Will and its main features. Volitional regulation of behavior. Development of the will - Abstract. Abstract General concept of will. Theories of will

Ideas about volitional qualities

As already mentioned, will is only a generalized concept behind which many different psychological elements are hidden. Speaking about the constituent elements of the will, we mean their totality, their quantity, differences and connections between them.

The most commonly noted elements (qualities) are determination, determination, perseverance, endurance, independence, courage, resilience, self-control and initiative. The elements of will include criticality, diligence and confidence.

Table 1 Volitional personality traits (according to K. K. Platonov)

properties	and desire	Possibilities			Implementation of the decision
	awareness Intensive pursuit	Sufficient	Justified and fast	Reasonable, with intense desire
Perseverance	Distant, with intense desire	Normal
Stubbornness	Objectively- unjustified	Not determined objective consideration of all opportunities, but biased	Unreasonable, with intense desire
Compliance	changing	Determined by the suggestive influence of others	is changing	Various
Suggestibility	Absent	Given from outside
Determination	awareness Intensive pursuit	Sufficient excessive	Fast, but not always justified	sustainable
Indecisiveness			Long-term	Absent or often is changing	Absent
Weakness	Fuzzy, with a weak desire	Fuzzy	Unfinished	aspirations implementation	Unstable

And Ts. Puni believes that “in every person, volitional qualities act as a single integral system, but the structure of the links of this system is not the same for different people. Moreover, for the same person in various types activity it changes. Therefore, the totality of volitional qualities should be considered as a moving, dynamic system, the links of which can be differently correlated and connected with each other” 11 Puni A.Ts. Psychological foundations volitional training in sports.-M., 1977. p. 23.

Structure and general characteristics of volitional qualities.

P. A. Rudik (1962) notes that “the study of the structural features of the volitional qualities of an individual results in a scientific psychological justification for the means and methods of nurturing these qualities. Outside of such psychological study, the method of volitional education acquires a crudely empirical character and often leads to results that are opposite to the goals that the educator set for himself.” 22 Rudik P.A. Psychology of the will of an athlete.-M., 1973. p. 6

Like any personality traits, volitional qualities have a horizontal and vertical structure.

Horizontal structure form inclinations, the role of which is played by the typological features of properties nervous system. However, while recognizing this, in a number of cases psychologists make mistakes in presenting this issue. The fact is that some authors, relying on the authority of I.P. Pavlov, believe, like him, that there are good and bad typological features. Good ones include strong nervous (strength, mobility and balance of nervous processes; bad ones include opposite typological features). In accordance with this, until recently, many textbooks asserted without evidence that good academic performance, high achievements in sports, etc. are characteristic only of persons with a strong, mobile and balanced nervous system. A.P. Rudik adheres to the same point of view, believing that “positive volitional qualities (courage, determination, perseverance, etc.) are usually possessed by athletes with a strong, balanced and mobile nervous system, while negative volitional qualities (indecision, weak will and fear are based structural features weak nervous system" 11 P.A. Rudik Psychology of the will of an athlete.-M., 1968. p.14. This statement has little to do with reality.

It has been established that a low degree of courage (fearfulness) is associated with a certain set of typological features: a weak nervous system, a predominance of inhibition according to the “external” balance, and mobility of inhibition. Among representatives of those sports that are associated with the experience of fear and lack of insurance (parachute jumping, ski jumping, diving), there are almost no athletes with this typological triad.

A high degree of determination is associated with the mobility of excitation and with the predominance of excitation according to the “external” and “internal” balance of nervous processes, and in dangerous situation- and with a strong nervous system. In addition, a high degree of determination is observed in individuals with low level neuroticism 22 I.P. Petyaikin Psychological characteristics decisiveness.-M., 1978. p. 15.

A high degree of patience is associated with inertia of excitation, with the predominance of inhibition according to the “external” balance and excitation according to the “internal” balance, with a strong nervous system. 33 E.P. Ilyin Psychology of will.-SPb., 2000. p.132

Thus, each volitional quality has its own psychophysiological structure, which in some components may coincide in different volitional qualities, and in others - diverge. For example, people who have a high degree of patience may not have a high degree of determination, since two of their four typological characteristics are opposite to those that: determine high degree determination. Even the strength of the nervous system, which is not entirely rightfully considered by some researchers as a synonym for “willpower,” is not associated with the determination shown in an ordinary, non-threatening situation.

Vertical structure. All volitional qualities have a similar vertical structure. This similarity lies in the fact that each volitional quality is like a three-layer cake. Below are natural inclinations - neurodynamic characteristics, on which is superimposed a second layer - volitional effort, which is initiated and stimulated by the social, personal factors that form the third layer - the motivational sphere, primarily moral principles. And the degree of expression of each volitional quality largely depends on how strong a person’s needs and desires are, how morally developed he is.

Moreover, in each volitional quality the role of the vertical components may be different. Studying the degree of expression of a number of “related” volitional qualities (patience, perseverance and perseverance), E. K. Feshchenko revealed that patience is largely determined by natural inclinations - typological features of the properties of the nervous system, and according to some data - by the biochemical characteristics of the body’s functioning , and persistence is largely motivated by motivation, in particular by the need for achievement. Perseverance occupies an intermediate position and for the appearance of this strong-willed quality, both are equally important 11 E.K. Feshchenko Age and gender characteristics of self-esteem of volitional qualities. - St. Petersburg, 1999. p. 32.

Thus, we can talk about the properties inherent in the will as a whole: breadth, strength and stability. The breadth or narrowness of a volitional quality is determined by it through the number of activities in which it is clearly manifested. The strength of volitional quality is determined by the level of manifestation of volitional effort aimed at overcoming difficulties. The main sign of the stability of volitional qualities is the degree of constancy in the manifestation of volitional effort in similar situations. The ratio of these properties may vary from person to person.

Essay
In the discipline "Psychology"
On the topic of:
General concept about will. Theories of will.

Content:

human behavior

General concept of will.
Will is present in many acts of human behavior, helping to overcome resistance, as well as other desires and needs on the way to the intended goal. If, for example, a person does not want to drink bitter medicine, but he knows that it is extremely necessary for his health, then, suppressing his reluctance by willpower, he forces himself to systematically carry out the prescribed treatment. Another example: a student wants to go to a disco, but his homework is not ready yet test by tomorrow. Overcoming a momentary desire with an effort of will, the student forces himself to work, setting the goal of tomorrow's success. We also observe the manifestation of will in various communication situations. For example, a person is unpleasant to us, but our further advancement objectively depends on him, therefore, through an effort of will, we restrain our hostility and put on a psychological mask suitable for the given situation; and as a result we achieve our goal.
Most often, a person shows his will in the following typical situations:
it is necessary to make a choice between two or more thoughts, goals, feelings that are equally attractive, but require opposite actions, and are incompatible with each other;
no matter what, it is necessary to purposefully move towards the intended goal;
On the path of a person’s practical activity, internal (fear, uncertainty, doubts) or external (objective circumstances) obstacles arise that must be overcome.
In other words, will (its presence or absence) manifests itself in all situations related to choice and decision-making. Will is
a person’s conscious overcoming of difficulties on the path to action.
The main functions of the will are:
choice of motives and goals;
regulation of the impulse to act when there is insufficient or excessive motivation;
organization of mental processes into a system that is adequate to the activity performed by a person;
mobilization of physical and mental capabilities in achieving set goals in a situation of overcoming obstacles.
Will as a phenomenon of the human psyche attracted the attention of thinkers back in antiquity. Aristotle introduced the concept of will into the system of categories of the science of the soul in order to explain how human behavior is realized in accordance with knowledge, which in itself is devoid of motivating power. Aristotle's will acted as a factor, along with desire, capable of changing the course of behavior: initiating it, stopping it, changing direction and pace. However, thinkers of antiquity, and later the Middle Ages, did not interpret will in its modern personal understanding. Thus, in antiquity, the concept of will was absorbed by the concept of logic; According to Aristotle, for example, any action follows primarily from a logical conclusion.
During the Middle Ages, there was a ritual of exoris - exorcism of the devil. Man in those days was perceived only as a passive principle, in which the will manifested itself in the form of good and evil spirits (sometimes even personified). This understanding of will was due to the fact that traditional society actually denied independent behavior. S.I. Rogov* notes that the personality appears in it only as a genus, as a program according to which the ancestors lived. The right to deviate was recognized only for certain members of society, for example, a shaman - a person who communicates with the spirits of ancestors; a blacksmith - a person who has the power of fire and metal; robber - a criminal man who opposed himself to a given society.
The concept of will seems to be revived in modern times along with the emergence of the concept of personality, one of the main values of which is free will. A new worldview is emerging - existentialism, a philosophy of existence, according to which freedom is absolute, free will. M. Heidegger, K. Jaspers, J.-P. Sartre and A. Camus believed that any person is essentially self-willed and irresponsible, and any social norms are a suppression of human essence.
In Russia, an interesting interpretation of will was presented by I.P. Pavlov, considering will as an instinct (reflex) of freedom. As an instinct of freedom, will is no less a stimulus for behavior than the instincts of hunger or danger.
Much controversy has arisen and is arising on the issue of the conscious or unconscious origin of the concept of will.
Supporters of idealistic views interpreted as a phenomenon of will the inherent human ability to independent choice goals and ways to achieve it. They interpreted the ability to make decisions expressing personal attitudes and beliefs as the result of the actions of an irrational force behind these acts.
At one time, the German philosophers A. Schopenhauer and E. Hartmann absolutized will, declaring it a cosmic force, a blind unconscious principle, the derivative of which are all mental manifestations of man.
Psychoanalytic psychology represented the human will as a kind of energy of human actions. Proponents of psychoanalysis believed that human actions are controlled by a certain biological energy of a person, converted into mental energy. Freud identified this energy with the psychosexual energy of sexual desire - the unconscious libido, thereby explaining human behavior first by the cultivated manifestations of this life-affirming force (Eros), and then by its struggle with the equally subconscious human desire for death (Thantos).
Proponents of the theory of will as a special supernatural force underlying the psyche and existence in general were such famous psychologists as W. Wundt and W. James.
The theological interpretation of will is that will is identified with the divine principle in the world: God is the exclusive owner of free will, endowing it with people at his own discretion.
Materialists interpret will as a side of the psyche that has a material basis in the form of nervous brain processes. Volitional or voluntary actions develop on the basis of involuntary movements and actions. The simplest of involuntary actions are reflex ones. This type also includes impulsive actions, unconscious, not subordinate to the general goal of the reaction. In contrast to involuntary actions, a person’s conscious actions are aimed at achieving his goal, which is characteristic of volitional behavior.
The material basis of voluntary movements is the activity of giant pyramidal cells located in one of the layers of the cerebral cortex in the region of the anterior central gyrus. Impulses for movement are generated in these cells. Scientists came to this conclusion by studying the causes of abulia (painful lack of will), which develops due to brain pathology and appraxia (impaired voluntary regulation of movements and actions that make it impossible to carry out a volitional act), resulting from a lesion frontal lobes brain.
The doctrine of the second signal system I.P. Pavlova significantly supplemented the materialistic concept, proving the conditioned reflex essence of will.
Modern research on will in psychology is carried out in different scientific directions: in behaviorist-oriented science, certain forms of behavior are studied; in the psychology of motivation, the focus is on intrapersonal conflicts and ways to overcome them; in personality psychology, the main attention is focused on the identification and study of the corresponding volitional characteristics of the individual. At the same time modern psychology strives to give the science of the will an integrative character.

Theories of Will
1. Heteronomous theories reduce volitional actions to complex mental processes of a non-volitional nature - associative and intellectual processes. Ebbinghaus: will is an instinct that arises on the basis of the reversibility of associations or on the basis of the so-called “sighted instinct”, conscious of its goal. I. Herbart: volitional action is associated with a complex combination of intellectual mental processes® first, impulsive behavior arises, then, on its basis, an action developed on the basis of habit is updated, and after that, an action controlled by the mind, i.e. volitional action. According to this point of view, every act is volitional, because every action is reasonable. Positive: inclusion of the factor of determinism in the explanation of will (moving away from spiritualism). Disadvantages: the will is not substantial, does not have its own content and is actualized only when necessary; do not explain the phenomena of arbitrariness of actions, the phenomenon of internal freedom, the mechanisms of formation of volitional action from non-volitional.

2. Affective theory of will by W. Wundt. Wundt sharply objected to attempts to derive the impulse for volitional action from intellectual processes. He explains the will using the concept of affect. The most essential thing for the emergence of a volitional process is the activity of external action, which is directly related to internal experiences. In the simplest act of will Wundt distinguishes two aspects: affect and the action associated with it. External actions are aimed at achieving the final result, and internal actions are aimed at changing other mental processes, including emotional ones. Volitional process is an affect (complex feeling), an emotional process associated with an action that can stop this process. Volitional processes are ordinary mental processes when they are controlled and represented in consciousness. Two aspects of the volitional process: objective (related to the subject) and subjective (related to the attitude towards the content). The objective content of the volitional process is its motive. The subjective aspect is the driving force of the motive. Processes that have only one motive - impulsive, are carried out without delay. If there are more motives, then this action is arbitrary. Will is the problem of arbitrariness of action, the problem of the struggle of motives.

3. Theories of autonomous will explain this mental phenomenon based on the laws inherent in the volitional action itself. All theories of autonomous will can be divided into three groups:

1) motivational approach: will, one way or another, is explained using the categories of the psychology of motivation. In turn, it is divided into:

O theories that understand will as a superhuman, world force (E. Hartmann and A. Schopenhauer) Will is a completely irrational, blind, unconscious, aimless and, moreover, never-ending or weakening impulse. It is universal and is the basis for everything that exists: it gives birth to everything (through the process of objectification) and governs everything. Only by creating the world and looking into it as in a mirror, does she gain the opportunity to realize herself, first of all, that she is the will to live. The will that exists in every person is simply an objectification of the world's will. G.I. Chelpanov believed that the soul has its own power to make choices and motivate action. In the act of will, he distinguished aspiration, desire and effort; later he began to connect the will with the struggle of motives.

O theories that consider will as the initial moment of motivation for action T. Hobbes, T. Ribot, it can not only encourage action, but also inhibit some undesirable actions. K. Levin This is internal tension caused by some unfinished action. Implementation strong-willed behavior consists in relieving tension through certain actions - movements in the psychological environment (locomotion and communications); the will has the ability to induce actions.

O theories that understand will as the ability to overcome obstacles. Yu. Kul connects volitional regulation with the presence of difficulties in implementing intentions. He distinguishes between intention and desire (motivation). Active intentional regulation is activated at the moment an obstacle or competing tendencies arise in the path of desire. H. Heckhausen identifies four stages of motivation for action, which involve different mechanisms - motivational and volitional. The first stage corresponds to motivation before making a decision, the second - volitional effort, the third - the implementation of actions, and the fourth - evaluation of the results of behavior. Motivation determines the choice of action, and will determines its strengthening and initiation. D.N. Uznadze correlates the formation of will with activities that are aimed at creating values independent of actual human needs. Volitional behavior differs from impulsive behavior in that it has a period preceding the act of decision-making. Behavior becomes volitional only thanks to a motive that modifies behavior in such a way that the latter becomes acceptable to the subject. There are two sides to a volitional act: phenomenological and dynamic. Phenomenological includes such moments as 1) a feeling of tension (figurative moment), 2) determining the goal of an action and its relationship with the means (objective), 3) performing an internal action (actual), 4) experiencing difficulty, making an effort (state moment) . The dynamic side of a volitional act lies in the implementation, embodiment of a motivated (volitional) action. L.S. Vygotsky overcoming obstacles as one of the signs of will. As a mechanism for strengthening the impulse to action, he defines the operation of introducing an auxiliary motive (means). Such an additional motive can be drawing lots, counting by one, two, three, etc.

2) the approach of free choice: the relationship of volitional processes with the problem of making a choice (I. Kant, W. James) the main function of the will is to make a decision on action in the presence of two or more ideas. In such a situation, the main feat of the will is to direct consciousness to an attractive object , S. L. Rubinstein Choice as one of the functions of the will;

3) regulatory approach: the relationship of will with the function of exercising control, management and self-regulation. M.Ya. Basov understood will as a mental mechanism through which a person regulates his mental functions. Volitional effort is defined as the subjective expression of the regulatory volitional function. The will is deprived of the ability to generate mental or other actions, but it regulates them, revealing itself in attention.

Volitional regulation of human behavior
Will and its strength are manifested in volitional actions (human actions). Volitional actions, like all mental activity, according to I.P. Pavlov, are associated with the functioning of the brain. An important role in the implementation of volitional actions is played by the frontal lobes of the brain, in which, as research shows, the result achieved each time is compared with a previously drawn up goal program.
The will provides two interrelated functions - incentive and inhibitory, manifesting itself in them in the form of volitional action. In this regard, the will is divided into activating (motivating, stimulating) and inhibitory. The incentive function promotes human activity not in fact (as a reactive function), but on the basis of the specifics of internal states that are revealed at the moment of the action itself. The inhibitory function of the will manifests itself in restraining unwanted manifestations of activity. The incentive and inhibitory functions form the content basis of the process of volitional regulation.
Volitional regulation of human behavior in its most developed form is the conscious control of one’s own thoughts, feelings, desires and behavior.
Among the levels of mental regulation the following are distinguished:
involuntary regulation (pre-psychic involuntary reactions; figurative (sensory) and perceptual regulation);
voluntary regulation (speech-mental level of regulation);
volitional regulation (the highest level of voluntary regulation of activity, ensuring overcoming difficulties in achieving the goal).
As a result of volitional regulation, a volitional act occurs. An elementary act of will occurs only when another thought does not appear in a person’s head simultaneously with the thought of performing an action, interfering with its implementation. Such an act can, for example, be considered an ideomotor act: the ability of one thought about movement to cause the movement itself. A more complex act of will is associated with overcoming the so-called competing idea, in the presence of which a person has a specific feeling of the effort being made, which is associated with the manifestation of willpower.
The most complex act of will is one in which, by overcoming internal and external resistance, the decision is consciously accepted and then implemented. Complex acts of will include, for example, giving up bad habits (smoking, alcoholism) and bad company. A complex volitional act is not carried out instantly in real time; sometimes it requires the application of maximum willpower to carry it out. Complex acts of will are the highest indicator of a strong-willed person. Another difference between a strong-willed person and a person of habit is the presence of developed strong-willed qualities in the former.
Volitional qualities are divided into three categories: primary volitional qualities (willpower, perseverance, endurance); secondary, or derivative, volitional qualities (decisiveness, courage, self-control, confidence); tertiary volitional qualities (responsibility, discipline, commitment, integrity, efficiency, initiative).
Volitional qualities are a dynamic category, i.e. capable of change and development throughout life. Volitional qualities are often aimed not so much at mastering circumstances and overcoming them, but at overcoming oneself. This especially applies to people of the impulsive type, unbalanced and emotionally excitable, when they have to act contrary to their natural or characterological data.
All achievements of man and humanity as a whole cannot be achieved without the participation of will, volitional regulation of behavior. All volitional processes that make up the regulation mechanism have several essential phases:
1) the emergence of motivation and goal setting;
2) stage of discussion and struggle of motives;
3) decision making;
4) execution.
The key concepts of phases 1-3 are attraction and desire. Attraction is an unconscious need, and desire is a conscious need, ready to turn first into a motive and then into a goal of behavior. However, not every desire can be immediately realized, since a person may have several uncoordinated desires at the same time, thereby giving rise to a struggle of motives. The struggle of motives is often accompanied by strong internal tension, especially if the desires are polar. In traditional psychology, the struggle of motives is considered as the core of a volitional act. Overcoming internal conflict occurs only through awareness of the real significance and correlation of motives, their importance for a person and the consequences resulting from volitional action.
Decision-making is the final moment of the struggle of motives, giving rise to a sense of responsibility for action specific to an act of will. The decision-making process is quite complex, and its speed largely depends on such a category as a person’s determination, the degree of which depends on the following factors:
the presence of reasonable grounds for carrying out an act of will;
the dynamics and strength of external circumstances that determine the scale of motives;
temperament and characterological characteristics of the person making the decision.
The final phase of the volitional process is execution. The execution stage has a complex internal structure: making a decision does not mean immediately executing it.
The execution of a decision is very closely related to such a category as time. If execution is delayed for a significant period, then we are talking about intention, which, in turn, must be carefully planned, which will determine the success and speed of execution. For final decision making and execution, volitional effort is required.
Volitional effort is a form emotional stress, mobilizing a person’s internal resources and creating additional motives for action to achieve a goal. Willpower depends on the following factors:
worldview of the individual;
moral stability;
the presence of social significance of the goals;
attitudes towards action;
level of personality self-organization.
In other words, the will is a unique reflection of the structure of the personality and its internal characteristics. The volitional action of each person is unique.
Knowledge of the mechanisms of volitional regulation and methods of developing will is necessary for every person striving for systematic and successful self-development and achieving life goals.

Development of the human will
Will is one of the human qualities that is potentially inherent before birth and which, at the same time, can be developed throughout life. The range of a strong will is as great as the range of a weak will. The desire to strengthen one’s will and expand the range of application of volitional action most often arises in people with internal localization of control. Localization of control is a person's tendency to attribute responsibility for the results of an action to external or internal forces. Internals most often feel personal responsibility for their actions, explaining them by their personal characteristics, so they strive to work on themselves, improve themselves, including developing their will. Externals try to explain everything by external circumstances, absolving themselves of all responsibility and thereby reducing the relevance of volitional activity and volitional training.
A person who wants to control himself and his circumstances, who wants to overcome destructive emotions and qualities (for example, fear and laziness), can, through training, strengthen his will and increase the range of his capabilities.
When working on the development of will, you can rely on the recommendations given by L.I. Ruvinsky and S.I. Khokhlov*. Let's take a look at these recommendations.
It is better not to make decisions than to make and not implement them. The decision made must be implemented.
The goal must be useful, socially significant, and attractive.
The goal you set must be carefully considered. You cannot set goals and make decisions when you are in a state of strong emotional arousal, anger, or when the most significant circumstances related to the implementation of your decision cannot be taken into account.
The goal you set must match your capabilities. It will be achieved if:
the willpower required to carry out the decision;
specific knowledge and skills necessary to implement the decision;
developed one or another strong-willed quality (endurance, perseverance, diligence, courage, determination);
time and funds required to implement the decision.
The goal must be absolutely specific:
the exact date for the start of implementation of the decision is indicated;
the minimum amount of daily planned work is clearly defined;
the total duration of work on something is indicated;
the expected result is clearly indicated;
the means of implementing the decision are indicated.
The main goal should be divided into a number of intermediate ones. A necessary condition for the effectiveness of goal setting is the ability to make it achievable, attractive and include it as an integral part of motives that are meaningful to us and actually work.
Thus, its motivating power depends on the awareness of the significance of the goal, its correct choice, and the combination of short, medium and long-term prospects.
To successfully implement our plans, internal activity is necessary. It must be purposeful and carried out competently, with an understanding of the essence of the mental processes occurring in us. Learning to manage your feelings and mental states, we receive a double benefit: we develop and strengthen the necessary character traits (self-control, endurance), and also induce the necessary mental states that help us achieve our goals.
A sufficient level of will development is a necessary basis and condition for the implementation of a self-education program. That is why self-education of the will is not only the goal of developing one of the personality qualities, but is also necessary for its formation as a whole.

Conclusion:
Will is freedom of choice. The outlined approaches to understanding the essence of will reflect its various aspects and indicate various functions. Will is a psychological mechanism that allows a person to consciously control his behavior, expressed in the ability to see and overcome internal and external obstacles to purposeful actions and actions. Motives for volitional actions develop and arise as a result of a person’s active interaction with the outside world, and primarily with society. Free will does not mean the denial of the universal laws of nature and society, but presupposes knowledge of them and the choice of adequate behavior. The function of volitional regulation is to increase the efficiency of the corresponding activity, and volitional action appears as a conscious, purposeful action of a person to overcome external and internal obstacles with the help of volitional efforts. At the personal level, will manifests itself in such properties as willpower, energy, perseverance, endurance, etc. They can be considered as primary, or basic, volitional qualities of a person. A strong-willed person is distinguished by determination, courage, self-control, and self-confidence. There are also qualities associated with moral and value orientations: responsibility, discipline, integrity, commitment; This also includes those qualities in which the will of a person and his attitude to work simultaneously appear: efficiency, initiative. Volitional regulation is necessary in order to keep in the field of consciousness for a long time the object that a person is thinking about and to maintain attention concentrated on it. The will is involved in the regulation of mental functions: sensations, perception, imagination, memory, thinking and speech. The development of these cognitive processes from lower to higher means that a person acquires volitional control over them.
Bibliography:

Psychology views the concept of “will” ambiguously, and over the course of different historical eras it has meant different phenomena.

In the most general outline will can be perceived as a property of a person that allows him to consciously control his thoughts and actions. Based on this understanding, it can be considered one of the most important properties of which the human psyche is capable of manifestation: doesn’t it put the most striking, demarcating line between an animal and a person? If the former are driven by their instincts, then the latter are able to suppress them with the help of willpower.

So, as we have already expressed, there are several models for understanding the will. Modern psychology adheres to the fact that the will of a person is manifested in the ability to consciously achieve one’s goal, and among the main qualities of its manifestation are courage, determination, perseverance, self-control, independence, etc.

In order to understand the will, you need to have a good understanding of what freedom is, because these concepts are closely related.

Will in psychology is a concept with a unique history, because within the framework of this science it was revised three times, which gave rise to three different definitions.

At first, will was understood as a peculiar mechanism of actions that were performed by a person contrary to his desires, but, nevertheless, prompted by reason. Then the will began to be perceived as a struggle of motives, which makes it similar to the theme of the problem of choice.

And at the final stage of the evolution of the understanding of will, it was defined as a way to overcome obstacles that prevent one from achieving a goal. This definition gives a rather superficial idea of will, because it illuminates only one facet of its manifestation, but in reality there are more of them: for example, with the help of will a person can overcome himself, his desires, his natural needs, although this will not be the goal. There are cases when people saved the lives of others, deliberately sacrificing their own, and to characterize one of such situations as “overcoming difficulties to achieve a goal” would be incorrect and incomplete.

WITH Latin language it is translated as “will” and in this philosophical movement it was given the role of the fundamental principle, the highest principle of being.

In understanding will as the psychology of behavior “in spite of”, the most interesting part of this mental ability of a person is revealed; we see that a person knows how not to accept circumstances as they are. Givenness can be assessed negatively by many people, but you need to have enough developed will to decide to change what is given. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, in one of his books, told a story about tame gazelles that grew up in a pen. As the animals grew older, they began to strive to break free, but all they did was stand at the fence and look out into the open spaces. This is a fictional story, but animals tend to behave this way: sooner or later they resign themselves and give up trying to act contrary to the situation. Trying to break out of a cage out of instinct and trying to do so out of a belief in something are of a different nature, where in the second case the word “despite” is the key word, unlike in the first.

Some philosophers (B. Spinoza, J. Locke) tried to comprehend the relationship between will and freedom of choice. J. Locke believed that freedom is the ability to act or not act, and during an act of will, a person is always subject to necessity, and therefore he shared these concepts. Benedict Spinoza, like many ancient thinkers, turned out to be closer to the truth - he believed that internal freedom consists in voluntarily deciding to overcome the contradiction that has arisen between “I want” and “I am.”

Julius Kuhl identified several types of control during a volitional impulse, which allow it to be realized:

1. Selective attention. It is aimed at the object that needs to be achieved, while all other elements of the environment are eliminated.
2. Control of emotions. There are some emotions that prevent you from realizing your aspiration, and strong-willed person refuses them.
3. Environmental control. Everything that interferes with achieving the goal is eliminated from the nearest space.

Thus, the will is amazing property a person, without whom, probably, our evolutionary path would have had a completely different trajectory.

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in the academic discipline "General Experimental Psychology"

Psychological theories will

Introduction

1. General concept of will

3. Basic theories of will

Conclusion

Bibliography

Application

Introduction

Will is the ability of an individual to consciously and purposefully regulate and control his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to mobilize mental and physical abilities to overcome difficulties and obstacles that stand in the way of achieving your goal.

Carrying out an act of will, a person acts arbitrarily and without submitting to the actions of external causes.

The will combines three main properties of consciousness: cognition, attitude and experience, being the motivating and administrative forms of their regulation, performing activating or inhibitory functions. Volitional states are manifested in activity - passivity, restraint - lack of restraint, confidence - uncertainty, determination - indecisiveness.

Will is an element of personal consciousness. Therefore, it is not an innate quality, but is formed and developed in the process of personality formation. The development of a person’s will is associated with the transformation of involuntary mental processes into voluntary ones, with a person acquiring control over his behavior, with the development of volitional personality traits into a complex form of activity.

The problem of will, voluntary and volitional regulation of human behavior and activity has long occupied the minds of scientists, causing heated debates and discussions. To date, several scientific directions have emerged that interpret the concept of “will” in different ways. this work is devoted to a review of these theories of will.

Purpose of the work: To characterize psychological theories of will

1. Consider the general concept of will

2. Identify the relationship between the components of will in theories of will

1. General concept of will

Will is present in many acts of human behavior, helping to overcome resistance, as well as other desires and needs on the way to the intended goal. If, for example, a person does not want to drink bitter medicine, but he knows that it is extremely necessary for his health, then, suppressing his reluctance by willpower, he forces himself to systematically carry out the prescribed treatment. Another example: a student wants to go to a disco, but his homework test is not ready for tomorrow. Overcoming a momentary desire with an effort of will, the student forces himself to work, setting the goal of tomorrow's success. We observe the manifestation of will in different situations communication. For example, a person is unpleasant to us, but our further advancement objectively depends on him, therefore, through an effort of will, we restrain our hostility, put on a psychological “mask” suitable for the given situation, and as a result we achieve our goal.

Most often, a person shows his will in the following typical situations:

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

no matter what, it is necessary to purposefully move towards the intended goal;

On the path of a person’s practical activity, internal (fear, uncertainty, doubts) or external (objective circumstances) obstacles arise that must be overcome.

In other words, will (its presence or absence) manifests itself in all situations related to choice and decision-making.

The main functions of the will are:

choice of motives and goals;

regulation of the impulse to act when there is insufficient or excessive motivation;

organization of mental processes into a system that is adequate to the activity performed by a person;

mobilization of physical and mental capabilities in achieving set goals in a situation of overcoming obstacles.

Will as a phenomenon of the human psyche attracted the attention of thinkers back in antiquity. Aristotle introduced the concept of will into the system of categories of the science of the soul in order to explain how human behavior is realized in accordance with knowledge, which in itself is devoid of motivating power. Aristotle's will acted as a factor, along with desire, capable of changing the course of behavior: initiating it, stopping it, changing direction and pace. However, thinkers of antiquity, and later the Middle Ages, did not interpret will in its modern personal understanding. Thus, in antiquity the concept of “will” was absorbed by the concept of “logic”. According to Aristotle, for example, any action follows primarily from a logical conclusion.

During the Middle Ages, there was a ritual of exoris - exorcism of the devil. Man in those days was perceived only as a passive principle, in which the will manifested itself in the form of good and evil spirits. This understanding of will was due to the fact that traditional society actually denied independent behavior. S.I. Rogov notes that the personality appears in him only as a genus, as a program according to which the ancestors lived. The right to deviate was recognized only for certain members of society, for example, a shaman - a person who communicates with the spirits of ancestors; a blacksmith - a person who has the power of fire and metal; robber - a criminal man who opposed himself to a given society.

The concept of will seems to be revived in modern times along with the emergence of the concept of personality, one of the main values of which is free will. A new worldview is emerging - existentialism, the “philosophy of existence”, according to which freedom is absolute, free will. M. Heidegger, K. Jaspers, J.-P. Sartre and A. Camus believed that any person is essentially self-willed and irresponsible, and any social norms are a suppression of human essence.

In Russia, an interesting interpretation of will was presented by I.P. Pavlov, considering will as an “instinct” (reflex) of freedom. As an instinct of freedom, will is no less a stimulus for behavior than the instincts of hunger or danger.

Much controversy has arisen and is arising on the issue of the conscious or unconscious origin of the concept of “will”.

Psychoanalytic psychology represented the human will as a kind of energy of human actions. Proponents of psychoanalysis believed that human actions are controlled by a certain biological energy of a person, converted into mental energy. Freud identified this energy with the psychosexual energy of sexual desire - the unconscious libido, thereby explaining human behavior first by the “cultivated” manifestations of this life-affirming force (Eros), and then by its struggle with a person’s equally subconscious craving for death (Thantos).

The theological interpretation of will is that will is identified with the divine principle in the world: God is the exclusive owner of free will, endowing it with people at his own discretion.

Materialists interpret will as a side of the psyche that has a material basis in the form of nervous brain processes. Volitional or voluntary actions develop on the basis of involuntary movements and actions. The simplest of involuntary actions are reflex ones. This type also includes impulsive actions, unconscious, not subordinate to the general goal of the reaction. In contrast to involuntary actions, a person’s conscious actions are aimed at achieving his goal, which is characteristic of volitional behavior.

The material basis of voluntary movements is the activity of giant pyramidal cells located in one of the layers of the cerebral cortex in the region of the anterior central gyrus. Impulses for movement are generated in these cells. Scientists came to this conclusion by studying the causes of abulia (painful lack of will), which develops on the basis of brain pathology and appraxia (impaired voluntary regulation of movements and actions that make it impossible to carry out a volitional act), resulting from damage to the frontal lobes of the brain.

The doctrine of the second signaling system I.P. Pavlova significantly supplemented the materialistic concept, proving the conditioned reflex essence of will.

Modern studies of will in psychology are conducted in different ways. scientific directions: in behaviorist-oriented science, certain forms of behavior are studied; in the psychology of motivation, the focus is on intrapersonal conflicts and ways to overcome them; in personality psychology, the main attention is focused on the identification and study of relevant volitional characteristics personality. At the same time, modern psychology strives to give the science of will an integrative character.

2. General characteristics of volitional actions

Any human activity is always accompanied by specific actions, which can be divided into two large groups: voluntary and involuntary. The main difference between voluntary actions is that they are carried out under the control of consciousness and require certain efforts on the part of the person aimed at achieving a consciously set song. For example, let’s imagine a sick person who with difficulty takes a glass of water in his hand, brings it to his mouth, tilts it, makes movements with his mouth, that is, performs a whole series of actions united by one goal - to quench his thirst. All individual actions, thanks to the efforts of consciousness aimed at regulating behavior, merge into one whole, and the person drinks water. These efforts are often called volitional regulation, or will.

Voluntary or volitional actions develop on the basis of involuntary movements and actions. The simplest of involuntary movements are reflex ones: constriction and dilation of the pupil, blinking, swallowing, sneezing, etc. Our expressive movements are usually involuntary in nature.

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

In contrast to involuntary actions, conscious actions, which are more characteristic of human behavior, are aimed at achieving a set goal. It is the consciousness of actions that characterizes volitional behavior. Volitional actions differ from each other primarily in the level of their complexity.

One more the most important feature volitional behavior is its connection with overcoming obstacles, regardless of what type these obstacles are - internal or external. Internal, or subjective, obstacles are a person’s motivations aimed at failing to fulfill of this action or to perform actions opposite to it.

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

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

Will implies the presence of a person’s sense of purpose, which requires certain thought processes. The manifestation of thinking is expressed in the conscious choice of a goal and the selection of means to achieve it. Thinking is also necessary during the execution of a planned action. Carrying out our intended action, we encounter many difficulties. Without the participation of thinking, volitional actions would be devoid of consciousness, that is, they would cease to be volitional actions.

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

3. Basic theories of will

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of the first natural scientific interpretations of will belongs to I.P. Pavlov, who viewed it as an “instinct of freedom,” as a manifestation of the activity of a living organism when it encounters obstacles that limit this activity. According to I.P. Pavlov, will as an “instinct of freedom” is no less a stimulus for behavior than the instincts of hunger and danger. “If it weren’t for him,” he wrote, “every slightest obstacle that an animal would encounter on its way would completely interrupt the course of its life.” For human action, such an obstacle can be not only an external obstacle that limits motor activity, but also the content of his own consciousness, his interests, etc. Thus, the will in the interpretation of I.P. Pavlova is reflexive in nature, i.e. it manifests itself in the form of a response to an influencing stimulus. Therefore, it is no coincidence that this interpretation has found the widest distribution among representatives of behaviorism and received support in reactology (K.N. Kornilov) and reflexology (V.M. Bekhterev). Meanwhile, if we accept this interpretation of the will as true, then we must conclude that the will of a person depends on external conditions, and therefore, the act of will does not fully depend on the person.

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

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

The evolution of these ideas in the concepts of Freud's students and followers is very interesting. For example, K. Lorenz sees the energy of will in the initial aggressiveness of a person. If this aggressiveness is not realized in forms of activity permitted and sanctioned by society, it becomes socially dangerous, since it can result in unmotivated criminal actions. A. Adler, K.G. Jung, K. Horney, E. Fromm associate the manifestation of will with social factors. For Jung, these are universal archetypes of behavior and thinking inherent in every culture; for Adler, these are the desire for power and social dominance, and for Horney and Fromm, the individual’s desire for self-realization in culture.

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

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

Conclusion

In this work, I examined the main psychological theories of will, and also identified the relationship between the components of will in theories of will.

Will plays a decisive role in a person’s life; thanks to it, desires come true. It's not so often that dreams Everyday life are fulfilled by themselves, much more often you need to make an effort, even doing something that you don’t want to do at all. People with a weak will are called weak-willed. One way or another, in everyday life you have to face difficulties and obstacles. They need to be overcome. This requires willful effort.

It is possible to understand what will is only if we can bring together extreme points view, each of which absolutizes one of the mentioned sides of the will: obligation, taken for will, in one case, or freedom of choice, to which the will is reduced, in another case. The above approaches to understanding the essence of will reflect its various aspects, indicate its various functions and do not contradict each other at all. Moreover, understanding the phenomenon of will is possible only on the basis of a synthesis of various theories, based on taking into account the multifunctionality of will as a psychological mechanism that allows a person to consciously control his behavior.

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Annex 1

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Ideas about volitional qualities

Structure and general characteristics of volitional qualities.

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