One of the most important personality traits is the ability to consciously regulate behavior, that is, will. It is she who gives us the opportunity to go towards the intended goal, overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It also forces us to restrain violent, unbridled impulses and drive wild primal instincts deep into the subconscious. Will is what makes a person the master of his own destiny, and at the same time, will is one of the most complex mental phenomena that have gone a long way of evolution.
What is will
This human quality has attracted the attention of philosophers and psychologists for more than one hundred years, they argue about it, they try to prove the independence of a person’s will from higher forces and find ways that would help control volitional processes. But so far, the volitional sphere has been much less studied than the cognitive and emotional.
Any human activity – both external and internal – has two types: involuntary and voluntary.
- An involuntary, spontaneous, impulsive type of activity is controlled mainly by reflexes – the mental reactions of our body to external influences or internal changes. This type of activity includes, for example, involuntary attention when a person turns to the sound of a slamming door or a flash of light. Involuntary or impulsive behavior also includes abrupt withdrawal of the hand from a hot frying pan or crying of an offended child.
- The second type, or the highest level of activity, which in this case is called activity, is of an arbitrary nature. This means that performing actions requires volitional efforts, that is, a conscious effort to overcome external obstacles or internal resistance: weakness, doubt, indecision, cowardice, laziness, etc. Sometimes these efforts can be insignificant and even invisible to the person himself. For example, in order to lie down on the sofa to rest, serious volitional efforts are not required. And if for this it is necessary to break away from an interesting business, to interrupt communication on the Internet, because it is already late and it is time to sleep? Then, apparently, it will take some effort. And in other cases, you have to overcome serious internal resistance, making a difficult decision in a situation of difficult choice.
Voluntary or volitional behavior, as well as the will itself, is not an innate ability of a person. Until the age of 5-6, involuntary activity prevails in a child, but gradually his ability to consciously regulate his behavior develops, and the will becomes an important part of life.
Volitional actions, their types and structure
Will is related to the needs of the individual. In fact, it is precisely the needs that prompt a person to make efforts to satisfy them, that is, to perform volitional actions. In this case, the concept of “action” includes the refusal to commit an act, since it sometimes requires even more significant volitional efforts than its commission.
Types of volitional actions
All volitional actions are divided:
- for simple;
- complex.
Simple volitional actions presuppose the purposeful activity of a person who clearly understands both his goal and the way to achieve it. The main difference between a simple volitional action is the absence of doubts, reflections, the absence of conflicting desires and struggle of motives. From the point of view of volitional efforts, the commission of such an action can be completely difficult, but hesitation and indecision are still absent in it. For example, when a person, without hesitation, rushes into the water to save a drowning child.
In a complex volitional action, we see a certain conflict of a person with himself, for the resolution of which efforts are also required. The main reason for this internal conflict is the clash between the understanding of the need to achieve the goal and the unwillingness to make efforts for this.
One of the most difficult psychological situations arises – a situation of a struggle of motives, when some desires push the individual to achieve the goal, while others prevent it. For example, a person is not satisfied with his work: they pay little, ask a lot, and the boss finds fault with him. That is, it is logical to change the field of activity, but a person does not dare to do this, since he needs to make efforts and look for a new job, part with an unloved, but usual thing, etc.
And complex volitional actions arise in a situation of choosing ways to achieve a goal. For example, when there is an easy, but not too honest way and quite honest, but much more difficult.
The structure of volitional action
Complex volitional actions have their own structure and consist of several stages:
- Acceptance of the goal and awareness of the need to achieve it. A person simultaneously has many different desires and needs. It is unrealistic to satisfy them all, so the choice of one, the most important desire at the moment, is the acceptance of the goal. And even at the first stage, a struggle of motives may arise, not only associated with the problem of choice, but also with the assessment of the significance of the goal. In this case, we often ask ourselves the question: “Do I really need this?”
- Reflecting on the possibility of achieving the goal and realizing the different ways and means. At this stage, an assessment of one’s own resources and capabilities takes place, as well as an analysis of the correspondence of the chosen means to beliefs and values.
- Making the final choice in a situation of struggle of motives. This is a key stage in a complex volitional action that requires maximum tension. At this stage, the willpower of a person is clearly manifested, because the easy path is not always moral. And at this stage it is not too late to give up the act altogether.
- Decision-making. The person, having made the final choice, feels relief, the tension subsides. The feeling of being freed from the heavy burden of making a difficult decision gives the individual the opportunity to plan for achieving a goal.
- Execution of the solution. The last stage of volitional action also often requires very significant efforts. It happens that a person, faced with difficulties, begins to regret the decision. And in this case, too, only the will saves, which supports activity.
A feature of volitional actions is that they have a double result. First, in fact, the achievement of the goal, success. Secondly, a person’s awareness of their strengths, capabilities, drawing lessons for the future. Successful volitional actions, especially those requiring serious efforts, increase a person’s self-esteem and give him strength for future achievements.
Will functions
Manifesting in all spheres of human life, the will performs 3 main functions: incentive, stabilizing and inhibitory or restraining.
- The incentive function is manifested in the activation of human activity. Will encourages a person to overcome obstacles, including internal conflicts, weaknesses, indecision, and go towards the set goal, achieving success. Volitional efforts require serious exertion of all forces, but they are only the tip of the iceberg. Decision making is often much more difficult.
- The stabilizing function is to keep a person active. Even having made a decision and starting to move towards the goal, you can stop halfway, turn back, frightened of the difficulties and required sacrifices. Will helps to maintain a high level of activity, despite fatigue, fear, pain and banal laziness.
- The deterrent function is no less important than the incentive one. In some cases, restraining yourself from doing an act is much more difficult than forcing to do something.
Along with the main three functions, I think one more can be distinguished – educational. Will plays an important role in the development of personality and in the formation of character, such qualities as self-esteem, high self-esteem, purposefulness.
