Psychology considers the concept of “will” ambiguously, and over the course of different historical eras, it has meant different phenomena.
In the most general terms, the will can be perceived as a property of a person, which allows him to consciously control his thoughts and actions. Based on this understanding, it can be considered one of the most important properties that the human psyche is capable of manifesting: does it not set the brightest, delineating line between the animal and man? If the former are guided by their instincts, the latter are able to suppress them with the help of willpower.
The concept of will in psychology
So, as we have already expressed, there are several models for understanding the will. Modern psychology adheres to the fact that the will of man is manifested in the ability to consciously achieve his goal, and among the main qualities of its manifestation are called courage, determination, perseverance, self-control, self-reliance, etc.
In order to understand the will, you need to have a good idea of what freedom is, because these concepts are closely related.
The will in psychology is a concept with a unique history, because within the framework of this science it has been reviewed three times, which gave rise to three different definitions.
At first, by will they understood a peculiar mechanism of actions that were performed by a person against his wishes, but, nevertheless, were prompted by reason.
Then the will began to be perceived as a struggle of motives, which makes it related to the theme of the problem of choice.
And at the final stage of the evolution of understanding of the will, it was defined as a way to overcome obstacles that prevent one from achieving a goal. This definition gives a rather superficial idea of the will, because it illuminates only one facet of its manifestation, but in reality there are more of them: for example, with the help of the will, a person can overcome himself, his desires, his natural needs, although this will not be the goal. There are cases when people saved the lives of others by intentionally sacrificing themselves, and it would be incorrect and incomplete to characterize one of such situations as “overcoming difficulties to achieve a goal”.
The most striking historical and religious figure who has shown will with a touch of self-sacrifice is Jesus Christ.
It should also be noted that in philosophy there is such a thing as “voluntarism”. From the Latin language it is translated as “will” and in this philosophical course it was given the role of the fundamental principle, the highest principle of being.
Will: “contrary to” behavior psychology
Here the most interesting part of this psychic ability of a person is revealed , we see that a person knows how not to accept circumstances as they are. Given can be evaluated negatively by many people, however, you need to have a sufficiently developed will to decide to change what is given. Antoine de Saint-Exupery in one of his books told the story of hand-held gazelles that grew in the corral. When the animals grew up, they began to strive to break free, but all they did was stand at the fence and looked at the open spaces. This is a fictional story, but animals tend to behave like this: sooner or later they humble themselves and give up trying to act contrary to the situation. The attempt to break out of the cell because of instinct and the attempt to do it because of the belief in something has a different nature, where in the second case the word “contrary” is the key, unlike the first.
Will: the psychology of the problem of choice
Some philosophers (B. Spinoza, J. Locke) tried to comprehend the relationship of will and freedom of choice. J. Locke believed that freedom is an opportunity to act or not to act, and during a volitional act a person is always subject to necessity, and therefore he shared these concepts. Benedict Spinoza, like many ancient thinkers, turned out to be closer to the truth - he believed that inner freedom consists in voluntarily deciding to overcome the contradiction that has arisen between “want” and “eat”.
Will: the psychology of controlling your actions
Julius Kul identified several types of control during a volitional outburst that allow him to be implemented:
- Selective attention. It is aimed at the object to be achieved, while all other elements of the environment are eliminated.
- Emotion control. There are some emotions that prevent one from realizing the desire, and a strong-willed person refuses them.
Environmental control. Everything that prevents to achieve the goal is eliminated from the nearest space.
Thus, the will is an amazing property of man, without which, probably, our evolutionary path would have a completely different trajectory.