Classification and methodology for the development of human volitional qualities. Volitional qualities. Psychological portrait of a strong-willed person What does it mean to be a strong-willed person

Will occupies a significant place in a person’s creativity, achievements, behavior and life situations.
Will is the ability to choose an activity and to make internal efforts to implement it.
If you get acquainted with the biographies of great people, you can almost always see that they had enormous willpower, the ability to set certain goals and achieve them. They demonstrated the ability to work continuously, the ability to spend months, years, decades to achieve their intended goal, and tirelessly search for ways to achieve it.
All brilliant people were distinguished by their ardent love and passion for their work, A, S. Pushkin - poetry, I.P. Pavlov - to science, K.E. Tsiolkovsky - to the study of interplanetary space flights.
Let's look at the concept of "Will"
“Will is a mental process of conscious control and regulation of one’s behavior, ensuring overcoming difficulties and obstacles on the path to the goal” (P.I. Sidorov, A.V. Parnyakov “Clinical Psychology”, p. 234).
James W. wrote: “Desire, desire, will are states of consciousness familiar to everyone, but not amenable to any definition. We want to experience, have, do all sorts of things that we are not currently experiencing, having, or doing. If with the desire for something we are associated with the awareness that the object of our desires is unattainable, then we simply desire; if we are sure that the goal of our desires is achievable, we want it to come true, and it comes true either immediately or after we take some preliminary actions” (James W. Psychology, p. 272).
P.I. Sidorov, A.V. Parnyakov in the book “Clinical Psychology” note: “A person’s will certainly manifests itself in his external or internal (mental, psychic) ​​actions, i.e. in the applied muscular and nervous tension to achieve the goal. All volitional actions are purposeful and coordinated with each other. The more obstacles and the stronger a person’s desire to achieve a goal, the more muscle and nervous tension the willpower requires.
Lower levels of will, such as voluntary movement or inhibition of impulsive action, are already distinguished in animals, but developed will is a specifically human function. It is a social neoplasm of the psyche that arose and is formed in the process of human labor activity. Emphasizing its social essence I.M. Sechenov wrote: “The will has the power to use in each case not only the form of movement that corresponds to it, but any of all that are generally known to man. I want to cry, but I can sing funny songs, dance; I am pulled to the right, but I move on. Will is not some kind of impersonal agent that has only movement, it is also the active side of reason and moral feeling, controlling movement in the name of one thing or another and often contrary to the sense of self-preservation... This is a clearly realized possibility, expressed in the words “I want and will do “and there is that impregnable citadel in which the ordinary teaching about arbitrariness sits.” Lack of will frightens a person and does not leave him with the humiliating feeling that someone broke his will and led him on a string.
"Will:
1. The ability to fulfill one’s desires and goals;
2. Conscious desire to accomplish something;
3.Wish, requirement;
4. Authority, the ability to control;
5.Freedom in the manifestation of something;
6. Free state (not locked up, not in prison).

Lack of will is weakness of character, lack of willpower.

Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949-1992.

Synonyms:

Abulia, weak-willedness, spinelessness, spinelessness, softness, Oblomovism, lack of fortitude, lack of fortitude, weak-willedness, faint-heartedness, weakness, weakness of will, weak-willedness, slobberiness, rags, flimsiness.

A strong-willed person acts as he wants, and a weak-willed person acts as he wants. It is unlikely that he will achieve much for whom the main words are “I want - I don’t want.”

What is a “strong-willed person”?
To find out the answer to this question, you should turn to the concepts of volitional regulation and willpower.
Volitional regulation is a particular type of voluntary control and is characterized by the use of significant volitional efforts aimed at overcoming obstacles and difficulties, i.e. serves as a mechanism of self-mobilization.
Willpower is a person’s ability to force himself to do something, that is, to independently demonstrate volitional activity.
Volitional activity is determined by the strength of the motive, an increase in the energy of the action, a change in the meaning of the action, i.e. the significance of a particular need and goal, under the influence of emotions, self-stimulation. It is important that volitional activity does not develop into self-confidence, that is, it is at the optimal level of confidence as a criterion for predicting success and the adequacy of the difficulties of the upcoming activity.
For volitional activity, determination, decisiveness and restraint in the behavior of a subject subject to reasonable control are also important.
Determination and decisiveness as volitional qualities are a peculiar feeling for all volitional acts and are reduced to the number of stimulating and accompanying emotional and intellectual abilities of a person.
On this occasion K.E. Kornilov noted that feelings are one of the stimuli of the will, but it is completely wrong to reduce volitional activity only to experienced feelings, and intellect alone does not always influence the will.

Volitional actions and actions - active “volition”
All actions and deeds that are not performed according to internal desire. And out of necessity they are called manifestations of the will. Volitional actions are often associated with overcoming various life obstacles and difficulties. Volitional actions and actions differ from voluntary actions in that with voluntary actions and actions the subject has a need and desire for activity with an interest in its implementation.
Involuntary actions are committed as a result of the emergence of unconscious impulses - in a state of passion (amazement, fear, delight, anger).
Voluntary actions presuppose conscious goals that require overcoming difficulties and obstacles. We need to remember that there are automatic movements. Which occur without the participation of consciousness. merged into a single act of movement - these are skills.

There are also a number of personal qualities that are designated as volitional: perseverance, endurance, determination, patience, endurance, etc.
An act of will has stages:
1. The emergence of an impulse to action and preliminary goal setting. The goal is related to the motivational side of the action. At this stage, the sufficiency of the motivating force to carry out the action or deed is determined.
2. Discussion and struggle of motives. At this stage, a motivational conflict and a moment of internal choice may be revealed.
3. Making a decision about an action or deed. This is the stage of choosing from specific alternatives. At this stage, the formation of the personal meaning of the action can occur and thereby the action receives sufficient motivation for its implementation. Let us also note that at this stage the impulse receives a different direction as an intention possessing sufficient strength to carry out the action.
4. Execution of the decision made and actions to commit the act. It is characterized by the complete subordination of specific actions based on this goal. Volitional regulation acts as a control over the implementation of activities and actions.
E.P. Ilyin in the book “Psychology of Will” writes: “There are no “generally” weak-willed people and “generally” strong-willed people; Every person is strong-willed in some ways, but weak-willed in others.<..>The only “negative” manifestation of will—stubbornness—is more likely to characterize a personality (for example, its selfishness) than the stubbornness hidden behind it” (pp. 221-222).
In people with mental disorders, there is a violation of the will: mild (stigmas or radicals); average (accentuation), pronounced (borderline); deep (psychotic).
Stigma is a sign, a stain, a characteristic feature of a mood disorder or a genetic disorder. Stigmas determine a person’s propensity for a given type of psychological disorder.
Accentuation – sharpening, protruding characterological qualities. It manifests itself in situations addressed to one or another character trait, providing an adaptive state or, on the contrary, violating adaptability.
Borderline disorder is a personality change in which the individual constantly lives on the border between normal functioning and actual mental pathology.
R. Carson, J. Butcher, S. Mineka in the book “Abnormal Psychology” write:
“Violation of will in schizophrenics.
In schizophrenics, goal-directed activity is almost always impaired. They are also characterized by disturbances in the area of ​​daily functioning6 work. Social relations. Self-care. As a result, a person ceases to be like himself. …previously developed standards for performing daily duties are violated. For example, a person may cease to maintain minimal standards of personal hygiene or demonstrate a profound disregard for personal safety and health” (p. 770).
With mild disorders, weak will is observed. With average violations, there are no plans to do much. With pronounced violations of will, a person does not complete anything. With deep violations of will, a person does not strive for anything, he experiences lack of will and apathy.

Hello, dear readers! I have one friend who decided to leave construction and become a writer. Not only the richness of the language, but even the level of its literacy has always left much to be desired. And yet, he managed to publish his own book, gain some authority in this field, and even achieve success in this industry.

Strong-willed character is a skill despite real difficulties and obstacles. Perhaps he is doing something completely wrong. However, he enjoys the process and makes a significant profit from each copy sold, which sell like hotcakes.

Today we will talk about strong-willed character. How do these qualities help in life, is it possible to develop it, and will we learn in more detail about this trait in general.

What kind of person is this

Most people set various goals for themselves, but do not go further than talking about their own. Willpower is what distinguishes a strong person who achieves results. Ignoring difficulties, sometimes even logic and reason, a strong-willed person goes to implement the tasks that he has set for himself.

If a door is closed somewhere, he will try to find a window, dig a hole, or rebuild the entire building to get inside. Most people cope with a single difficulty, but each subsequent one will destroy, reduce the degree of desire and reinforce the feeling.

A strong-willed person has character traits that do not allow him to stray from his chosen path. If you want to create a new image and become strong-willed, I can recommend you a training book Vasily Ralko “Willpower 2.0”.

How to understand that there are prerequisites

How do you understand that you have the potential to become a person? Firstly, it will be easier to understand which ones need to be developed, and, secondly, it will give. You may realize that you won't have to work so hard.

The first sign is independence. You don't need other people to get results. No, of course, we live in society and depend on others. However, independence presupposes that you are able to find the right person who will be ready to help you and perform the functions assigned to him, regardless of his desire.

Next comes resilience and self-control. Obstacles do not drive you crazy; you are calm even at the moment when everything goes against your will. You don't get too upset and these emotions don't throw you off balance, they don't slow down your future activities and they certainly don't paralyze you.

– also the quality of a strong-willed person. Don't care about other people's opinions. You are doing the right thing, professionally, better than anyone else. No one can convince you otherwise.

Initiative, commitment, discipline force you to act. You don’t need additional motivation; regardless of laziness, you can organize your work, think through a plan and strictly follow it.

Things don’t always happen quickly; sometimes patience is needed to achieve results. It didn’t work out this year, so we have to continue. This is the only thought that helps me get up in the morning every day.

If you have found at least one of the above qualities in yourself, it means that you have already to a small extent completed the plan for creating your new character. I hope it helps sort out everyone else. I can recommend you a book Kelly McGonigal "Willpower" How to develop and strengthen" to make the rest of the work much easier to handle.

I hope you have enough persistence. Don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter to know more about yourself and stay motivated in creating your new self. See you again and good luck in your endeavors.

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

Will is a mental function that literally permeates all aspects of human life. The content of a volitional action usually has three main features:

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

Functions of the will

Thus, volitional processes perform three main functions:

• initiating, or incentive, ensuring the beginning of one or another action in order to overcome emerging obstacles;
• stabilizing associated with volitional efforts to maintain activity at the proper level when external and internal interference occurs;
• brake, which consists of restraining other, often strong desires that are not consistent with the main goals of the activity.

Volitional act

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

The structure of a volitional act has the following main components:

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

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

A person’s personality and its main features are clearly revealed.

Will manifests itself in such personality traits as:

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

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

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

Independence manifests itself in the ability to take actions and make decisions based on internal motivation and one’s knowledge, skills and abilities. A person who is not independent is focused on subordinating to another, shifting responsibility onto him for his actions.

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

Endurance and self-control there is the ability to control oneself, one’s actions and the external manifestation of emotions, to constantly control them, even in the event of failures and major setbacks. The opposite of self-control is the inability to restrain oneself, which is caused by the lack of special education and self-education.

Perseverance is expressed in the ability to achieve a goal, overcoming difficulties on the way to achieving it. A persistent person does not deviate from his decision, and in case of failure he acts with renewed energy. A person lacking persistence retreats from his decision at the first failure.

Discipline means conscious subordination of one’s behavior to certain norms and requirements. Discipline comes in different forms in both behavior and thinking, and is the opposite of indiscipline.

Courage and courage are manifested in the readiness and ability to fight, overcome difficulties and dangers on the way to achieving a goal, and in the readiness to defend one’s position in life. The opposite quality to courage is cowardice, which is usually caused by fear.

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

Willpower and volitional regulation

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

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

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

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

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

The works of the Soviet psychologist D.N. played an important role in the study of will. Uznadze and his schools of attitude theory.

The problem of cultivating the will is also of great importance for pedagogy, and therefore various methods are being developed that aim to train the ability to maintain the efforts necessary to achieve a goal. Will is closely related to a person’s character and plays a significant role in the process of its formation and restructuring. According to a common point of view, character is the same basis for volitional processes as intellect is the basis for thought processes, and temperament is the basis for emotional ones.

Like other types of mental activity, will - reflexive process based on physiological basis and type of occurrence.

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

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. Fine in Ancient Greece, two points of view on the understanding of will emerged: affective and intellectualistic.

Plato understood will as a certain ability of the soul that determines and motivates human activity.

Aristotle connected will with reason. He used this term to designate a certain class of human actions and actions, namely those that are determined not by needs, desires, but by an understanding of necessity, necessity, i.e. conscious actions and actions or aspirations mediated by reflection. Aristotle spoke about voluntary movements in order to separate them from involuntary ones, carried out without reflection. He classified as voluntary actions those about which “We took counsel with ourselves beforehand.”

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

Subsequently, intensive development of ideas about will began only in the 17th century. and continues in the 18th-19th centuries, in modern times, marked by the rapid development of natural science and psychological knowledge. These ideas can be divided into three directions, which in modern psychology are presented as motivational and regulatory approaches, as well as the “free choice” approach.

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

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

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

"Free choice" approach. For the first time, the question of spontaneous, undetermined free choice of behavior was raised by the ancient philosopher Epicurus. This later led to the identification of the problem of free will.

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

Those took a different position. who viewed the will not as an independent force, but as the ability of the mind to make decisions (make choices). In this case, choice was either the main function of the will, or only one of the moments of volitional action (B. Spinoza. I. Kant. V. Frankl, etc.).

The practical side of consciousness is expressed in will as a synthetic characteristic of personality, its systemic property. One cannot but agree with those who believe: there is a will - there is a person, there is no will - there is no person, as much will as there is a person.

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

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

The basis of volitional behavior, driven by higher feelings, thus lies in the social norms internalized by the individual. A person’s code of norms, which determines what line of behavior he will choose in a particular situation, is one of the most eloquent characteristics of a person, especially from the point of view of the degree to which he takes into account (or ignores) the rights, legitimate claims and aspirations of other people.

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

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

The volitional components included in the regulation of integral acts of activity are closely intertwined with a person’s emotions and the level of his orientation in the environment. This can be traced in any manifestation of activity. Thus, the more perfect and adequate the indicative activity is to the problem being solved, the higher, other things being equal, the higher the organization and its direct consequence - the efficiency of activity. The peculiarities of the connection between volitional manifestations and the nature of a person’s awareness of reality and his own activity are recorded in such volitional properties of the individual as the criticality of the will, its adherence to principles, etc.

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

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

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

Volitional actions— consciously controlled actions aimed at overcoming difficulties and obstacles in achieving set goals.

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

• Conscious mediation.
• Mediation by the internal intellectual plane.
• Relationship with the “should” motive.
• Connection with other mental processes: attention, memory. thinking, emotions, etc.

• Increasing the efficiency of related activities.
• Volitional reflation 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.
• Regulation of basic mental functions: perception, memory, thinking, etc. The development of these cognitive processes from lower to higher means that a person acquires volitional control over them.

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

• Overestimation of the significance of the motive.
• Attracting additional motives.
• Anticipating and experiencing subsequent events/actions.
• Actualization of the motive (through the imagination of the situation).
• Through the motivational and semantic sphere.
• Strong worldview and beliefs.

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

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

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

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

G. Munsterberg, noting, for example, the role of attention and imagination in the formation of voluntary actions, writes that a child’s weak will is his inability to maintain attention on a goal for a long time.

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

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

Of great importance for the formation of the volitional sphere of a child’s personality is not only the presentation of requirements to him, verbalized in the words “must” and “impossible,” but also control over the fulfillment of these requirements. If an adult says “you can’t” and the child continues to perform the prohibited action, if after the words “you need to put away the toys” the child runs away and failure to comply with the requirements remains without consequences for him, the necessary stereotype of volitional behavior is not developed.

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

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

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

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

Self-education of will

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

Many psychologists understand an act of will as a complex functional system (Fig. 14).

So. also G.I. Chelpanov identified three elements in a volitional act: desire, desire and effort.

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

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

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

Self-determination (motivation)

Determination is the conditioning of human and animal behavior by some reason. The involuntary behavior of animals, like the involuntary reactions of humans, is determined, i.e. caused by some reason (most often - an external signal, irritant). With voluntary behavior, the final cause of an action lies in the person himself. It is he who makes the decision to react or not to this or that external or internal signal. However, decision-making (self-determination) in many cases is a complex mental process called motivation.

Rice. 14. Structure of a volitional act

Motivation - This is the process of forming and justifying the intention to do or not do something. The formed basis for one’s action is called a motive. To understand a person’s action, we often ask the question: what motive was the person guided by when committing this act?

Formation of motive(the basis of an action, an act) goes through a number of stages: the formation of an individual’s need, the choice of a means and method of satisfying the need, making a decision and forming the intention to perform an action or deed.

Self-mobilization. This is the second function of the will. Self-initiation is associated with initiating an action to achieve a goal. The launch is carried out through a volitional impulse, i.e. a command given to oneself using internal speech - words or exclamations spoken to oneself.

Self-control

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

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

Self-mobilization (manifestation of willpower)

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

Volitional regulation is determined by the strength of the motive (therefore, will is often replaced by motives: if I want, then I do it; however, this formula is not suitable for cases when a person really wants, but does not do, and when he really does not want, but still does). There is no doubt, however, that in any case the strength of the motive also determines the degree of manifestation of volitional effort: if I really want to achieve a goal, then I will demonstrate a more intense and longer volitional effort; the same with prohibition, the manifestation of the inhibitory function of the will: the more one wants, the greater the volitional effort one must make in order to restrain one’s desire aimed at satisfying the need.

Volitional qualities are features of volitional regulation that have become personality traits and manifest themselves in specific specific situations determined by the nature of the difficulty being overcome.

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

Consequently, a person can be timid, indecisive, and impatient not because he does not want to show willpower, but because, in order to manifest it, he has less genetically determined capabilities (fewer innate inclinations).

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

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

A variety of mental characteristics are manifested in human behavior and activity. Some of them are not significant and do not affect human behavior and activity. Others are significant in a certain respect, but do not matter for all human behavior (for example, features of perception, attention, memory, etc.).

In the human psyche there is also a set of stable essential properties that manifests itself in all types of activity.

Character- general methods of interaction with the environment acquired in specific social conditions, constituting the type of its life activity.

Translated from Greek, the word “character” means “to draw”, “to leave an imprint”, and in a figurative meaning - clearly expressed general traits of behavior.

The unique character of each person is determined by:

• • its orientation (stable sphere of personality) and
  • features of the activity - volitional qualities.

Motivational sphere of personality

This sphere of personality combines the dominant needs, feelings, attitudes, drives, interests, desires, ideals, beliefs and worldview of a given individual.

A broad system of views, ideas and concepts about the surrounding reality, knowledge of its basic interrelations represents the highest motivational and guiding basis for a person’s behavior - his worldview. The peculiarities of worldview as the most important characterological property of a person are the degree of its awareness, integrity and scientific character. A developed worldview is an indicator of personality maturity.

Associated with the worldview is the formation of a belief system - a stable motivational formation in which knowledge is synthesized with feelings, with deep faith in them.

Beliefs- this is knowledge that has become the principle of activity.

A person’s relationships are formed on the basis of his knowledge, ideas, and life experience. Thus, the experience of an individual, the system of his knowledge, are the most important substructure of character.

Features of the activity

Another substructure of character is a variety of generalized skills of behavior and activity.

Many forms of personal behavior are habitual and stereotypical - expressive movements, manners, memorized phrases. Habits, as a rule, are formed spontaneously. Initially, certain actions are prompted by some reasons, and then these actions are performed spontaneously, due to the formed need for them. Negative habits in some cases are associated with immoral behavior of the individual.

Traits and character types

Character is an individual-typological combination of value orientations and regulatory characteristics of the individual.

There are:

1. 1. character traits - expressed in certain general characteristics of behavior;
   2. character type - expressed in general ways of interacting with the environment.

Character traits

Diverse character traits are combined into the following groups:

• • strong-willed;
  • emotional;
  • intellectual.

Strong-willed character traits

Strong-willed character traits - these are stable individual-typological features of conscious, conceptually mediated regulation of activity and behavior. These include:

1. 1. focus,
   2. independence,
   3. determination,
   4. perseverance, etc.

Focus- the ability to bring to the fore those motives of behavior that are associated with the basic principles and goals of the individual.

Independence- the ability to subordinate behavior to one’s own views, principles and beliefs, this is relative independence from the diversity of demands of various small groups; critical evaluation of advice and directions.

Decisiveness is the ability in difficult, conflicting circumstances to make a well-founded, sustainable decision in a timely manner and carry it out.

Perseverance is the ability to achieve a set goal through overcoming significant difficulties, endurance to moral and physical stress, a persistent attitude towards failures and even defeats, a persistent search for new means of achieving a previously set goal.

Endurance and self-control- the ability to control your behavior in difficult conflict conditions, the ability to refrain from unnecessary actions, restrain your emotions and feelings, avoid impulsive actions, regulate your mood, not lose your presence of mind in difficult and even dangerous situations, endure hardships, failures, and physical suffering. .

Courage is the ability to maintain self-control in dangerous situations, the willingness and ability to achieve goals despite danger,

Courage is the ability to show courage in extremely life-threatening conditions, readiness to self-sacrifice in order to achieve high goals.

Discipline- the ability to subordinate behavior to rules, norms, and requirements of society as a whole and individual social groups; the ability to exert great effort to best meet these requirements.

Emotional Traits

Emotional Traits - these are stable individual-typological features of direct, spontaneous regulation of behavior.

Natures differ in emotional qualities:

• • emotionally impressionable (increased emotional reactivity);
  • sentimental (increased passive-contemplative emotionality);
  • passionate, expressive (increased emotionality associated with stormy, rapid activity);
  • low-emotional (emotions do not play a significant role in activity).

The most important emotional feature is the prevailing mood of a person, his emotional stability,

Along with emotions, personality traits are determined by the characteristics of feelings. The breadth and depth of stable feelings, their effectiveness and harmonious combination with the intellectual and volitional sphere is the most important characterological feature of a person.

Intellectual character traits

Intellectual character traits - these are stable individual-typological characteristics of mental abilities.

Intellectual qualities distinguish between people with a theoretical or practical mindset, with varying degrees of flexibility and depth of intellect, the speed of thought processes, and with varying abilities to creatively transform elements of experience; to independence in posing and solving new problems.

Qualities characterizing the intellectual make-up of a person:

1. 1. mental productivity, its originality, clarity and others, that is, general intellectual talent;
   2. mastery of generalized ways of thinking, and
   3. stable intellectual orientation personality - curiosity, prudence, thoughtfulness, etc.

In the diversity of characters, we can highlight what comes to the fore for a given individual:

1. 1. predisposition to rational activity, thoughtfulness, prudence, accuracy, developed sense of duty and pride;
   2. the predominance of the volitional side of the psyche, manifested in an increased ability to control oneself in difficult life situations or in increased activity;
   3. lack of initiative, susceptibility to suggestion, instability of relationships, predominance of vital, organic needs and related drives;
   4. emotional impulsiveness, expressiveness, increased mobility of emotions, desires and aspirations at an average level of development;
   5. increased emotional sensitivity, impressiveness, accompanied by signs of weakness of will, decreased adaptation to changing conditions;
   6. increased expansiveness, desire for positive emotional situations, carefreeness, increased sociability and speech activity;
   7. increased external activity on an insufficiently formed motivational-guiding basis, inflexibility of behavior, instability of decisions made and inability to make long-term volitional efforts.

The above features are, of course, schematized. In some people they are very pronounced, in others they are less pronounced, and in many they are presented in various combinations.

Character types

1. 1. Harmonically integral type, highly adaptable to different situations. This type of character is distinguished by the stability of relationships and at the same time high adaptability to the environment. A person with this type of character has no internal conflicts; his desires coincide with what he does. He is a sociable, strong-willed, principled person.
   2. Internal conflict type, but externally consistent with the environment. This type of character is characterized by inconsistency between internal motivations and external behavior, which, in accordance with the requirements of the environment, is carried out with great tension. A person with this type of character is prone to impulsive actions, but these actions are constantly restrained by volitional efforts. The system of his relationships is stable, his communicative properties are quite developed.
   3. Conflict type with reduced adaptation. This type of character is characterized by conflict between emotional impulses and social responsibilities, impulsiveness, a predominance of negative emotions, and underdeveloped communicative properties.
   4. Variable type, adapting to any conditions as a result of instability of positions, unprincipledness. This type of character indicates a low level of personality development, the absence of a stable general way of behavior.

So, character is a general regulatory feature of a person, which is formed in appropriate living conditions. The basis of character education is a system of influences on the orientation of the individual and the corresponding organization of the ways of human life.

A person’s character is formed gradually, in the process of active, systematic activity. However, significant changes in character sometimes occur abruptly, as a result of mental shocks, in a difficult conflict situation. Character is especially clearly demonstrated in critical circumstances.