary, make changes in behavior. An independent person does not wait for tips, instructions from other people, actively defends his views, can be an organizer, lead him to the realization of a goal.
Initiative is the ability to find new, unconventional solutions and means of their implementation.
Opposite qualities are lack of initiative and dependence. A person without initiative is easily influenced by other people, their actions, deeds, questions their own decisions, is not sure of their correctness and necessity. These qualities appear especially clearly in the form of suggestion.
Traditionally, volitional regulation of behavior, all phases of a complex volitional action, are associated with a special emotional state, which is defined as an effort of will. Volitional effort permeates all phases of a volitional act: the realization of a goal, the formulation of desires, the choice of a motive, a plan and methods for performing an action. There is an effort of will each time as a state of emotional tension associated with external or internal difficulties. You can get rid of it only either by refusing to overcome obstacles, and therefore, from the goal, or by overcoming them through an effort of will. As a result of volitional effort, it is possible to slow down some motives and strengthen the action of others. External obstacles cause volitional effort when they are experienced as an internal barrier, an internal barrier that must be overcome. So, volitional effort is a special activity that has an internal plan of consciousness and is aimed at mobilizing all the capabilities of a person. Volitional effort is a state of emotional tension that mobilizes a person's internal resources (memory, thinking, imagination, etc.) and creates additional motives for action.
Will- this is a conscious regulation by a person of his own behavior and activities that are associated with overcoming internal and external obstacles.
The will of a person is manifested as confidence in his strength, necessary for the decision. A strong will is necessary when difficult situations arise with obstacles in the "outer world", when the inner world of a person, from whom the manifestation of will is required, is complex and contradictory.
The will and volitional qualities of a person are formed depending on the conditions of life and upbringing.
For the emergence of volitional regulation, certain conditions are necessary - the presence of obstacles and barriers. The will manifests itself when difficulties appear on the way to the goal: external obstacles - time, space, counteractions of people, physical properties of objects, etc.; internal obstacles - relationships and attitudes, painful conditions, fatigue, etc. All these obstacles, reflected in the mind, cause an effort of will, which creates the necessary tone to overcome difficulties.
Volitional efforts are needed:
- 1) when making up for the lack of motivation to act in the absence of their sufficient motivation;
- 2) when choosing motives, goals, types of actions in case of their conflict;
- 3) with arbitrary regulation of external and internal actions and mental processes.
Will is inextricably linked with cognitive motives and emotional processes. In this regard, all human actions can be divided into two categories: involuntary and arbitrary.
Involuntary actions are performed as a result of the emergence of unconscious or insufficiently clearly perceived motives (drives, attitudes, etc.). They are impulsive and lack a clear plan. In other words, in involuntary actions there is no clear goal and efforts of the subject to achieve it. An example of non-productive actions is the actions of people in a state of passion (amazement, fear, delight, anger).
Arbitrary actions involve awareness of the goal, a preliminary presentation of those operations that can ensure its achievement, their sequence. In this regard, the will manifests itself as a person's confidence in his abilities, as the determination to perform the act that the person himself considers appropriate and necessary in a particular situation.
Volitional regulation of human behavior is formed and developed under the influence of control over his behavior by society, and then - self-control of the individual.
Depending on the difficulties of the external world and the complexity of the inner world of a person, there are 4 options for the manifestation of will:
- 1) in the easy world, where any desire is feasible, the will is practically not required (human desires are simple, unambiguous, any desire is feasible in the easy world);
- 2) in a difficult world, where there are various obstacles, strong-willed efforts are required to overcome the obstacles of reality, patience is needed, but the person himself is internally calm, confident in his rightness due to the unambiguity of his desires and goals (a simple inner world of a person);
- 3) in the light external world and in the complex inner world of a person, strong-willed efforts are required to overcome internal contradictions, doubts, a person is internally complex, there is a struggle of motives and goals, a person suffers when making a decision;
- 4) in a difficult external world and in a complex internal world of a person, intensive volitional efforts are required to overcome internal doubts in order to choose a solution and carry out actions in the face of objective obstacles and difficulties. Volitional action here appears as a conscious, intentional, purposeful action taken for implementation by one's own decision on the basis of external and internal necessity.
The need for a strong will increases with:
- 1) difficult situations of the "difficult world";
- 2) a complex, contradictory inner world in the person himself.
Performing various activities, while overcoming external and internal obstacles, a person develops volitional qualities in himself: purposefulness, determination, independence, initiative, perseverance, endurance, discipline, courage.
In management activities, the following rules must be observed:
- 1) provide conditions for the success of the employee's activities, but not significantly facilitate his tasks;
- 2) to intensify the independent activity of the employee, to arouse in him a sense of joy from what has been achieved, to increase his faith in his ability to overcome difficulties;
- 3) explain what is the expediency of those requirements, orders, decisions that the manager makes to the employee, and provide the employee with the opportunity to independently make decisions within reasonable limits.
Emotional and volitional processes are thus closely interrelated. Will acts as a means of regulation, correction of the negative impact of emotions on activity. Emotions, in turn, give a subjective tone to volitional effort, and can help increase its potential.
In the study of managerial activity, it is most significant that all the main types of states and the patterns discovered in their study are not only preserved in the activities of the manager, but often appear in the most distinct form. In the psychology of functional states, there are different ways of classifying. For example, according to the degree of intensity (increased, medium, low activity); by content (in particular, the state of fatigue, monotony, mental satiety, frustration, inspiration, anxiety, discomfort, etc.); by types of activity in which they arise (game, educational, labor); by theft (positive, negative, ambivalent); by the nature of the impact on activities (positive and negative).
There is a direct relationship between the degree of negative (destructive) influence of mental states and the complexity of those mental processes, formations, in relation to which this influence takes place. Negative states have a stronger effect on more complex processes, formations, activities than on simple ones. For example, under the influence of stress or fatigue, intellectual functions first and to a greater extent decrease (as more complex ones), and then, to a relatively lesser extent, motor, executive functions (as simpler ones). These two patterns are most important for understanding the specifics of the emotional-volitional regulation of states in general, and for its features in managerial activity.
The main and most general feature of the emotional-volitional regulation of states in managerial activity is the combination of the following two features in it. Firstly, it is management activity that is characterized by extremely high emotionality and stressfulness, contains a huge number of reasons for the emergence of negative emotions and difficult conditions. Secondly, it is she who makes the highest demands on the effectiveness and rigidity of the emotional-volitional regulation of states, which is associated with her responsibility. Apparently, no other activity contains such a wide range of causes and factors that generate emotional reactions as managerial.
In addition to the factors associated with the process of activity itself, with its organization, there is an additional and very powerful group of emotional factors associated with interpersonal relationships. The complexity of the content of this activity, the presence of difficult and often extreme conditions for its implementation, combined with high responsibility for its results, form a permanent symptom complex of the characteristics of managerial activity. It acts as a source of development of unfavorable mental conditions, chronic "managerial stress". At the same time, it is the leader who is obliged to “be able to restrain emotions”, “not to succumb to the mood”, to control himself. Moreover, this is necessary not only to reduce the negative impact of emotions and states on his own activity. The point is also that the leader is “always in sight”, and any of his undesirable emotional manifestations and states (uncertainty, depression, nervousness, and even panic) are perceived by subordinates and affect their activities.
Finally, it is management activity that requires the maximum inclusion of volitional processes, and the concepts of “good leader” and “strong leader” themselves are often used as synonymous. All of the above means that both the “world of emotions”, and the “world of states”, and the entire spectrum of volitional processes and qualities are manifested in this activity in their maximum expression, most fully and vividly. At the same time, in the psychology of managerial activity, a circle of the most typical aspects, emotional and volitional regulation, which are of the greatest importance for its organization, is usually distinguished. These include: the problem of stress in managerial activity, the problem of the state of frustration, the phenomenon of "readiness for emergency actions", the concept of emotional resistance of the leader, the features of cognitive regulation of dysfunctional states, the patterns of expressive processes in managerial activity.
Selivanov V.I. Volitional effort. Volitional action. Volitional processes. Volitional states
Selivanov V.I. Education of the will in conditions of connectionlearningwith industrial work. - M.: Higher school, 1980. - S. 13 - 21
A person is able to deliberately dispose of his energy resources in order to achieve success in his activities. When encountering difficulties, this happens with the help of volitional efforts. Volitional effort manifests itself every time the subject discovers a lack of energy necessary to achieve the goal, consciously mobilizes himself to bring his activity in line with the obstacles encountered that must be overcome in order to achieve success. Observations and special experiments point to the enormous effectiveness of volitional efforts in human activity.
Science rejects the primitive idea of volitional effort only as a means of increasing mental tension. Nothing good comes from the work of a person when he works only in an exhausting mode. With such “regulation”, harmful consequences for the body (overwork, neurosis, etc.), a sharp decrease in working capacity, and the appearance of negative emotional states are inevitable.
A developed will presupposes an economical expenditure of neuropsychic energy, when conscious impulses are directed not only to intensify and accelerate processes, but, if necessary, to weaken or slow them down. It is a strong-willed person who can disconnect from annoying interference, force himself to rest or sleep at the right time, while a weak-willed person does not know how to deal with his passivity and his mental overstrain.
But not every human effort is volitional. A distinction must be made between intentional and unintentional efforts. An effort of will is only a deliberate effort, when the subject is clearly aware of the actions, sees the difficulties that impede the achievement of this goal, deliberately fights them, consciously causing the necessary tension aimed at regulating the process of activity (intensification - weakening, acceleration - deceleration, etc. .).
An unintentional effort can be primary (unconditionally reflex) and secondary (habitual, but little conscious, which is formed in a person when a deliberate, i.e. volitional, effort is repeated). When a person learns a particular skill, then in the first exercises he keeps all operations under volitional control. At the same time, volitional efforts find expression in external reactions - in the tension of the muscles of the body, in facial expressions, in speech. As the skill becomes automated, the effort of will is, as it were, curtailed and encoded. And then only one conscious-volitional impulse of a small force is already enough for a person, expressed, for example, in the form of the words “this” or “should” flashed in his head, or even an interjection, to change something in his work. When solving a habitual task, the difficulty may turn out to be greater than that, the overcoming of which is enshrined in behavioral stereotypes. In this case, there is a conscious mobilization of activity, i.e., the transition of little conscious (secondary) efforts into conscious, volitional ones.
There is no action without motivation. With an increase in the significance and strength of the motive, the ability of the individual to mobilize volitional efforts increases. But these concepts should not be identified. The strength of certain motives often creates only a general tension caused by the dissatisfaction of one or another need. This is also found outside of activity in the form, for example, of vague anxiety, anxiety, emotions of suffering, etc. Willpower is manifested only with the conscious "regulation of behavior and activity, when choosing a goal, making a decision, planning, and performing itself. We will say about willpower: it is that by means of which action is carried out in difficult conditions.
The importance of volitional effort in human life is great. But no one is acting for him. It is most often emotionally unpleasant. Volitional effort is only a necessary means of realizing the motive and goal. Willpower lends itself well to exercise. In accordance with this, psychologists often define will as the ability to consciously overcome difficulties on the way to a goal. As for motives, the situation with their formation and exercise is much more complicated. For the purposes of education, it is important to assimilate not only the idea of the unity of motivation and will, but also the idea of their difference, non-coincidence.
Volitional action, its structure. The main form of manifestation of human activity is his labor activity. In the structure of labor and any other activity, its individual "units" - actions - are distinguished.
Action- this is a complete set of movements and mental operations, completed in time and space, united by a single consciously set goal. A person makes a thing, plants a tree, solves an algebraic problem - all these are actions in which the relationship between the mental and the material is clearly represented, the regulation of the process of activity by consciousness. Actions can be individual and collective, on their own initiative and on the instructions of other people. Along with the term "action" in psychology, the term "deed" is also used.
deed usually called an action in which a person's conscious attitude to other people, society is expressed, requiring a moral or legal assessment.
As we have seen, not all actions are volitional. The criterion for classifying some actions as involuntary, and others as volitional, is not the absence or presence of a conscious goal, but the absence or presence of a person’s conscious struggle with difficulties on the way to achieving the goal. In impulsive or long-rehearsed, stereotyped actions, there is no such struggle with difficulties. A person who often has impulsive or affective actions is rightly called weak-willed. They will also call the weak-willed one who is “stuck” in the routine of habitual actions and is no longer capable of initiative and creativity.
The emergence of a motive for action, awareness of it, the "struggle" of motives, setting a goal and making a decision - the content of the first stage of the volitional process. The second stage is the choice of means to achieve the goal, planning the identified possible ways to achieve this goal. It is an important intermediate link between goal setting and execution. The third stage - execution - includes the implementation of the goal and plan in practice, as well as the evaluation of the result.
All stages of the volitional process are interconnected. The motive and purpose are somehow represented in the mind of a person throughout the action, volitional effort is a necessary component of all three stages of volitional action.
When performing a task, the formation of the individual's own goal of action is mediated by a ready-made goal, introduced from outside in the form of a demand, instruction, recommendation, order, etc.
The system of tasks teaches a person in childhood to volitional regulation of his behavior. Setting a goal in an initiative action is not formed spontaneously, but under the influence of learning this in given actions.
An initiative volitional action is always an electoral act. This introduces its own specifics into the first stage of these actions - goal setting. A person now must not only be aware of the consequences of his possible actions, but also be aware of and evaluate motives: whether they encourage a person to be active in the aspect of his leading needs and aspirations, or, on the contrary, undermine them. The evaluative function of the mind during actions on assignment can still be shifted to the manager to some extent. With an initiative action, a person must decide everything himself from beginning to end. Setting a goal in such actions is associated with great internal difficulties, fluctuations and conflicts between motives. In the process of the transition of desire into a categorical desire and the intention “I will do this,” the consciousness is hard at work assessing and selecting motives.
Whether the process of setting a goal proceeds without contradictions or in the presence of a conflict of motives, it ends with a decision. With a positive decision, the volitional action develops further and the person proceeds from goal setting to the second stage - to mental planning of execution.
Mental planning is always the disclosure of the goal in a specific body of knowledge of all those conditions that ensure its implementation in the very process of activity. This equally applies to every action and deed of a person. If the situation is well known, then usually there is no special execution plan. All habitual actions (to wash, have breakfast, go shopping) are performed by motivation alone, only because the conditions for these actions are always present, and the plan for their implementation has long been memorized, therefore, the need for a new plan disappears. But as soon as these conditions change, there is immediately an urgent need for a plan.
In objective reality, there are various possibilities for performing the same action. They have various execution plan options associated with them. These options may conflict with each other. In the process of this internal “struggle”, the final plan is developed, according to which we act. When planning collective action, creative, critical discussion takes place publicly. As a result of collective work, a plan is adopted that most fully meets the task and the possibilities for solving it.
Planning in complex actions is not only a mental, but also a volitional process. So, in order to: 1) think over a particular plan of action, a strong-willed impulse and effort are needed; 2) choose one of several options for the plan, you need to find decisiveness and apply effort; 3) to prevent the hasty adoption of the plan, restraint should be shown (strong-willed efforts are also needed to stop fruitless hesitation and slowness); 4) do not deviate from a good plan, you need to show perseverance, perseverance, etc.
Foresight is not only knowledge, reasonable calculation, but also volitional activity aimed at finding the best way to achieve the goal.
Goal setting and planning are not given to a person without a struggle. But in these preliminary stages of action, the struggle against difficulties has only just begun. Bringing an action to a successful conclusion depends on overcoming the difficulties of execution, no matter how great they may be. Often we meet such people who set high goals for themselves, develop good plans, but as soon as it comes to overcoming the difficulties of implementation, then their complete failure is revealed. Such people are rightly called weak-willed. By the ability to overcome difficulties, by the fulfillment of the intended goal, one judges the degree of development of the will. That is why the main characteristic of the will is the ability of a person to overcome the difficulties and obstacles that stand in the way of achieving the goal.
Execution can be expressed not only in the form of external active actions of a person, but also in the form of a delay, inhibition of unnecessary movements that contradict the chain. In many cases, performance in a complex volitional act can be expressed in the form of external inaction. One must distinguish between acts of active action and acts of refraining from action. Often, inhibition, delay in actions and movements require a greater effort of will from a person than a dangerous active action. Consequently, a strong-willed person is characterized not only by action that actively overcomes an external obstacle, but also by endurance, which actively overcomes internal obstacles in the name of the goal, delaying unnecessary or harmful thoughts, feelings and movements. The task of educating the will is to teach a person to manage himself in any conditions, not to lose control over his behavior.
Volitional processes. In order to do a good job, you need to accurately perceive and evaluate information, be attentive, think, remember, recall, etc.
All mental processes are divided into two groups - involuntary and arbitrary. When it is required not just to look or listen, but to peer and listen in order to better understand and remember specific information, then in all such cases we are forced to mobilize strong-willed efforts, otherwise we will not achieve success. An operator in production cannot rely only on his knowledge and skills, he must be extremely attentive in order to correctly identify the signals of control and measuring instruments, timely and quickly determine the causes of damage, make decisions on troubleshooting, etc. Those mental processes that are not carried out only consciously, but with sufficiently pronounced efforts of the individual, are called volitional processes.
Of course, even complex work cannot be carried out without the participation of involuntary, involuntary processes. It is known that voluntary attention is one of the most tiring mental functions. The protective mode for attention is created in various ways, including interest and external stimuli that switch it to involuntary attention without prejudice to the case. But something else is also known: without a sufficient development of voluntary, volitional attention, there can be no productive, let alone creative, activity.
Volitional states. These are temporary mental states of the individual, which are favorable internal conditions for overcoming emerging difficulties and achieving success in activity. These include states of optimism and general activity, mobilization readiness, interest, determination, etc. In these states, the connection of will with emotions. Actions and deeds performed intelligently, but with an emotional, passionate passion, are the most successful. But some emotional states can reduce or even block the volitional activity of the individual. These include states of apathy and excessive mental tension (stress). Stresses also arise in the conditions of labor activity (when managing complex units in production, overcoming information overload in mental work, etc.). They are stimulated by such general factors accompanying scientific and technological progress as the acceleration of the pace of life, rapid changes in social conditions, etc.
6.9. Characteristics and types of willpower
Volitional effort can have a different degree of severity as intensity, so by duration. This degree characterizes the willpower shown by this or that person.
Volitional effort is also characterized by such a property as lability b (mobility). This property is clearly manifested in voluntary attention and lies in the ability of a person to intensify attention when necessary, and when possible, to weaken its intensity. The inability to relax attention leads to rapid mental fatigue and, in the end, to inattention. The same can be said about voluntary contraction and relaxation of muscles.
Volitional effort is also characterized direction, in this connection, such functions as activation and braking are distinguished (starting and stopping in the presence of external and internal resistance, strengthening and weakening, acceleration and deceleration). In different situations, a person uses different characteristics of volitional effort to varying degrees: in one case, he makes a maximum of volitional effort once, in another, he maintains volitional effort of a certain intensity for a long time, in the third, he slows down reactions.
Types of willpower. Volitional effort can be not only physical, but also intellectual. I will give a description of the intellectual volitional effort made by the famous parapsychologist V. Messing: “I need to gather all my strength, intensify all my abilities, concentrate all my will, like an athlete before a jump, like a hammer before hitting with a heavy sledgehammer. My work is no easier than that of a hammerer and sportsman. And those who have been to my psychological experiments, sometimes saw drops of sweat appearing on my forehead” [Great Prophets, 1998, p. 198].
Intellectual volitional efforts are made by a person, for example, when he reads a complex written text, trying to understand what the author wanted to say. The tension of the athlete's attention at the start, when he is waiting for a signal to start running, can also be attributed to this type of volitional effort.
P. A. Rudik distinguished the following types of volitional efforts:
1. Volitional efforts with muscle tension.
2. Volitional efforts associated with overcoming fatigue and feelings of fatigue.
3. Volitional efforts with the tension of attention.
4. Volitional efforts associated with overcoming the feeling of fear.
5. Volitional efforts associated with the observance of the regime. Adhering to this principle of classification of volitional efforts, it would be necessary to say about the volitional effort associated with overcoming indecision, fear of possible failure, etc.
B. N. Smirnov singled out mobilizing and organizing volitional efforts. Mobilizing volitional efforts contribute to overcoming obstacles in the event of physical and psychological difficulties and are implemented using methods of mental self-regulation such as verbal influences: self-encouragement, self-persuasion, self-order, self-prohibition, etc. All of them, as the mentioned author wrote, are methods of self-mobilization of volitional efforts.
Organizers volitional efforts are manifested in technical, tactical and psychological difficulties in overcoming obstacles and are realized through the use of another group of methods of mental self-regulation. Namely, various types arbitrary focus of attention to control the situation and their own actions; counteraction to distracting factors (suppression of involuntary attention); ideomotor training; control of muscle relaxation; regulation of breathing; observation of the opponent; solving tactical problems, etc. The main purpose of organizing volitional efforts is the optimization of the mental state, the coordination of movements and actions, and the economical use of forces.
With such a wide range of functions performed by the organizing volitional effort (this includes everything that is not related to mobilization), there is a doubt: is the performance of all these control actions really connected with the volitional effort? voltage, and not with a strong-willed impulse and simply drawing attention to the problem being solved; Isn't a simple command to start this or that action taken as an effort of will?
From the book Psychology: Cheat Sheet author author unknown From the book Psychology and Pedagogy: Cheat Sheet author author unknown From the book Language and Consciousness author Luria Alexander Romanovich From the book Psychology of Installation author Uznadze Dmitry Nikolaevich author Voytina Yulia MikhailovnaPerforming an act of will
From the book Psychology of Will author Ilyin Evgeny Pavlovich63. STRUCTURE OF VOLITIONAL ACTION Any volitional action begins with the 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. If the desire is conscious, then the attraction is always vague, unclear.
From the book Psychology. Textbook for high school. author Teplov B. M.6.7. The nature of volitional effort The nature of volitional effort has not yet been fully disclosed. What are the physiological mechanisms for the emergence of volitional effort, in what way a person regulates its intensity, i.e. energy - all this remains not yet fully elucidated (which gives
From the book Think Slowly... Decide Fast author Kahneman Daniel6.8. Self-stimulation as a mechanism of volitional effort actualization Volitional effort does not arise spontaneously, but under the influence of self-stimulation, which is a psychological mechanism of volitional activity. One of the first to conscious self-stimulation of volitional efforts drew
From the book 100 ways to put a child to sleep [Effective advice from a French psychologist] author Bakyus Ann8.3. Characteristics of volitional behavior (complex moral and volitional qualities) The real volitional behavior of a person is often determined by a combination of many personal qualities, and not only volitional, but also moral (moral). Therefore, when characterizing volitional behavior
From the book Praise Me [How to stop depending on the opinions of others and gain self-confidence] author Rapson JamesEvaluation of the strength and duration of volitional effort according to A. N. Shadrin The novelty of the approach lies in the rejection of the assessment of the subjective feelings of the subject, usually expressed in verbal forms such as “tired”, “very tired”, “I won’t be able to soon”, etc. proposed methodology
From the book Cheat Sheet on General Psychology author Rezepov Ildar Shamilevich§66. Analysis of volitional action Volitional action, as we know, presupposes a preliminary awareness of the goal of the action and the means leading to the achievement of this goal. This means that a person, before starting to act, mentally plans for what and how he will act -
From the author's bookMental Effort If you want to experience System 2 at its full potential, do the following exercise, which will take you to your cognitive limits in 5 seconds. To get started, come up with several combinations of four different numbers and write down each
From the author's bookTension and effort The symmetry of many associative links has become a major topic in the discussion of associative connectivity. As mentioned earlier, people who "smile" or "frown" with a pencil in their mouth or holding a ball between their eyebrows tend to experience emotions,
From the author's book From the author's bookPut in the effort For the success of the practice of disillusionment, we advise the following: Consciously work with your partner. If you're in a relationship, tell him, "I'm going to work on this and I need your support." Meditate. Work with the body
From the author's book64. Analysis of a complex volitional action The will of a person is manifested in actions, deeds performed with a predetermined goal. However, such actions as walking, mental counting within the multiplication table, verbal communication with loved ones, relatives, etc., are not
will effort reflex activity
The modern understanding of the volitional process is characterized by consistency. This consistency is ensured by the fact that arbitrary processes provide control over the execution of an action, conscious and deliberate management of activities. An analysis of the views of various authors shows that the number of allocated functions is somewhat different. So, in the work of S. A. Shapkin, built on the analysis of the concept of the will of H. Hekhauzen and his student Yu. Kul, three functions of volitional processes are distinguished: initiation of action; keeping the original intent up to date; overcoming obstacles that arise on the way to the realization of intentions.
In the work of E. P. Ilyin, four functions are distinguished: self-determination; self-initiation; self-control; self-mobilization and self-stimulation. It is easy to see that self-initiation corresponds to the initiation of action, self-control - to the maintenance of the actual intention; and self-mobilization and self-stimulation - overcoming obstacles. Only the function of motivation does not find a correspondence in the system of views of H. Hekhauzen and Yu. Kuhl, because, as we have already noted, these researchers separated motivation from the volitional state of consciousness.
If we try to give a brief description of the theory of control over the action of Y. Kul, then it should, first of all, be noted that, unlike the traditional understanding of the will, Y. Kul relies on modern ideas about the systemic structure of the human psyche and tries to explore the volitional sphere of the personality as a system, consisting of fairly autonomous subsystems. The implementation of the functions of an entire system of control over action is possible only with a flexible, coordinated interaction of subsystems that ensure the retention of intentions in an active state and the achievement of goals in a situation conducive to this, as well as the termination of purposeful activity in a situation unfavorable for this. The concept of "will" describes the category of interacting mental functions that, in the event of difficulties in the implementation of an action, mediate the temporal, spatial, content and style coordination of individual mechanisms within and between different subsystems, such as perception, attention, memory, emotions, motivation, activation system, motor skills and etc. These mechanisms are implemented, as a rule, at an unconscious level, but can take the form of conscious strategies. Then we are talking about motivational control, attention control, perceptual control, emotional control, effort activation control, coding and working memory control, behavioral control.
Thus, modern ideas about the plurality of processes that mediate volitional regulation prompted Yu. Kul and other psychologists to abandon the concept of "will" in the traditional sense and replace it with the concept of "action control". In addition, Yu. Kul was one of the first to suggest that there is an alternative form of action regulation, in which no additional resources are required to overcome obstacles, and when regulation is carried out due to the redistribution of "duties" between the components of the mental system. He speaks of two types of volitional regulation. About self-control, which manifests itself in deliberate attention and support of the subject's efforts to increase the level of his own activity. This type corresponds to the traditional understanding of the will. Another type of volitional regulation was called by him self-regulation. Phenomenologically, this manifests itself, first of all, in involuntary attention to the target object and in the absence of efforts on the part of the subject aimed at energizing his behavior. With self-regulation, the system operates according to the "democratic" principle, constant control of the "I" is no longer needed. It should be noted that the terms self-control and self-regulation are used by Yu. Kuhl in a different sense than by E. P. Ilyin.
As for the views of E. P. Ilyin, he understands arbitrary control as an integral psycho-physiological formation, which includes motives, intellectual activity, moral sphere, i.e. psychological phenomena, but, on the other hand, is based on the properties of the nervous system, on physiological processes. Let us consider in more detail the components of the will in the broadest sense of the word. We omit the analysis of the motivational aspect, since it was analyzed in detail by us above. Let's start with self-initiation and self-braking (hereinafter simply - initiation and braking).
The formation of motivation is a motivational process, but in order for the intention to come true, the action must be launched. How this happens remains one of the darkest questions in psychology. N. N. Lange wrote that we feel motives for action, then we feel the action itself, but the transition between these two states remains out of consciousness. Mental world: Selected psychological works / N.N. Lange; ed. M.G. Yaroshevsky. - Voronezh: NPO "MODEK", 1996, p. 331
There are two main points of view on this issue. The first is the notion of initiation, the initiation of a voluntary action involuntarily, with the help of emerging representations and the ideomotor acts associated with them. The second is the idea of launching arbitrary acts with the help of an effort of will.
A supporter of the involuntary initiation of a volitional action was W. James, who believed that the essence of a volitional act is characterized by the decision element “let it be”. THOSE. voluntary movement is carried out according to the principle of an ideomotor act. An ideomotor act is the transition of the idea of muscle movement into the actual execution of this movement (i.e., the appearance of nerve impulses that provide movement as soon as an idea of it arises). The principle of the ideomotor act was discovered in the 18th century by the English physician Hartley, and was subsequently developed by the psychologist Carpenter. It was assumed that the ideomotor act has an unconscious, involuntary nature. However, further research has shown that muscle contractions can be quite conscious. Currently, ideomotor training is quite widespread in sports, using the representation of certain movements. E. P. Ilyin believes that W. James exaggerates the role of ideomotor, tk. in most cases, initiation is carried out with the help of a starting pulse, and pre-starting influences in these cases only facilitate starting.
Similar views were expressed by G. Munsterberg, in whom the will, in essence, is reduced to a deliberate actualization of the image of the goal - a representation. The representation plays the role of a conditioned signal for him, and the action itself, accordingly, is of a conditioned reflex character.
Under the influence of W. James, N. N. Lange also tried to understand the mechanism for launching volitional actions. He also reduced volitional impulses to ideomotor.
Ideas about the conscious initiation of volitional actions are associated with the idea that their launch is always carried out with the help of volitional effort. However, this provision raises more and more doubts, but not about the conscious nature, but about the participation of volitional effort in this process. As a consequence, the proposal to distinguish between volitional impulse and volitional effort. Volitional effort is understood as a conscious and deliberate exertion of the physical and intellectual forces of a person. Volitional effort is characterized by internal tension, for its manifestation, the presence of difficulties is necessary. But the launch of an action can also occur without effort. Thus, it is expedient to single out a volitional impulse, rather than an volitional effort, as a trigger mechanism for action. Their functions are different. The function of the volitional impulse is to initiate action and to make the transition from one action to another. The idea of launching voluntary actions with the help of a strong-willed impulse, and not only and not so much with the help of a strong-willed effort, can be seen in the statements of many psychologists (Selivanov V.I., Kalin V.K., etc.). The nature of volitional effort has not yet been revealed. But volitional efforts are most clearly manifested during physical exertion. N. N. Lange pointed out three points with which the feeling of volitional effort is associated:
* change in breathing;
* ideomotor tension;
* inner speech.
Thus, it can be assumed that one of the mechanisms for enhancing motivation is muscle tension. It enhances the excitation of the centers from which the volitional impulse of the beginning and execution of the action comes. The tension of the respiratory muscles also leads to an increase in proprioceptive impulses to the cortex. Efforts can be physical and intellectual, mobilizing and organizing. This is the main problem of the functional block self-initiation.
Consider the block of self-control. The mention of self-control is found even in Aristotle, but as a scientific phenomenon this phenomenon began to be studied at the turn of about a century ago, although there are earlier works on certain issues.
One of the first who dealt with this problem from a psychological point of view was Z. Freud. He associated self-control with the instance of "I". In our country, self-control was considered by N. N. Lange, N. A. Belov. But these works are little known. It was only in the 1960s that these issues began to be widely discussed, which was facilitated by the penetration of the ideas of cybernetics into psychology and physiology. Ideas about feedback eventually led to the creation of models of mechanisms for foresight, comparison, and so on. (N. A. Bernstein, P. K. Anokhin). The grounds for revising the Pavlovian idea of the reflex arc were the facts according to which the same effect could be achieved in different ways. Various control schemes have been proposed using the reflex ring. The model of the functional system by P. K. Anokhin was widely used. The model includes an afferent synthesis block, a decision-making block, an action result acceptor and an efferent program of the action itself, receiving the action results and forming feedback to compare the obtained results with the programmed ones. The flow of afferent synthesis is influenced by situational and triggering afferentation, memory and motivation of the subject. The decision block is associated with the confidence or uncertainty of a person in the decision being made, which is influenced by the availability of information from the subject, the novelty of the situation, and personal characteristics. In action programming, a person analyzes the probability of achieving the set goal, the presence or absence of information. With incomplete information, different programs are developed. In the process of performing the action and / or at its end, control takes place, the comparison of the reverse results with what was expected, if necessary, the result is corrected.
The feedback functions are, first of all, in providing information about the beginning, completeness-incompletion of the action, in correcting with interference, in providing learning. Feedback can be external and internal. External feedback is used primarily to control the result, internal - for the nature of the action. The outer feedback ring is closed only functionally, but not morphologically, the inner one is closed both functionally and morphologically.
At the initial stages of mastering an action, the role of the external (and, above all, visual) feedback loop is important. Then the role of the inner contour increases. In addition, there is also evidence that at the first stages the role of kinesthetic information is high, and then verbal information becomes the leading one. It can thus be concluded that not only the contour is important, but also the type of information.
The action of the next block - the comparison mechanism - can fail, which is largely due to the time limit.
It should be noted that the question of self-control functions is rather complicated. Some mean by it the ability to restrain the first base impulses and subordinate them to higher goals (for example, Sally), others believe that self-control involves the ability to be critical of one's actions (G. A. Sobieva), others see it as a tool for conscious activity planning ( Kuvshinov V.I.). The above interpretations of self-control are distinguished by a sufficient breadth of understanding. There are also narrower interpretations of self-control, which reduce the functions of self-control to verification (Itelson L. B. - self-examination in activity; Aret A. Ya. - the process of tracking oneself, checking oneself; Ruvinsky L. I. - correcting activity).
Whether a skill is a voluntary action is a matter of much debate within this functional unit. There is no consensus here, but many researchers believe that the skill remains an arbitrary action, only the control over its implementation changes. According to E. P. Ilyin, automation is only the ability acquired as a result of training to turn off the dynamic control over the action, which does not imply the necessity and inevitability of such a turn off.
The block of self-mobilization practically deals with volitional regulation, which, according to the views of E. P. Ilyin, is a particular type of arbitrary control. In everyday life, this concept is often identified with willpower, obviously because it is associated with overcoming difficulties. At the same time, the content of volitional regulation is understood by different psychologists in different ways: as the strength of a motive; as a struggle of motives; as a change in the meaning of the action; as an input into the regulation of emotions. In all these interpretations, the main condition for the mobilization of energy is volitional effort, although, as noted above, its nature is still not clear.
It is incorrect to define willpower as an independent volitional quality (Kornilov K.N., Platonov K.K.) or as some kind of abstract indicator (Nemov R.S.). It is more correct to speak of various manifestations of will power, called volitional qualities. In ethics, volitional qualities are considered moral, and their manifestation depends on the moral character traits. This is where the evaluative approach to will comes from. But such an approach is hardly justified. Behavior should be evaluated morally, not qualities.
In each specific case, volitional regulation is manifested through volitional states. Volitional states were studied by N. D. Levitov and other researchers. E. P. Ilyin refers to volitional states the state of mobilization readiness, the state of concentration, the state of determination, etc.
The state of mobilization readiness was studied mainly by sports psychologists (Puni A., Genov F.). But it doesn't just show up in sports. It reflects self-tuning to the full mobilization of one's capabilities, moreover, necessary for this particular activity. Mobilization is facilitated by a clear statement of the task. Sometimes the emotional mechanisms that support this state are turned on. In many cases, there is no direct correlation between mobilization and its results.
The state of concentration is associated with deliberate concentration of attention, which ensures the effectiveness of perception, thinking, memorization, etc. The dominant of A. A. Ukhtomsky acts as the physiological basis for the state of concentration. It is beneficial for the organism to limit indifferent impressionability.
The state of determination implies readiness for action, readiness to initiate action in the presence of risk or unpleasant consequences. It is quite short-term and is associated with self-discipline.
Speaking about volitional regulation, it is impossible not to touch upon the question of how it relates to emotional regulation. These two types of regulation are related, but not identical. Very often they generally manifest themselves as antagonists. Remember the affect - as a rule, it suppresses the will. The optimal combination would probably be such a combination when a person combines a strong will with a certain level of emotionality.
