Will- conscious self-regulation of behavior, manifested in the deliberate mobilization of behavioral activity to achieve goals that the subject perceives as a necessity and opportunity, a person's ability to self-determination, self-mobilization and self-regulation.

Volitional regulation of behavior.

Will is an active function of the mind, a socially mediated mechanism for regulating human behavior - an incentive to volitional actions is performed on the basis of socially formed concepts and ideas. The emergence of will is initially associated with the communication of a child with an adult. As noted by L.S. Vygotsky, at first the adult gives the order ("take the ball", "take the cup") and the child acts in accordance with the external order. As he masters speech, the child begins to give himself verbal commands. So, the function previously divided between people becomes a way of self-organization of the voluntary behavior of an individual.

In contrast to impulsive reactions, volitional behavior is determined by an internal plan of action, a conscious choice of goals and means of activity, taking into account the conditions necessary to achieve the planned result, outstripping reflection of reality. The ability to control one's own behavior is formed in the process of social communication due to the mastery of socially formed signs - concepts ("artificial means of behavior"). Volitional regulation of behavior is associated with the formation of higher mental functions - voluntary attention, memory, productive thinking, creative imagination.

Volitional action- action oriented towards the future, emancipated (as opposed to emotions) from the current situation. “... A person is little by little emancipated in his actions from the direct influences of the material environment; the basis of action is no longer only sensual impulses, but thought and moral feeling; the action itself receives through this a certain meaning and becomes an action. "

Volitional regulation is due to the objective conditions of activity, the natural development of events, a person's understanding of the need for his behavior. In a volitional act, current emotions are suppressed - a person exercises power over himself. And the measure of this power depends both on his consciousness and on the system of his psycho-regulatory qualities.

The most important manifestation of will is the ability of the individual to volitional efforts, prolonged volitional tension. But will is not just about suppressing emotions. The very image of the desired future result is emotionally rich. Will, as a conscious regulation of life, has a specific energetic source - a sense of socially responsible behavior.
A highly moral person, as a rule, has a strong will. But not every strong-willed person is moral. Certain volitional qualities can be inherent in both an altruist and an egoist, a law-abiding person and a criminal. But the higher moral values ​​regulate human behavior, the higher the internal consistency of his behavior and, consequently, his volitional self-regulation.

In cases of desocialization of a person, her individual needs are divorced from the needs of society, the individual becomes a victim of his immediate drives. This behavior becomes tragic - it separates a person from humanity. To be human is to be socially responsible. The further the socially necessary is distant from the actual needs, the more volitional effort is required for its implementation and the more greater importance acquire basic social values, included in the superconsciousness of the individual, which form the semantic context of her behavior.

Each volitional act is accompanied by a certain measure of volitional efforts to overcome external and internal obstacles.

Difficulties in achieving a goal can be objective and subjective. The degree of volitional effort may sometimes not correspond to the objective difficulty. For example, a shy person spends considerable effort speaking in a meeting, while another person does not have a lot of stress. The ability to volitional effort depends to some extent on strength, mobility and balance nervous processes... But basically, this ability depends on the person's formation of the skill of subordinating his behavior to an objective necessity.

The socialized person anticipates and emotionally experiences the assessment of his possible behavior. This affects the self-determination of her behavior. Insufficient development of the anticipatory and evaluative activity of the individual is one of the factors of his maladaptive (not adapted to the environment) behavior.

Volitional activity of the subject, leading to social meaningful results is called act... A person is responsible for his actions, even for those that go beyond his intentions. (Hence, in jurisprudence, there are two forms of guilt - in the form of intent and negligence.)

Persistent and systematic overcoming of difficulties in achieving goals approved by society, completing the work begun at all costs, avoiding the slightest lack of will, irresponsibility - this is the way to form and strengthen the will.

Volitional regulation of activity is a certain dynamics of mental states. In some people, various mental states are more stable, while in others they are less stable. Thus, a steady state of initiative and decisiveness can be combined with a less stable state of perseverance. All volitional states are interconnected with the corresponding volitional qualities of the individual. Long-term experience of being in separate volitional states leads to the formation of the corresponding personality traits, which then themselves affect volitional states.

So, human behavior is not determined by instinctive impulses, but is mediated by the consciousness of the individual, its value orientation. The will of the individual systematically organizes all mental processes of the individual, transforming them into the corresponding volitional states that ensure the achievement of the set goals. Will, as a socially conditioned mental education, is formed in social practice, labor activity, in interaction with people. It is laid down in a systematic social control over socially meaningful behavior personality. Formation of will- this is the transition of external social control to the internal self-control of the individual.

Neurophysiological foundations of will.

I.P. Pavlov noted that volitional actions are the result of the total work of the whole brain. Physiological mechanisms volitional regulation of activity is not localized in any separate structures of the brain. They are complex functional systems... The acceptor ("resolver") of a person's action functions in his conceptual sphere. The neurophysiological basis of will is the systemic work of the entire brain, but the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex are of central importance in this system.

As already noted, three main functional blocks can be distinguished in the composition of the human brain, joint work which underlies conscious activity:

• a block that regulates the tone of the brain, its waking state (reticular formation and other subcortical formations);
• block for receiving, processing and storing information - the main apparatus cognitive processes(posterior and parietal parts of the cortex);
• block of programming, regulation and control of mental activity (frontal lobes of the cortex).

The frontal lobes of the cortex carry out the functions of synthesizing external stimuli, prepare the action, form its program, control the process of performing the action and evaluate its final result. Violation of the frontal lobes of the brain causes disorganization of conscious behavior, pathological lack of will - abulia.

Components of volitional regulation of behavior.

Activity takes place in the form of a system of actions. Action is a structural unit of activity. There are mental, perceptual, mental, mnemonic and external, practical actions. Each action can be highlighted indicative, executive and control part.

Each action is performed to achieve a specific goal. Target- a mental image of the future result of an action or activity in general. The goals of the activity determine the nature and sequence of actions, and the specific conditions of actions determine the nature and sequence of operations. Operation- structural unit of action. In complex activities, individual actions play the role of operations. The purpose of the activity sets it general direction... The specific conditions of activity determine the ways of implementing individual actions, the choice of means and instruments of action.

When starting a certain activity, a person makes a preliminary orientation in the conditions of activity, examines the situation in order to develop a plan of action. At the same time, relations are established between the elements of the situation, their significance, the possibility of combining to achieve the goal.

The system of the individual's ideas about the goal, the order of its achievement and the means necessary for this is called indicative basis for action... The effectiveness of human activity depends on the content of its indicative basis. The success of the activity is provided only by a complete indicative basis, which is specially formed during the training of the individual.

During the implementation of the activity, the subject enters into interaction with the objective world - the objective situation is transformed, certain intermediate results are achieved, the significance of which is subjected to emotional and logical assessment. Each operation in the structure of the action is determined by the conditions of the situation, as well as the skills and abilities of the subject of the activity.

Skill- the method of performing an action mastered by the subject, based on the totality of his knowledge and skills. The skill is realized both in the usual and in the changed conditions of activity.

Skill- a stereotyped way of performing individual actions and operations, formed as a result of repeated repetition and characterized by the curtailment (reduction) of his conscious control.

Perceptual, intellectual, motor skills and behavioral skills differ. Perceptual skills- one-step, stereotyped reflection of the identification signs of well-known objects. Intellectual skills- stereotyped ways of solving problems of a certain class. Motor skills- stereotyped actions, a system of well-oiled movements. Motor skills also include the stereotyped use of familiar tools.

Skills are characterized by varying degrees of generalization - the breadth of their coverage of various situations, flexibility, readiness for quick implementation. Action at the skill level is distinguished by the folding (removal) of some of its regulatory components. Here needs, motives and goals are fused together, and the ways of implementation are stereotyped. Thus, writing skill does not require thinking about how to do it. Due to the fact that many actions are consolidated as skills and are transferred to the fund of automated acts, a person's conscious activity is unloaded and can be directed to solving more complex problems.

Most of the day to day activities are skills. Skill-level action is fast and accurate. As the skill is developed, visual control over the performance of physical movement is weakened. It is replaced by muscle (kinesthetic) control. For example, an experienced typist can type without looking at the keys, while a typist who starts typing is constantly looking for letters with his eyes.

The skill is characterized by a lower expenditure of energy, the unification of individual movements, getting rid of unnecessary movements. But even one skill is not carried out completely automatically. Changes in the habitual environment of actions, the emergence of unforeseen obstacles, the inconsistency of the results obtained with the previously set goal - all this immediately includes a partially automated action in the sphere of conscious control. There is a conscious adjustment of actions. (In investigative practice, there are attempts by the accused to deliberately distort his functional characteristics, which are manifested in various skills - handwriting, gait, etc. In these cases, the corresponding skill is taken by the accused under conscious control. To unmask these techniques, the investigator uses various situations that make it difficult to consciously control the skill - accelerating the pace of dictation of the control text, organizing distracting actions.)

Skills can be specific (skills in computing, solving typical problems, etc.) and general (skills in comparison, generalization, etc.). Previously formed skills make it difficult to form new, related skills - there is an interference of skills (from lat. inter- between and ferens- transferring). It is easier to form a new skill than to remake a previously formed one; hence the difficulties of retraining and re-education. The presence of a skill creates a readiness for a certain action - operational setup.

The neurophysiological basis of skills is a dynamic stereotype- a stable system of conditioned reflex responses to certain triggering stimuli.

In the behavior of a person, his operational-stereotyped behavioral mechanism is fixed, its target and operational settings are formed. All this makes it possible to identify a person by the complex (syndrome) of his behavioral characteristics. (The offender may not leave traces of hands and feet at the scene of the crime, but he will definitely leave his own unique behavioral "imprint" there.)

Each person has inherent conceptual models behavior - preferences in setting goals, predisposition to certain means of action. Some of his actions become a prerequisite for the commission of other actions.

Activity (behavior) of an individual- a stable system of its relationship with the world, based on a conceptual image of the world and a stereotyped behavioral foundation. This fund of behaviors is realized in the form of simple and complex volitional actions.

Classification of volitional actions.

Features simple and complex actions.

All volitional actions are divided into simple and complex.

Simple volitional actions.

Simple volitional actions consist of three structural elements: 1) motive combined with a goal; 2) the execution of the action; 3) evaluation of the result. Simple actions are usually not associated with significant volitional efforts and are implemented mainly in the form of skills.

Each simple action distinguishes between sensory, central, motor, and control-corrective components. You saw the approaching transport from afar and cleared the way for it. All four components can be distinguished in this movement. Perception of transport is a sensory component; the thought that it is dangerous to stand close to the carriageway is a central thinking component; direct movement is the motor, motor component and the assurance that you have moved to a safe area is the control component.

In various movements, one or another of the first three components takes on a leading role. For example, in a biathlete's starting jerk, the motor component is the leading one, and when shooting at a target, when the success of the action depends mainly on visual work, it is the sensory component. When playing chess or writing a formula on a board, despite the presence of sensory and motor components, the central, mental moment of the action is the leading one.

In many movements, sensory and motor components are leading. These movements are called sensorimotor reactions.

They are characterized by coordination-quality and temporal parameters. The speed at which a person can respond to a stimulus is called reaction time(BP). The reaction time depends on: the modality of the stimulus (on visual stimulus VR more than auditory); stimulus intensity (increasing the intensity of the stimulus to a certain limit reduces VR); fitness; attitudes to perform this action; acting bodies ( right hand and the leg responds to the stimulus faster than the left); age and gender; the complexity of the reaction to a complex stimulus.

Motor reactions are divided into simple and complex. Simple reaction- response to a single stimulus with one specific action (for example, pressing a button in response to a red light). Complex reaction associated with the need to make decisions (for example, in the red light - press the button, and with the green light - toggle the toggle switch).

Complex reaction time is calculated by the formula:

VR (ms) - 270 × ln (n + 1), where n is the number of possible alternatives.

The average simple reaction time under favorable conditions is 150-200 msec.

Complex volitional actions.

The above simple actions, operations, skills have a simple structure. These actions, as a rule, are performed in a stereotyped manner. Complex volitional actions have a more detailed structure.

In the structure of a complex volitional act, the stages of goal formation, pre-decision, modeling of significant conditions of activity, programming of performing actions, processing of current information about the achieved intermediate results, current correction of actions and assessment of the final result are essential. Each stage of a complex volitional action is characterized by a specific volitional state, the manifestation of the corresponding volitional qualities of the individual.

Let us consider in more detail each stage of a complex volitional action.

1. Awareness of the possibilities of satisfying an actualized need, the struggle of motives (the stage of pre-decision).

Each need allows different possibilities for its satisfaction. The process of choosing one of these possibilities is the process of forming the goal of the action.

In difficult conditions of behavior, this choice is often accompanied by a clash of conflicting motives - a struggle of motives. The struggle of motives can be short-term and very long, associated with a large expenditure of nervous energy (sometimes very painful). The struggle of motives is the confrontation of various desires. Before desire turns into a goal of activity, a person evaluates, justifies it, weighs all the pros and cons. The struggle of motives is especially intense between personal and socially significant desires, between the arguments of feeling and reason. This tension is heightened if a particularly responsible decision is to be made.

Desires differ in their level, that is, in the degree of social significance, and emotional strength.(The famous hero of Saltykov-Shchedrin could not determine what he wanted more - a constitution or sevryuzhin with horseradish. In this grotesque, the incomparability of desires is subtly noted at various levels.) If from two desires of the same level one becomes stronger, then no struggle of motives occurs.

Doubts and hesitation arise when choosing one of the options in a row of equally strong desires. A volitional effort here is manifested in a person's ability to be guided by his principles, life positions in overcoming emotions in order to achieve a meaningful goal.

In the activities of various people, there is not always a confrontation of motives. Many people are guided by certain, constantly dominant motives. If these motives are socially valuable, then human behavior is socially adapted, that is, adapted to the requirements of the social environment. But some people are guided by motives that do not take into account the requirements of the environment, and their behavior becomes socially unadapted.

Behavioral activity is driven by needs... However, the very needs and desires of a person arise, as a rule, taking into account the possibilities of their realization. The current situation is taken into account, assessed by means of situational motives - motives-incentives.

Human behavior is guided by a complex system of factors, a hierarchy of motives. So, in labor activity, the motives of benefit, satisfaction, convenience, prestige, safety, etc. are manifested. The general orientation of the personality will determine where one or another of these motives will be, what is the strength of the corresponding motive.

In addition to the value criteria of the individual, the strength of the motive can be influenced by the clarity, brightness, emotionality and accessibility of the goal, the skills available to achieve it, the conditions that contribute to its achievement. The strength of the motive, in turn, affects the nature of the action being performed; it can dull attention to obstacles and limitations.

In an effort to achieve a desired goal, people often neglect dangers, take unnecessary risks, overestimate the likelihood of desired events and underestimate the likelihood of undesirable events.

There are two general strategies for human behavior: striving for success or avoiding failure. Anything that contradicts the formed motivation causes a feeling of discomfort - the cognitive dissonance... A person's positions usually seem more correct and fair than the positions of other people. To realize their attitude, people often put forward their defensive motives, sometimes not corresponding to real conditions.

The formulation of a motive does not always accurately reflect in the mind what really prompted a person to act. Sometimes encouraging a person to more accurately understand the motive of his behavior leads him to a critical assessment of his act and to change his behavior.

So, the initial factors of activity are the needs, attitudes, life attitudes of a person, on the basis of which the corresponding motives of activity are formed.

2. Making a decision. From a number of possible goals, the individual chooses the one that is assessed as the most optimal in the given conditions for a given individual.

The choice of behavior can be transitive- reasonable, optimal, taking into account the conditions for the development of events, and non-transitive- suboptimal when not analyzed real opportunities, options for the development of events.

Actions performed without a reasonable calculation, without taking into account the possibilities of implementing plans, are associated with a low intellectual level of the subject, limited operational and long-term memory, significant defects in the motivational and regulatory sphere.

Differ five types of decision making: 1) impulsive - the processes of constructing hypotheses sharply prevail over the processes of control; 2) decision with risk; 3) balanced; 4) Cautious; 5) inert - control processes sharply prevail over the processes of building hypotheses, proceeding uncertainly and slowly.

People with a high level of intelligence are characterized by a predominance of balanced types of decisions and limitation of extreme types (impulsive and inert). V extreme conditions they combine risk with prudence most effectively.

When making decisions, a person strives for maximum success with minimum losses. But people evaluate benefits and losses differently. So, at the risk of damaging his reputation in some business, one person unconditionally rejects this action, another hesitates, the third does not attach importance to this risk.

Operating with the initial data in the decision-making process, a person loads his RAM, the volume of which is very limited. Many people tend to relieve the stress of decision making by simplifying the relationships between inputs.

Decisions often have to be made in conditions of uncertainty, anticipating the course of events. Determining the probability of an event, i.e., the relative frequency of its occurrence, serves as the basis for making a decision in a risky situation.

The probability estimate (if it is not calculated mathematical methods) is subjective. People tend to hope for unlikely favorable events.(for example, the likelihood of winning the lottery), and adverse events of high probability are underestimated (for example, the inevitability of punishment for a crime). It is often mistakenly believed that expected events that did not occur for a long time should happen in the near future.

Subjective assessments are very stable, and the role of intuition is usually overestimated. Relying on intuition, people often make erroneous decisions. (Let's solve at least approximately the following problem. Let's mentally divide Earth in two halves. Further, we will also divide one of the halves into two parts, and so on. How many divisions must be done in order to obtain an atom in the last of them? Hundreds of thousands, millions or billions? We intuitively tend to agree with these astronomical numbers. In reality, only 80 divisions are needed).

When making a decision, people convince themselves of its correctness, exaggerate the merits of the chosen course of action and play down its shortcomings.

All behavioral decisions are associated with the interaction of objective and subjective factors.

Note that there are no standard, correct solutions for all occasions. The correctness of this or that decision depends on the principles on the basis of which it was made, the objective significance of the factors taken into account, their usefulness in a given situation, for a given individual and for society.

The decision made is usually accompanied by a subjective feeling of some relief (since this relieves the tension characteristic of the struggle of motives), a positive emotional experience that activates activity. The decision-making ends with the formation of the goal of the action.

3. Purpose of action, that is, the mental model of his future result, in the future, and acts the backbone of all means of achieving them.

The goal determines the significance of everything that has this or that relation to it, organizes the field of the subject's conscious sphere. Our goals dominate our perception, thinking, and our memory. Only in relation to our goals does this or that impact acquire an informational character.

Goal setting and goal achievement is the main sphere of human conscious activity.

The main goals of life determine the main content of a person's life, his personal meanings and values. In the goals of a person, what he needs is always determined. The objective basis of goal-setting is the contradiction between reality and possibility, between reality and ideal.

Satisfy all the desires of a person, said K.D. Ushinsky, - but take away from him the goal in life and you will see what an unhappy and insignificant creature he will be. Purpose in life is at the core of human dignity and human happiness.

The focus of action on a goal that is significant for a given individual, the achievement of which is associated with the possibility of failure, dangerous consequences, is called risk. In the behavior of people, both fear of risk, avoidance of it, and an increased propensity to take risks are manifested.

4. Awareness of the tasks of the activity and the choice of methods of activity. Following the advancement of the goal of the activity, its tasks are realized, the ways and means of achieving the goal are planned in detail. Human activity takes place under certain conditions and depends on them. Correlation of the goal of the activity with these conditions is the awareness of the tasks of the activity.

The conditions of activity can be specially specified (for example, in a mathematical problem), but in most cases they must be identified as a result of the study of the initial situation. The choice of methods of action is also associated with a more or less significant struggle of motives, for some methods may be available, but contrary to moral norms, others - socially approved, but personally unacceptable.

5. Formation of the program - an indicative basis for action. The approximate basis of action for a person is knowledge, a system of ideas and concepts. A person acts depending on what kind of knowledge he is guided by in the given conditions, what connections and relationships of things he takes into account.

Before performing a physical action with a material object, a person performs these actions in the mind with perfect images of things. Any action is performed as a result of knowledge of the principle of action, establishing a connection between the goal and the methods of achieving it. This knowledge becomes a regulatory, orienting basis for action; forming an indicative basis of action, a person transforms in his mind the initial conditions into a system necessary to achieve the goal.

6. Execution of actions and its current adjustment. Actions are performed in a certain way - an individualized system of operations, generalized actions.

Depending on the level mental development a person, his experience, knowledge and other individual characteristics, each person carries out activities in his characteristic ways.

The ways people act differ in the number of intermediate operations, the unity of individual operations, accuracy and speed of action. Each person develops a stereotype of performing actions - characteristic way use of tools.

Physical actions - movements - have certain mechanical characteristics - trajectory, speed or pace (speed of repetition of cycles) and strength. In many cases, the success of the activity depends on the reaction time (the speed of response to an external signal). So, safety depends on the speed of reaction to danger signals, on the speed of reaction of the goalkeeper - the outcome of a hockey match, on the speed of reaction of the operator at the control panel - trouble-free work.

The reaction time depends on the readiness to respond to the corresponding signal, on the type nervous system, age and gender of a person, his mental state. The reaction time is significantly increased in a conflict and anxious situation.

Distinguish between the time of sensorimotor and verbal-associative reactions. It is more difficult to react with a word than with a movement, therefore, verbal reactions are slowed down (by 0.3 - 0.5 sec).

External action is performed by a system of movements that are controlled on the basis of data entering the brain from different senses - through sensory control. The physical action is performed through continuous muscular and visual control and the implementation of corrective movements. (With closed eyes, actions are performed inaccurately, and if you put prismatic glasses on your eyes, then many actions cannot be performed at all.) Correction of an action is made on the basis of an analysis of intermediate results and changes in the external environment. So, braking the car by pressing the foot on the brake pedal, the driver correlates his movement with the condition of the road, the danger of the current situation, the weight of the car, the quality of tires, etc.

The goal of the actions determines those benchmarks by which they are adjusted. The actually obtained results of all operations are constantly compared with the previously specified dynamic action model... Inaccurate actions are corrected as a result of analyzing the reasons for not achieving the goal. At the same time, it may sometimes turn out that the approximate model of action itself was formed incorrectly. In these situations, the level of critical thinking of the personality is manifested.

Mode of action- a system of techniques, due to both the goal, motives and conditions of action, and mental characteristics character... The mode of action is determined by the orienting, mental and sensory-motor characteristics of the subject and indicates the measure of the individual's mental capabilities.

The method of action manifests the psychophysiological and characterological characteristics of a person, his knowledge and skills, skills and habits, the neurophysiological basis of which is dynamic stereotype... Individualized stereotype of actions and makes it possible to identify a person by the way of action.

The mode of action cannot be reduced only to the automatism of motor skills. In the mode of action, the peculiarities of psychomotor skills are combined with the peculiarities of thinking, memory, life experience, shared abilities and temperament. Such a complex combination of diverse factors gives a unique individualization of the behavioral act.

Execution of an action- the central element in the structure of volitional regulation of activity. It is here that such personality qualities as purposefulness, perseverance, perseverance and, at the same time, flexibility in relation to a previously formed program, etc. are needed. Performing an action requires significant volitional efforts: mental and physical fatigue causes a strong urge to rest, change occupations. This urge has to be overcome by an effort of will. But the timely refusal of the initiated action, if the execution gives an unnecessary (and sometimes even harmful) result, is also one of the manifestations of a person's will.

7. Achievement of the result of the activity and its final assessment. The expediency of behavior is determined, first of all, by the achievement of the result.

The neurophysiological mechanisms of the result of action as a structural element of action were brought to the center of attention by the academician.

“In fact, a reflex, a“ reflex act ”and“ reflex action ”are of interest only to a researcher - a physiologist or a psychologist. The animal and man are always interested in the results of actions. "

Biological systems are constantly working on the basis of feedback, constantly compare the achieved result with the previously formed program.

However, there is a specificity of feedback in the regulation of human activity, in contrast to the behavior of animals. It consists in the fact that the goals of human activity, as a rule, are not associated with the direct satisfaction of biological needs. The achieved result of human action is not always a direct biological reinforcement, as in the behavioral acts of animals (the effectiveness of an aggressive act of a predator is determined by the presence of food in its mouth). In most cases, a person specifically evaluates the achieved result according to certain criteria. The result of the activity is assessed not by the formal achievement of the goal, but by the extent to which it satisfies the corresponding need and motives of the activity. The result of the activity may not coincide with the desire and aspirations of the person, and then another behavioral act is performed. The goal is only a criterion for the correctness of progress towards the planned result. The result obtained is assessed not by the goal, but by its compliance with the motivation that caused the action. Only this compliance is the criterion for successful performance.

The correctness of the performance of a physical action is revealed directly as a result, the correctness of the performance of cognitive actions is monitored and evaluated using special control actions. The need for feedback in actions is the less, the higher the level of the indicative (theoretical) basis of the action. Actions of a moral character are judged from the outset according to their conformity with moral standards.

Activities that do not lead to success are mutated. While maintaining the same motive, the goal and program of activity change. The essence of will is manifested in the persistent achievement of the required result.

Satisfaction with the result reinforces the image of the given act of behavior, facilitates its repetition in the future.

In most cases, human activities are carried out in interaction with other people. Under these conditions, psychology of interpersonal relationships... The success of group activities depends to a large extent on psychological compatibility individuals and their group cohesion.

Systematically performing socially significant and effective actions, the individual forms a system of positive personal qualities - the human psyche is formed in his activities.

Volitional states.

Conscious regulation of activity is manifested in the system of volitional mental states: initiative, purposefulness, confidence, decisiveness, perseverance, etc. These states are manifested in aggregate throughout the entire activity. However, at certain stages of activity, certain volitional states acquire a leading value. So, the choice of a goal is associated, first of all, with a state of purposefulness, decision-making - with a state of decisiveness, execution of an action - with a state of perseverance, etc.

Conditionality of volitional mental states by the structural stages of complex volitional action.

Consider volitional states in a sequence corresponding to the structure of activity.

State of initiative characterized by active processing of incoming information, identification of priority problems, setting the most significant goals and ways to achieve them. The state of initiative is an increased excitability to the search for a goal. In the presence of a number of possible goals, a state of determination becomes of paramount importance.

Determination- the mental state of mobilization for a quick and reasonable selection of goals and ways to achieve it. The state of determination is accompanied by an increase in the emotional and intellectual activity of the psyche. Determination is associated with the suppression of various emotions, anticipation of the consequences of future actions.

In different people, the state of decisiveness has individual-typological characteristics. Some people try to bring every decision under an idea, principle, scheme approved by society (“it’s accepted,” “it’s supposed to be,” “this is the instruction,” etc.). Submission to certain principles makes decision-making easier. However, this raises the possibility of inappropriate behavior. Some people prefer to follow the “will of the waves” when making a decision, entrusting it to other people.

One of the individual-typological features of the state of decisiveness is fast, but unreasonable, impulsive decision-making. This is due to the desire of some people to quickly get rid of the tense state of the struggle of motives. The lack of volitional regulation of activity is hidden under external decisiveness. True determination requires a relatively quick firm decision based on the advantages and disadvantages of all alternative solutions.

However, despite the subjective differences in the state of determination, there are also objective factors that influence the decision-making process. These factors include: lack of time, the significance of the action in favor of which the decision is made, the type of higher nervous activity human, features of the interaction of signaling systems. So, in case of insufficient regulation of the first signal system by the second signal system, a person, when making decisions, shows fussiness, chaos; in case of insufficient connection of the second signal system with the first - excessive "theorization", protracted decision-making.

The mental state of being unable to make quick decisions is a state of indecision. It can be a manifestation of a person's mental passivity, weakness of nervous processes, and their insufficient mobility. Indecision does not belong to the properties of any temperament. However, temperament affects the form of indecision. Alertness in melancholic people, protractedness in phlegmatic people, fussiness in sanguine people, impulsivity in choleric people - these are some of the features of decision-making, determined by temperament.

Indecision is often associated with a lack of awareness, lack of relevant skills and abilities. The main reason for indecision is the presence in this situation of equivalent opposing motives. However, individuals tend to consistently accept different solutions, change them, hesitate and even decide on simultaneous conflicting actions (trial and error).

The attitude of people to their indecision is different. Some are painfully experiencing it, others in all cases find an excuse for it, and still others do not attach particular importance to this lack. Meanwhile, indecision is a negative quality that needs to be overcome. It can lead to morally negative and illegal consequences (cowardice, criminal inactivity, etc.).

Purposefulness as a volitional mental state, it is characterized by the concentration of consciousness on the main, most significant goals. From a physiological point of view, this state is characterized by the emergence of a dominant, which subordinates all human actions to the achievement of the set goal.

Confidence as a volitional mental state - a high-probability expectation of the planned result of an activity based on taking into account the initial conditions. This state largely determines the effectiveness of the activity. It consists in an objective assessment of the circumstances that influence the outcome of the activity, is associated with a clear awareness of the connections of the initial data with the ultimate goal, awareness (sometimes intuitive) of its attainability, reality. In this regard, a positive-emotional attitude to all activities to achieve this goal arises, the physical and mental activity of a person increases. Cheerfulness and cheerfulness are companions of confidence. The state of confidence depends on the possession of the means to achieve the goal (subject and instrument of activity, knowledge, skills, abilities and physical capabilities).

Completing an activity successfully requires overcoming both insecurity and overconfidence. In the latter case, a person overestimates his capabilities and underestimates objective difficulties, intervenes in matters in which he is incompetent. The state of self-confidence can be episodic (resulting from temporary successes) and dominant (resulting from an uncritical attitude towards oneself).

Persistence as a mental state consists in the long-term overcoming of difficulties, control of the action, its focus on achieving the goal. The state of being selective about everything that can contribute to the achievement of the goal is the manifestation of flexibility and perseverance in overcoming obstacles. Persistence should be distinguished from stubbornness - inflexibility, uncritical attitude to one's activities.

State of restraint... In the process of activity, various stimuli act on a person, provoking an action in an undesirable direction. Inhibition of unwanted actions is a state of restraint, self-control, requiring significant volitional effort.

Restraint should not be confused with insensitivity, emotional insensitivity. Restraint involves intelligently responding to emotional influences. Restraint is a manifestation of V.'s inhibitory function, which ensures the controllability of behavior.

The lifestyle of a person, the style of his life, reinforces certain psycho-regulatory qualities in him, which are usually called volitional personality traits... These properties are associated with the type of nervous activity of a person and with those requirements that are presented to him by the social environment. Some of these requirements translate into personal beliefs and principles of behavior. The individual develops a sense of social responsibility - a sense of duty, certain moral ideals. All this serves as a general basis for the behavior of the individual, determines the orientation of the personality. 8. Manifestation of volitional qualities of a person at various stages of complex volitional action

A high level of development of mental self-regulation is characterized by the nobility of thoughts and the ability to realize them in any conditions. But each person also has “weak points”. Knowing them is a prerequisite for self-education.

The strength or insufficiency of individual volitional qualities of a person determines the originality of his volitional self-regulation.

Msec - millisecond - one thousandth of a second.

The emergence of new motives in the child's motivational sphere means the development of this sphere. In addition, for these motives to become effective and to determine the student's behavior in the learning situation, they must prevail over the strong directly acting situational motives that exist in these students and prevent them from learning. That is, not only the development of the motivational sphere should occur due to its enrichment with new motives, but a change in the existing hierarchy of motives should also occur, as a result of which new significant motives will become dominant, in accordance with which the child's behavior will be built, since the dominant motives determine the direction a person's personality. This has been shown in a number of psychological studies (L.I.Bozhovich, 1972).

The nature of the orientation of the personality, from the point of view of L.I. Bozovic (1972), depends on the content and structure of the dominant motives in the motivational sphere. S.L. Rubinstein (1946), speaking about the orientation of a person's personality, connects this phenomenon with his dominant needs, interests, ideals. But since both needs, interests, and ideals, from the point of view of L.I. Bozovic, can act as motives of human behavior, then, apparently, we are talking about the same phenomenon. The dominant motives can be only those motives that have the greatest value for the individual, that is, motives associated with the satisfaction of the most personally significant needs.

If educational motivation flows from the dominant needs and motives in the child's motivational sphere or is connected in a semantic way with them, then in this case it is already possible to speak of volitional behavior. This means that the subject can carry out even unattractive actions for himself (that is, in the absence of direct motivation), if he understands their importance and significance for himself. The understanding of the importance and significance can be interpreted following V.A. Ivannikov (1991, 1998) as the establishment of a semantic connection between a directly unattractive action (goal) and dominant motives in the motivational hierarchy of a person. "And the richer the motivational and semantic sphere of a person, the easier it is to attach a given action to it, and the more motives can potentially respond to an action, the easier and more willingly it is performed "(V.A., Ivannikov, 1998, p. 93). It should be emphasized that from the context of V.A. the sphere of a person (among which there are quite a few situational ones), but about persistently dominant ones, and the semantic connection is established arbitrarily.Proceeding from the above, I propose to consider volitional behavior as arbitrary behavior determined by the steadily dominating most personally significant needs and motives in the motivational sphere of a person . In fact, volitional behavior is an expression at the behavioral level of a person's orientation. Deliberately roughening up the wording of the definition volitional behavior, we can imagine it as arbitrary behavior aimed at satisfying the most personally significant desires (which are steadily dominant in the motivational hierarchy of a person). It should be noted that since desires in content can be different, volitional behavior can be both moral and immoral. But for me it is important to fix that for the implementation voluntary behavior in a situation of performing an unattractive action, the child must have strong (comparable in strength to immediate), persistently dominant needs and motives, which can be conventionally designated as "personal interest" mediating the performance of an unattractive action by its motivational influence. The confirmation of this psychological phenomenon is in the research of physiologists. A.A. Ukhtomsky describes the psychological state of intense need as the emergence of a "dominant" focus in the cerebral cortex, that is, such a dominant focus of excitation, which, as it were, "pulls" onto itself and accumulates nervous excitement arising in other nerve centers. "The principle of dominant in the work of nerve centers" A.A. Ukhtomsky is consistent with the ideas of I.M. Sechenov and I.P. Pavlova on the integral nature of the body's activity. At the physiological level, these scientists showed that "the entire organism as a whole is involved in the solution of any task facing the body at a given time. All side effects coming from the outside are subordinate to this task. The excitations they cause are mobilized for its implementation. the dominant cortex creates a certain vector of behavior.

Developing this concept and revealing the patterns of formation and destruction of the dominant, Ukhtomsky pointed out the possibility of wide application of this principle in explaining various psychological phenomena, starting with acts of attention and ending with stable life attitudes of the personality "(Development and current state psychological science in the USSR, 1975, p. 87).

Thus, even at the physiological level, there is confirmation of the assumption that a complex behavioral act is possible, consisting of a whole chain of directly unattractive actions, but indirectly receiving an incentive motivation due to a common goal connecting them.

With a rather strongly pronounced orientation of the personality, determined by a powerful personal interest, a person, basically, without much effort, makes a choice in favor of one or another behavior corresponding to his personal interest.

Having introduced the concept of "personal interest", you can use it to define volitional behavior. Namely, volitional behavior is voluntary behavior determined by personal interest. It turns out that the psychological mechanism of volitional behavior is similar to voluntary and impulsive. Everything is determined by motivation. Differences exist at the level of content and subjective significant characteristic motives. The fundamental similarity of the mechanisms of impulsive and voluntary behavior has already been discussed above. The specificity of volitional behavior is voluntary behavior at the personal level. A similar interpretation of volitional behavior can be found in V.A. Ivannikova: "Volitional regulation is part of the voluntary regulation of human processes and actions, or, more precisely, one of the levels of voluntary regulation - the personal level" (1998, p. 136).

Volitional behavior can be direct and mediated. In the latter case, the achievement of the final goal is possible only as a result of the implementation of a number of intermediate goals, each of which does not have an independent attractive force for a person, but is mediated by the final goal. More precisely, we can say that mediation occurs with a new meaning, which intermediate goals acquire when establishing a semantic connection with the motive that prompts all activity. But as a result of such mediation, all activity seems to be permeated with a single meaning and does not burden a person. Therefore, I do not associate volitional behavior with a feeling of effort over oneself, with the struggle of motives and the creation of an intention to act in favor of a motive that is more valuable from the point of view of the unfolding of events in the future, as presented in the works of L.I. Bozhovich and her collaborators (L.I. Bozovic et al. 1976). Why do we need such complex psychological mechanisms for the realization of a strong desire? After all, an obsessed person can move mountains in order to achieve his goal, he, without hesitation, performs unpleasant and uninteresting work, still experiencing a feeling of satisfaction, because this is a link in a single chain of his desire. From biographical memoirs of prominent scientists, politicians, artists and others outstanding people it can be seen that in order to achieve their goal, which, in fact, was the meaning of their life, they made all kinds of household sacrifices and even risked their lives when it came to fulfilling their dreams. These people did not have any struggle of motives "to be or not to be", since they were driven by a passionate, all-consuming desire, which is the source of volitional behavior. Another interesting point. In the "Dictionary of the Russian language" S.I. Ozhegov, we meet the following definitions of will: "The ability to fulfill your desires, set goals; a conscious desire to achieve something; your good will or your will (do what you want)" (1986, pp. 82 - 83).

What a person really wants, he can find out in the following way. Suppose he needs to choose one of two mutually exclusive actions, both of which are not associated with momentary desires, but are very important for a person. Imagining the consequences of each of them separately, he understands which of the actions suits him more, since in this case his personal interest will not be infringed. And in this case, when two oppositely directed motivational tendencies collide, the phenomenon of struggle of motives with a feeling of effort over oneself and the creation of an intention to act in favor of a more valuable motive from the point of view of the unfolding of events in the future is not observed. I think that for the implementation of behavior in such a situation, it is enough to establish a semantic connection between one of the actions and personal interest. In the work of L.I. Bozovic and her collaborators (1976), containing a detailed analysis of the mechanism of volitional behavior, characterized by the presence of a conflict of multidirectional motivational tendencies and the fact that in this conflict one tendency appears for the consciousness of the subject as more valuable, and the other as emotionally more attractive, and the former wins, suppressing the second, due to the restructuring of the motivational sphere of the subject, occurring in the internal plan of action (therefore, behavior is accompanied by the experience of volitional effort), there is an indication of the possibility of volitional behavior without a struggle of motives and without referring to the internal plan of action. The authors of the article believe that this is possible in the case when a person is guided by the highest moral feelings, ideals, and beliefs that have arisen in the process of ontogenetic development, which completely determine his life. In this case, a volitional act is performed without a subjectively experienced volitional effort. In addition, the article notes that "volitional behavior, requiring regulation by the internal plan of action, is characteristic of a person who just does not have a sufficiently strong will" (1976, p. 68).

Apparently, the struggle of motives arises in a situation with a certain combination of multidirectional motivational tendencies, namely, when one of the motives is associated with the satisfaction of a strong immediate situational need, and the other with not very strong motives associated with personal interest. Analysis similar situations shows that in this case there is a conflict between multidirectional motives, accompanied by their struggle. The specified conflict can be resolved with the intention to act in favor of one of the motives. The acceptance of an intention is carried out within the framework of a detailed internal plan of action, which allows one to intellectually and emotionally imagine the possible consequences of events, as a result of which a person creates an intention to act in favor of a motive that is less attractive, but more valuable, from his point of view. This mechanism of accepting intention was studied in detail and described by L.I. Bozhovich and her collaborators (L.I.Bozhovich et al., 1976; L.S. Slavina, 1972; L.I.Bozhovich, L.S. Slavina, 1979; L.I. Bozhovich, 1981). And since this whole mechanism is aimed at the implementation of behavior that is very relatively related to the desire (personal interest) of a person, it is clear that creating an intention does not mean to implement it. No wonder there is a saying: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Now let's try to figure out what intention is and what is its function in volitional behavior.

Let us compare two types of behavioral regulation mechanisms: emotional and volitional. Emotions serve as an important, but practically little controllable with the help of consciousness, mechanism for regulating motivational activity. The functions of the will are in many respects opposite and consist in the realization of goals deliberately set by a person in the course of mental activity. Moreover, the goals, the achievement of which, as a rule, requires overcoming many desires and aspirations of a given person. Thus, the will carries out a conscious regulation of behavior. Moreover, this regulation takes place in conditions of a constant balance between the interests of a person (his life goals), on the one hand, and the restrictions imposed by intellectual forecasts of the consequences of this activity, as well as moral and social norms, on the other hand.

In other words, will is a tool used by motivations of a higher order in the process of intellectual planning and realization of human life goals (Fig. 5.15). Based on this, an act of will always includes the struggle of multidirectional motivations, an intellectual assessment of these motivations from the point of view of their compliance with moral and social norms and from the point of view of life-threatening consequences of the implementation of these motivations.

In this Alan, it can be assumed that volitional signals can, generally speaking, inhibit behavior "recommended" by positive emotions, for example, if this behavior, although pleasant for the subject in terms of satisfying some motivations, contradicts moral and social norms and values. A typical example is the struggle of a person with the so-called bad habits, the list of which, as you know, is almost endless - from smoking to drugs, from alcohol to different forms deception, including the so-called disinterested lie, embellishment of one's own merits, one's own achievements, abilities, etc.

Volitional acts are also necessary for the implementation of behavior associated with overcoming negative emotions in cases of pain, fatigue, real danger to life. Intellectually formed goals require a person to act, which inevitably entails negative emotions, in situations such as the need to undergo surgery or unpleasant treatment, the need to communicate with an unpleasant partner, etc. Volitional act at the same time it is a tool of thinking, a tool that allows you to consciously overcome the barrier of negative emotions (Fig. 5.22).

Note also that, at least, the need for something similar in function to mechanisms of will should appear in any social, living in animal communities, in other words, in any animals in the behavior of which there are contradictions between individual needs (for example, in food, position in the social hierarchy) and the same needs of other members of the community.

Thus, there is an inevitability of the emergence of a mechanism of volitional regulation in the process of evolutionary development of living organisms. Otherwise (in the absence of volitional control), it would be necessary to abandon both positive and negative emotions, since the body would lack a mechanism for overcoming these emotions. On the other hand, as we have already seen before, the existence of an organism without emotions is impossible, since with such an organization in the absence of

signals about "harmful" situations, the body will not be able to avoid such situations, or even, perhaps, will tend to get into such "harmful" (in broad sense of this word) of the situation.

What can be said about the characteristics of the process of volitional control of behavior? In view of the fact that the volitional actions of the individual mainly take place at a conscious level, these actions are to a very strong degree determined not only by innate, but also deliberately developed traits of a person's character. First of all, such characteristics include such a property as strength of will, that is, the maximum value of volitional influence that can develop a personality to achieve the goal. Thus, speaking of willpower, we mean an assessment of a person's efforts to perform unpleasant actions for him - external actions, for example, associated with communication or physically hard work in an uncomfortable environment, or internal actions, for example, associated with overcoming difficult to understand or simply uninteresting places for him personally during the learning process.

The character of a person also determines such qualities as persistence, that is, the ability for long-term efforts to overcome difficulties in the process of achieving a goal. It should be noted that "the difference 01 willpower persistence is not necessarily associated with overcoming" transcendental "difficulties, a persistent person can simply remember to track progress towards the goal for a long time and take, albeit small, but necessary steps in a predetermined by himself direction.

Another quality directly related to persistence is excerpt, that is, the ability to slow down, exclude from the scope of attention actions, feelings and thoughts that interfere with progress towards a given goal. It is clear that this characteristic is directly related to the ability to streamline thinking, with the ability to plan, organize and switch attention from one case to another in time.

The next group of volitional qualities is even more closely related to character traits. This group includes such qualities of will or character traits as decisiveness, self-control, self-confidence. Availability decisiveness determines the ability of a person without hesitation, quickly, confidently, without endless revisions and "marking time" to make a choice of a line of behavior and also clearly implement the decisions made. Naturally, the quality of decisiveness acquires a useful meaning only if a person is able to correctly assess the situation and, therefore, correctly formulate the goals and objectives of behavior, otherwise decisive, but wrong actions become much worse than the manifestation of indecision.

Self-control and self-confidence - qualities that determine the ability of a person to subordinate his behavior to the achievement of the goal, regardless of the appearance of various emerging circumstances, even if these circumstances represent serious obstacles.

The concept of will

When people with equal knowledge and skills, adhering to similar beliefs and outlooks on life with varying degrees of determination and intensity, begin to solve the problem before them, or when faced with difficulties one of them cease to operate, a others act with renewed vigor, these phenomena are associated with the manifestations of their will.

Will is a person's conscious regulation of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome internal and external difficulties in the performance of purposeful actions and deeds. The will correlates with the entire consciousness of a person as one of the forms of reflection of reality, the function of which is the conscious self-regulation of his activity in difficult conditions of life. This self-regulation is based on the interaction of the processes of excitation and inhibition of the nervous system. In accordance with this, psychologists single out the above general function as a concretization of the above general function, the other two - activating and inhibiting. Sometimes the first function is denoted by the term incentive or stimulating.

Volitional or voluntary actions develop on the basis of involuntary movements and actions... (Rogov)

With the help of a volitional effort, a person does not destroy involuntary activity, but only changes its form or suppresses external manifestation... Therefore, the will is also the power of a person over himself, his aspirations, feelings, passions. Will is the ability of a person to control himself, to consciously regulate his behavior and activities... (Rogov)

The main signs of volitional action

A specific feature of volitional behavior in experiencing the state " I should », and not "I want", although, of course, one should take into account the possibility of the coincidence of volitional and impulsive behavior ("I want to fulfill my duty"). Therefore, figuratively speaking, our life is the constant struggle of strong-willed and habitual, everyday behavior.

In contrast to involuntary, conscious actions, more characteristic of human behavior, are aimed at achieving the set goal. Exactly with knowledgeable determination actions characterizes volitional behavior... However, being quite complex in structure, since not every goal can be achieved immediately, volitional actions can include, as separate links, such movements that were automated during the formation of a skill and lost their initially conscious character.

Another most important sign of volitional behavior is considered to be its connection with overcoming obstacles , internal or external. Internal, subjective, obstacles are caused by the behavior of a person, a subject of volitional action and can be caused by fatigue, a desire to have fun, fear, shame, false pride, inertia, just laziness, etc.

The most important role in overcoming difficulties on the way to achieving the goal is played by awareness of the meaning of the goal , and at the same time awareness of one's duty . The more meaningful the goal is for a person, the more obstacles he overcomes. In some cases, achieving the goal turns out to be more expensive than life, and then volitional actions can lead to the death of the subject.... Examples of the death of fighters during torture or the deaths of sports fights can serve as confirmation of this provision. (Rogov)