Self-control is the ability of an individual to maintain inner peace, and also act carefully and wisely in difficult life situations. The origin of self-control is associated with behavioral stereotypes - social and cultural attitudes that are instilled from childhood. The sense of self-control includes resistance to any emerging situations, a firm hand and a confident look, accurate reaction and quick calculation, as well as control over both one’s own and other people’s emotions.
Endurance and self-control
The strong-willed qualities that characterize self-control include endurance, determination, and courage. Self-controlled individuals are marked by the ability and habit to control their behavior and their movements. Such individuals know how to control themselves and their speech, and are able to refrain from unconscious actions. Endurance and great will are the ability to achieve and wish for something, as well as the ability to force yourself to give up something when necessary. A self-controlled person is able to restrain his feelings, will not allow impulsive actions, will control his mood, and in the most difficult conditions he will not lose his presence of mind, will maintain composure, and will be able to pull himself together. A self-possessed person is patient and enduring, both in relation to long-term (boring work, aching pain, tedious waiting) and short-term irritants (for example, sharp pain). He knows how, if necessary, to endure hardships and hardships that cause him physical suffering and, when necessary, to restrain his needs (thirst, hunger, the need for rest).
E.P. Ilyin classifies self-control as a collective volitional characteristic that includes courage, endurance, and partly determination.
Fundamental and important personality traits for a leader are the ability to cope with the external expression of emotions, while remaining calm in an extreme situation, not reacting to stimuli and maintaining inner calm.
The Art of Self-Control
Self-control refers to the art of tact, tolerance, and patience. The art of self-control is marked by the ability to act rationally rather than emotionally. Self-control allows you to rule not only over yourself, but also over other individuals. This feeling helps in making the right decisions, especially in extreme situations. Self-control makes it possible to see this world through the prism of calm, as well as self-confidence. IN Everyday life self-control is manifested in the ability to suppress desires and strong inclinations, in the ability to control emotional impulses and show determination, as well as control behavior when fear arises.
Self-control is manifested in the following forms: patience (endure difficulties and inconvenience), abstinence (self-denial - refusal of harmful and reasonable use of useful), equanimity, tranquility (state of balance, peace and tranquility), self-discipline, perseverance (maintaining devotion and fidelity at the time of trials and temptations).
How to Maintain Composure
Often, impressionable and unbalanced natures do not know how to cope without special shocks with a stressful situation for the nervous system.
Loss of self-control and control over your emotions occurs due to the response of the brain and endocrine system to stress, which is triggered by complex chemical processes in the body. Simply put, it's all about hormones. However, for some reason, some are able to control their behavior during quarrels, while for other individuals conflicts end with breaking dishes, cursing, fists and slaps.
Self-control refers to the ability to think clearly during times of emotional stress, and this ability is highly individual. In many ways, this ability depends on behavioral stereotypes - cultural and social attitudes vaccinated from an early age. And what for some people is a sign of bad taste, for others it is the norm. That is why completely different reactions are observed in similar situations. The ability to maintain self-control is influenced by the characteristics of the nervous system and psyche, physical condition, stressful situation. If a person is tired, hungry, experiencing physical pain, resides in the unresolved interpersonal conflict, then it is likely that it will be very difficult to restrain yourself. A person who knows how to control his emotions will not be ashamed of his behavior later. This is a big plus. However, there are also disadvantages.
It has long been proven that there is a connection between health status and negative emotions. Carefully hidden emotional experiences, accumulating, deplete nervous system.
The unexpressed one will make itself felt over time, for example, by taking the form of increased irritability or some kind of disease. Therefore, controlling negative emotions is important in order to then easily get rid of them.
Some individuals maintain composure by releasing tension during active rest, sleep, sports or love. Others unwind from the adrenaline rush of watching horror films, riding roller coasters or bungee jumping.
How to learn self-control? In order not to go deeper into a state of continuous stress, you need to choose for yourself effective method release of accumulated negativity. You should not accumulate situations where you have to suppress aggression and anger, assuring yourself that everything is fine and nothing happened. You should learn to develop a physiological response to a stressful situation, letting off steam not by screaming, but by using a civilized form of aggression. If you feel congestion large quantity negative energy it should be directed for peaceful purposes, for example, trying to resolve issues in the heat of rage that are difficult to resolve in a normal state.
If you are unable to respond appropriately to the offender, you can take advantage of relieving emotional stress with the help of a swimming pool, fitness, yoga, or spas. How not to lose composure? It is necessary to control your feelings, desires, thoughts, intentions, impulses, actions and words. It is important to learn to evaluate yourself and carry out self-analysis of your actions.
Loss of self-control manifests itself in weakening self-control and self-discipline.
Self-control is expressed in the fact that the individual goes deeper into his inner world, evaluating and analyzing it. By assessing his feelings, thoughts, desires, a person determines for himself their acceptability.
How to maintain composure? In order not to lose self-control, you must have self-discipline. After finding out which thought, desire, feeling is alien to us, and which is for the good, it is necessary to correctly respond to these manifestations: either embody, develop, cultivate, support, or suppress, eradicate, suppress. The individual suppresses and eradicates the bad in himself, and develops and cultivates the good.
How to develop self-control
There are several feasible first aid remedies for developing self-control:
- ignoring external stimuli, for example, for training, you can use a phone call that rings at the wrong time. The individual’s task is to ignore the call, in this way one can learn to abstract from other stimuli that throw oneself out of balance;
- delaying time and not immediately reacting to the opponent’s explosive reaction, while using a count of ten;
- the ability to switch your attention and relax at the right moment.
A state of stress, excessive fatigue, and tension cause chemical reactions in the body that negatively affect behavior. Both the body and the psyche need relaxation and rest. To do this, it is necessary to create in the imagination a place to which the individual will mentally move as soon as he feels tired or overexerted. This could be, for example, an autumn park, a room with a soft chair, a beach with palm trees - everything that can lead to a state of tranquility and the return of comfort. You need to find within yourself that support point that will replenish your reserves of vital energy.
Dispassion, self-control, composure, restraint, phlegm, composure, presence of mind, epic calm, Olympic calm, restraint, calm, phlegmaticity, impassivity, restraint, phlegmatism, ... ... Synonym dictionary
self-control- a person’s ability to carry out activities in disorganizing situations that affect the emotional sphere (see emotions). In S. consciously strong-willed... Great psychological encyclopedia
SELF-CONTROL, self-control, plural. no, cf. The ability to control oneself, restrain oneself, endurance. Maintain, lose control. Dictionary Ushakova. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 … Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
- (self ownership) A person’s claim to control over his own personality, which, as a rule, relates not only to his body (and, possibly, to the embryo inside it - see: right to life), but also to labor activity, abilities and... Political science. Dictionary.
One of the cardinal virtues; the ability to shape one's own life in the direction of human perfection with the help of a rationally moral will, regardless of natural impulses and affects. It manifests itself in two main ways. forms -... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
English self control/possession; German Selbstbeherrschung. Indicator of emotional and social personality maturity, the individual’s ability to consciously volitionally organize mental processes and carry out activities in critical situations. Antinazi.… … Encyclopedia of Sociology
A person’s ability to carry out activities in disorganizing situations that affect the emotional sphere. S. manifests a consciously volitional organization mental processes regulating this activity. C. indicator of emotional and... ... Dictionary of emergency situations
self-control- SELF-CONTROL, I, cf The ability to control oneself; Syn: endurance, composure, restraint. The widower, a man endowed with exceptional self-control, did not cry or tear (Nab.) ... Explanatory dictionary of Russian nouns
self-control- immeasurable self-control diabolical self-control exceptional self-control colossal self-control incredible self-control amazing self-control amazing self-control rare self-control amazing... ... Dictionary of Russian Idioms
Books
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Self-control is the ability to control momentary impulses and reactions. Another name for this quality is self-discipline. This type of behavior is not restrictive in a negative sense, as it may initially seem. When used wisely, self-control becomes one of the essential tools to achieve success and personal development. There are often many obstacles in life on the way to your desired goals. To overcome them, you need to act with persistence, and this, of course, requires a high level of self-control.
In addition, this quality is critical for working through fears, obsessions, and addictions. Self-discipline helps a person gain control over own life, behavior and reactions. It improves relationships, helps develop patience, achieve happiness and satisfaction.
On the other hand, insufficiently developed self-control often leads to failures in work and personal life, overeating and other bad habits, and health problems.
How exactly does self-control help in everyday life?
- The developed quality of self-discipline allows you to quickly notice manifestations of self-destructive, addictive or obsessive behavior;
- Gives a feeling of power over your life, brings balance and harmony;
- Helps keep overly emotional reactions normal;
- Develops emotional and mental independence from surrounding people and circumstances, which significantly affects the subjective feeling of peace and tranquility;
- Helps overcome feelings of helplessness;
- Self-control allows you to gain self-confidence, high self-esteem, and inner strength;
- Makes a person responsible and trustworthy.
Obstacles to developing self-discipline:
- Lack of knowledge, understanding of what self-control actually is;
- Strong and uncontrollable emotional reactions;
- The speed and immediacy of these reactions to stimuli outside world, thoughtlessness of actions;
- Weak desire to change, to become better;
- Insufficiently developed willpower;
- A subjective view of the development of self-control as an unpleasant and boring activity; the conviction that there is no place for entertainment in the life of a disciplined person;
- Lack of faith in yourself and your abilities.
How to develop self-control? Brief algorithm of actions
So, what is the general algorithm that allows you to gain control over yourself and develop the much-needed willpower?- First, you need to identify those areas of life where you lack this quality. For example, this could be shopping, overeating, smoking, workaholism, drinking, obsessions.
- Next, you need to identify those emotions in relation to which the use of self-discipline is required. Perhaps it is anger, regret, resentment or resentment, fear.
- The next step is to identify the thoughts and beliefs that lead to uncontrollable behavior.
- Several times a day, especially in those moments when the need for self-control is highest, it is necessary to repeat various affirmations. These could be phrases like:
- Next, you need to visualize your own behavior within the framework of self-control and self-restraint. Need to consider life situation in which you lack discipline, and imagine yourself reacting calmly.
- The most important step is to do exercises to develop willpower.
On this topic:
Practical steps to develop willpower
- Train your willpower through small actions. Many modern researchers, including the author of the famous publication “Willpower” Kelly McGonigal, compare the development of the ability to self-control with regular muscle training. In order to use the “will muscle,” it must first be activated and then gradually trained. Because, like physical muscles, willpower is subject to exhaustion, loads should be gradual but regular. In addition, volitional potential usually ends by the end of the day. Therefore, it is recommended to perform unpleasant or uninteresting tasks and activities in the morning.
Willpower training can include activities such as gradually cleaning your apartment, using your non-dominant hand for routine tasks, and developing the habit of meditating every day. You can also try keeping your back straight throughout the day, abstaining from the Internet or TV for a day or two, and introducing a ban on obscene language. The fact that these tasks seem ordinary, in fact, only enhances their effect. By doing them, you teach your brain not to give in to impulses, to put a pause between emotion and action.
- Reduce stress levels. Chronic stress is the main enemy of self-control. Why among people who live in big cities wealthy, economically developed countries, so many gluttons, alcoholics and gambling addicts? The reason for this is chronic stress that accumulates throughout life. Difficulties at work and in personal life, disturbing news on television, uncertainty about the future - all this ultimately takes its toll. From a successful member of the middle class, a person can quickly turn into a complete failure. The fact is that human volitional resources, unfortunately, are exhaustible.
To develop willpower, try to minimize stress in your life as much as possible. After all, if you deplete your volitional resources in one area of life, then there simply won’t be enough for the development of another. - Choose your ideal. Finding yourself in difficult circumstances and losing faith in own strength, it can be very difficult to continue to pursue goals once set. Nowadays, the role of “idols” is often played by singers or actors, Hollywood stars. However, often their biographies not only do not give faith in human capabilities, but are also a negative example of what it can be human life. After all, among modern stars there are also many people with alcohol, drug addiction, or simply unhappy in their personal lives. Therefore, the choice of a role model must be approached carefully.
Meanwhile, the world provides a huge number of examples of strong-willed human behavior. The ideal that allows you to gain confidence in the capabilities of the human spirit can be friends or relatives, heroes of films, books, or political figures.
- Declare war on laziness. Reluctance to take on things that do not arouse interest is one of the indicators of poorly developed willpower. You can fight laziness in several ways: making a to-do list, prioritizing, using the “carrot and stick” method. These methods should be used simultaneously. A to-do list needs to be compiled constantly - this way you will train yourself to complete work on time.
If there are a lot of things to do, you can’t do without ranking them by importance. You don’t need to tackle everything at once; you can start small. After this, it will be much easier to get involved in work. And finally, you need to reward yourself for achievements and punish yourself for not achieving what you planned. After all, our brain, despite its ability to logical thinking and other achievements of evolution, still has the properties of the brain of Pavlov's dog.
Well-developed self-control gives you the strength to stick to your decisions. It is a mandatory requirement to achieve your goals.
Self-control, how often have you lost it and then regretted it? This is especially true for impressionable and unbalanced people, from whom you hear every now and then: “I lost my temper” or “I lost my temper.” But how can you learn to cope with a stressful situation without causing much shock to your nervous system?
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Self-control and education
Loss of control over your emotions is a response of the endocrine system and brain to stress, which provokes complex chemical processes in the body. Simply put, it's all about hormones. But why are some people able to control their behavior during a quarrel, while for others conflicts end in swearing, breaking dishes, or worse, slaps and fists?
Self-control is the ability to think soberly during the peak of emotional stress, and this ability is purely individual. In many ways, it depends on behavioral stereotypes - social and cultural attitudes that were instilled from an early age. And what is a sign of bad taste for the former, is the norm for the latter. That is why we observe completely different reactions in similar situations.
The ability to maintain self-control is also influenced by other equally significant factors: characteristics of the psyche and nervous system, the strength of the stimulus (how serious the stressful situation is), physical condition. If you are hungry, overly tired, have a headache or aching tooth, something is wrong at home or has happened... it is quite natural that it will be very difficult to restrain yourself.
Pros and cons of developed self-control
A person who knows how to control his emotions will not subsequently be ashamed of his unbalanced behavior. And this is a big plus. However, does he win so much in the end?
The connection between negative emotions and overall health has long been proven. Carefully hidden spiritual passions, gradually accumulating, lead to exhaustion of the nervous system. Unexpressed aggression will sooner or later make itself felt, taking the form of increased irritability or some kind of disease.
In developed self-control, the principle applies: everything is good in moderation. Therefore, there is no need to always keep a tight rein on yourself; you need to give free rein to your emotions from time to time. Hypercontrol is also dangerous because it forces a person to constantly raise the bar of demands on himself and others, and splash out the accumulated negativity on the weaker. Psychologists also say that ignorance leads to muscle pain and spasms in the neck, shoulders and back. And sometimes the inability to relieve stress leads to the development of alcoholism.
Losing control
In certain cases, when a person completely loses self-control, a special psychological reaction is observed. The peak of emotional stress is accompanied by a rapid heart rate, dizziness, darkening of the eyes, a feeling that your head is about to explode, followed by a feeling of weakness. If you fall into this state regularly, it means that your nervous system is not ready for the stress to which you subject it and is malfunctioning. As a rule, in such cases, professional help from a psychotherapist is necessary.
How to maintain composure and let off steam
To be able to control negative emotions, you need to be able to spend them. The nervous system “relieves” tension during sleep, active recreation, sex or sports. For some, adrenaline rushes from watching horror films, bungee jumping or riding roller coasters help them relax. To avoid falling into a state constant stress, you need to find an effective way to release the accumulated negativity.
Try not to build up situations in which you have to suppress your anger, convincing yourself that everything is fine and nothing happened. It is necessary to develop a physiological response to stress, “letting off steam” not by screaming, but by means of a civilized form of expressing aggression. Try to beat your opponent in a sports or intellectual game, or respond to his attacks with caustic phrases, but in a calm tone. If you feel that there is too much negative energy, direct it to achieve peaceful goals: in the heat of rage, resolve those issues that you normally lack the courage to answer.
In cases where there is no opportunity to adequately respond to the offender, a fitness club, swimming pool, jogging in the park, or a spa will help get rid of emotional stress. In extreme cases, an ordinary pillow is also suitable, which you can beat to your heart's content at home.
However, all these actions will only help short term gain self-control. They are unable to rid the body of the effects of stress. In addition, controlling one’s own emotions often requires a lot of energy, which is sometimes not enough. All popular methods that help maintain self-control are just auxiliary means. A specialist must put the shattered nervous system in order.
...not to be confused with affect
People tend to confuse the concept of loss of self-control with a state of passion. Affect is an absolute loss of control, a fast-moving defensive reaction, accompanied by intense feelings. Falling into a state of passion, a person is capable of actions that are completely unusual for him: to pull a hundred-kilogram neighbor out of a burning house, to defeat an opponent who is much superior physically... After which prostration sets in, and the person who has experienced the affect completely or partially forgets about the events that happened to him at that moment .
Several ways to regain composure
What to do when you feel like emotions are overwhelming you in a rapid flurry and are about to spill out? How to regain control over yourself in a short time and not do anything stupid? To do this, psychologists have come up with simple techniques:
— Visualization. Try to suppress unpleasant emotions with pleasant memories or fantasies. Imagine that you are on the azure shore of the ocean and the breeze brings salty drops to you sea water. Even sexual fantasies can come into play.
- Imaginary image. Use your imagination and imagine your offender (boss or dissatisfied client) in the image of a funny comic book hero in a Superman costume, attach Cheburashka ears to him, dress him in yellow socks and flowered panties or a tutu.
- Relaxation. Even if you are very tense, still try to completely relax your entire body, especially the muscles of your face, neck and shoulders. Imagine yourself swinging in a hammock or simply flying. Concentrate on how you feel.
The ability to be patient with others (especially with loved ones) is considered a human virtue that one should strive for.
Self-control and self-control are the ability and habit to control one’s behavior, to control oneself, one’s movements, one’s speech, and to refrain from actions that are perceived as unnecessary or harmful in given conditions. A. S. Makarenko wrote: “Great will is not only the ability to wish for something and achieve something, but also the ability to force oneself to give up something when necessary... Without a brake there cannot be a car, and without a brake there cannot be no will." A self-controlled person knows how to restrain his feelings, controls his mood, and does not allow impulsive actions. Even in difficult conditions, he does not lose his presence of mind, maintains composure, and knows how to pull himself together.
A self-possessed person is resilient and patient both in relation to short-term irritants (for example, sharp pain) and long-term ones (aching pain, boring work, tedious waiting). If necessary, he knows how to endure hardships and hardships that cause him physical suffering, and to restrain his needs when necessary (hunger, thirst, need for rest, etc.).
Will is a manifestation of mental activity to achieve a set goal. The will carries out conscious regulation of behavior in conditions of a constant balance between a person’s interests (his life goals) and the restrictions imposed by intellectual forecasts of the consequences of this activity, as well as moral and social norms. We can say that will is a tool used by higher-order motivations in the process of intellectual planning and implementation of a person’s life goals.
The will is involved in the regulation of almost all basic mental functions - sensations, perception, imagination, memory, thinking and speech. The development of these processes from lower to higher indicates that a person has acquired volitional control over them.
The task of the will is to control human behavior, conscious self-regulation of his activity, especially in cases where obstacles to a normal life arise.
home psychological function will - strengthening motivation and improving, on this basis, the conscious regulation of actions. The real mechanism for generating an additional incentive to action is a conscious change in the meaning of the action by the person performing it.
The meaning of an action is usually associated with a struggle of motives and is changed through deliberate mental effort. The need for volitional action arises when an obstacle appears in the path of motivated activity. An act of will is associated with overcoming it. However, you first need to understand and comprehend the essence of the problem that has arisen.
The following can be distinguished stages of will formation, or acts of will:
- awareness of a specific need;
- awareness of the possibilities of satisfying a certain need;
- manifestation of motives for activity (motive is a driving force);
- the struggle of motives for activity on the path to choosing decisions;
- choosing a specific solution;
- determining the implementation plan for the selected solution, including a list of methods, means and methods;
- execution and control of certain activities;
- assessment of the obtained performance results.
At volitional regulation behavior generated by actual needs, special relationships develop between these needs and human consciousness. S.L. Rubinstein characterized them as follows: will in its proper sense arises when a person is capable of reflecting his drives in order to be able to rise above his drives and, abstracting from them, realize himself as a subject and make a choice between them. The development of volitional regulation of behavior in humans is carried out in the following directions:
- transformation of involuntary mental processes into voluntary ones;
- a person gaining control over his behavior;
- development of volitional personality traits.
In each of these directions of development of the will, as it strengthens, its own specific transformations occur, gradually raising the process and mechanisms of volitional regulation to a higher level. For example, within cognitive processes, the will first appears in the form of external speech regulation, and then in terms of the intra-speech process. In the behavioral aspect, volitional control first concerns voluntary movements of individual parts of the body, and subsequently - planning and control of complex sets of movements, including inhibition of some muscle complexes and activation of others. In the field of formation of volitional qualities of a person, the development of will can be represented as a movement from primary volitional qualities to secondary ones and further to tertiary ones.
The development of volitional qualities is manifested in the fact that a person consciously sets himself more and more difficult tasks and pursues more and more distant goals that require the application of significant volitional efforts for quite a long time.
Based on this, an act of will always includes a struggle of multidirectional motivations, an intellectual assessment of these motivations from the point of view of their compliance with moral and social norms. Volitional signals, generally speaking, can inhibit behavior “recommended” by positive emotions, for example, if this behavior contradicts moral and social norms and values, although it is pleasant for the subject, since it satisfies some motivations. A typical example is a person’s struggle with bad habits- from smoking to using drugs and alcohol, etc.
Volitional acts are manifested in the implementation of behavior associated with overcoming negative emotions in cases of feeling pain, fatigue, or real danger to life. Intellectually formed goals require a person to take actions that inevitably entail negative emotions in situations such as the need to undergo surgery or unpleasant treatment, communication with an unpleasant partner, etc. An act of will is a thinking tool that allows one to consciously overcome the barrier of negative emotions.
Since the volitional actions of an individual mainly take place at a conscious level, these actions are determined not only by innate, but also to a very strong extent by consciously developed character traits of a person. The process of volitional behavior control is characterized by two groups of volitional qualities. The first group is willpower, perseverance, endurance. Strength of will - this is the maximum value of volitional influence that a person can develop to achieve the goal. Speaking about willpower, we mean assessing a person’s efforts to perform actions that are unpleasant for him, for example, external actions related to communication or physically difficult work in an uncomfortable environment, or internal actions to overcome difficult to understand or simply uninteresting places in the learning process.
Perseverance - The ability to make long-term efforts to overcome difficulties in the process of achieving a goal, unlike willpower, is not necessarily associated with overcoming “exorbitant” difficulties. A persistent person can simply long time do not forget to track progress towards the goal and take at the same time, albeit small, but necessary steps in the direction predetermined by him.
Excerpt, directly related to persistence, is defined as the ability to exclude from the sphere of attention actions, feelings and thoughts that interfere with progress towards a given goal. This quality is directly related to the ability to organize thinking, the ability to plan, organization and the ability to switch attention from one thing to another in a timely manner.
A striking example of self-perseverance, or self-education, is the “set of virtues” compiled by the outstanding American educator and statesman B. Franklin.
Abstinence: you should not eat to the point of satiety and drink not to the point of intoxication.
Silence: one should say only what can benefit oneself or another; avoid empty talk.
Order: you should keep all your things in their places; each activity has its own place and time.
Decisiveness: one must decide to do what must be done; strictly carry out what is decided.
Hard work: no time to waste; you should always be busy with something useful; you should refuse all unnecessary actions and contacts.
Sincerity: you cannot deceive; one must have pure and fair thoughts and intentions.
Justice: no one should be harmed; you cannot avoid good deeds that are among your duties.
Moderation: extremes should be avoided; restrain, as far as you consider appropriate, feelings of resentment from injustice.
Cleanliness: bodily dirt must be avoided; Maintain neatness in clothing and home.
Calmness: you should not worry about trifles.
Modesty, etc.
The second group of volitional qualities is closely related to character traits. This group includes such qualities of will or character traits as determination, self-control, and self-confidence.
Decisiveness - the ability of a person to make a choice of behavior without hesitation, quickly, confidently, without endless revisions and just as clearly implement decisions made. Naturally, decisiveness is useful only if a person is able to correctly assess the situation and, therefore, correctly formulate the goals and objectives of behavior, and decisive, but incorrect actions in terms of consequences are much worse than the manifestation of indecisiveness.
Self-control And self confidence - qualities that determine a person’s ability to subordinate his behavior to achieving a goal, regardless of the appearance of distracting circumstances, even if these circumstances represent serious obstacles.
If unsatisfactory results are obtained, a conscious correction (change) of previously selected needs and drives is carried out. A person again forms and demonstrates acts of will, changing the content of subsequent stages of his activity to satisfy a specific need.
Formation of will- the process is long, and it begins in early childhood.
The entire personality makeup influences the manifestation and development of abilities, at the same time, abilities and their awareness influence the formation of the psychological appearance and its manifestation in human behavior and activity.
An exclusive passion for one thing, under certain conditions, can lead to negative results - one-sided and even limited personality development. At the same time, if you realize the importance of knowledge in time, you can fill in the gaps through self-education and achieve a high cultural level. It is important not only to support the emerging inclination and create appropriate conditions for the development of abilities, but also to influence the formation of an active attitude towards life, knowledge, and one’s responsibilities. When an individual feels drawn to some activity and begins to realize his abilities, under certain conditions he experiences a sense of responsibility to society, the team and demands more from himself. On the contrary, without the formation of diligence, a false consciousness is formed that with great abilities there is no need to work, strain strength, that everything will come by itself. If a person has formed positive features character, if he has realized his abilities and their significance for his own development, then he will overcome unfavourable conditions and realizes his plans, masters the profession to which he feels drawn and for which he has the prerequisites.
Development of will
And now - more about development of will, which is expressed by the following differentiating characteristics:
- the scope of goals changes and expands (determination);
- the individual overcomes ever-increasing external and internal difficulties (willpower is formed);
- the individual achieves an increasingly longer duration of volitional effort (willpower increases);
- the ability to voluntarily inhibit one’s impulses increases (display of self-control, endurance);
- the individual acquires the ability to set distant goals and direct his efforts to achieve them;
- goals and ways to achieve them are set and determined by the individual himself.
So, doing different kinds activity, while overcoming external and internal obstacles, a person develops in himself volitional qualities that characterize him as a person and have great importance for study, work.
Volitional qualities include:
Determination- a volitional property of a person, manifested in a person’s subordination of his behavior to a sustainable life goal, readiness to give all his strength and abilities to achieve it. This promising whole determines particular goals as necessary steps on the way to achieving the main goal; everything superfluous and unnecessary is discarded. It must be remembered, however, that for some people, determination takes an individualized direction. They also set clear goals, however, their content reflects only personal needs and interests.
Determination- a volitional property of a person, which manifests itself in a quick and thoughtful choice of a goal, determining ways to achieve it. Determination is especially evident in difficult situations choices associated with risk. The opposite of this quality is indecision - can manifest itself in an endless struggle of motives, in constant revisions of an already made decision.
Courage is a person’s ability to overcome feelings of fear and confusion. Courage is manifested not only in actions when a person’s life is in danger; the brave will not be afraid of difficult work, great responsibility, and will not be afraid of failure. Courage requires a reasonable, healthy attitude to reality. True courage of a strong-willed person is overcoming fear and taking into account threatening dangers. A brave person is aware of his capabilities and thinks through his actions sufficiently.
Courage- this is a complex personality quality that presupposes not only courage, but also perseverance, endurance, self-confidence, and the rightness of one’s cause. Courage is manifested in a person’s ability to achieve a goal, despite the danger to life and personal well-being, overcoming adversity, suffering and deprivation.
Initiative- this is a strong-willed quality, thanks to which a person acts creatively. This is an active and courageous flexibility of a person’s actions and actions that meets the times and conditions.
Perseverance- a volitional property of a person, which manifests itself in the ability to carry through decisions made, achieve a set goal, overcoming any obstacles on the way to it. One should distinguish from persistence the negative quality of will - stubbornness. A stubborn person recognizes only his own opinion, his own arguments and strives to be guided by them in his actions and actions, although these arguments may be erroneous.
Independence- a strong-willed personality trait, manifested in the ability to set goals on one’s own initiative, find ways to achieve them and practically implement decisions made. An independent person does not give in to attempts to persuade him to take actions that are not consistent with his beliefs. The opposite quality of independence is suggestibility. A suggestible person easily succumbs to the influence of others, he does not know how to think critically about other people's advice, resist them, he accepts any other people's advice, even obviously untenable ones.
With endurance, or self-control, is a volitional property of a person, which manifests itself in the ability to restrain mental and physical manifestations that interfere with achieving a goal. The opposite negative quality is impulsiveness, the tendency to act on the first impulse, hastily, without thinking about one’s actions.
Discipline- this is a volitional property of an individual, manifested in the conscious subordination of one’s behavior to social rules and norms. Conscious discipline is manifested in the fact that a person, without coercion, recognizes the obligation to follow labor rules, academic discipline, socialist society and fights for the implementation of them by others.
And now you can imagine the image of a strong-willed person who has such qualities as determination, perseverance, patience, restraint, self-control, determination, and diligence. discipline, firmness of will, fortitude, caution, reasonable passion, courage, bravery, bravery, courage and its opposite - a state of lack of will, manifested in such qualities as stubbornness, pliability, suggestibility. indecision, cowardice, timidity, daring.
How are the volitional qualities of a person formed and developed?
Before answering this question, let us reformulate it as follows: how does the will of a person as a whole develop and, together with it, his individual volitional qualities?
Observations of the behavior of children show that the first clear signs of the manifestation of volitional behavior in them can be found between the second and third years of life. This means that it is during this period that children already have a will, and they can demonstrate it. But the question remains unanswered. when the corresponding personality traits are just beginning to form in a child: after all, before the age of one they are definitely not there, but between two and three years they already exist and manifest themselves. It is not possible to answer this question unambiguously and convincingly, based on precisely established facts, due to the above-mentioned difficulties in the psychological study of will. However, it can be assumed that the beginning of the formation of will refers to the time when the child begins to take the first persistent actions aimed at overcoming obstacles, reinforced by adults watching the children. This usually happens between the first and second years of a child's life. Strictly speaking, these earliest in the time of their appearance actions of the child cannot yet be called completely volitional. They may represent a purely mechanical repetition by the child of some initially not entirely successful actions. However, they are also part of the volitional actions independently carried out by a person, since any such action, if it is not performed or performed unsuccessfully, a person must repeat. When the incentives for repeating unsuccessful actions become no longer external (encouragement or support from people around), but internal (the pleasure received from the fact that one was able to overcome the obstacles that arose and achieve the goal on one’s own), we are already dealing with a volitional action. A sign that the child is beginning to develop his own will and the associated pleasure appears in connection with successfully overcoming an obstacle is the child’s independent repetition of actions that were not entirely successful in achieving the goal. This behavior can be observed in some children starting around 6-8 months. For example, a baby is trying to reach an object or toy. He does not immediately succeed in this, but he persistently repeats the corresponding action until it leads to success, and after that he experiences obvious pleasure.
The first signs of volitional behavior observed in children, dating back to the second or third year of life, indicate that the children have formed the so-called primary volitional qualities. In this case we are talking, for example, about such qualities as perseverance and stubbornness, i.e. characterizing a relatively low level of human volitional development. We can probably talk about the beginning of the formation of secondary volitional personality traits only from the time when the child’s volitional behavior acquires a rational and conscious character. This usually occurs between 5 and 6 years of age or earlier, in preschool age. At this time, many children begin to show persistence, determination, responsibility in the types of activities available to them - games, and also, partly, in communication, study and work, i.e. actually secondary volitional qualities of the individual.
The human will actively continues to develop further during childhood. The teenage period is especially important in this regard, since for many teenagers willpower becomes one of the most valuable qualities individuals and almost all children of this age begin to purposefully and actively develop their will.
By the end of adolescence and the beginning of adolescence, the basic volitional qualities of a person can be considered formed. In practice this means the following:
- If by this age a person’s will has been developed, then he can independently manifest it in all matters that he undertakes:
- if a person lacks will, then after this age it is already difficult to fight this deficiency;
- Teenagers who have a will usually begin at this age to develop personally faster than teenagers who grew up weak-willed.
Beyond adolescence, i.e. after 25-30 years, the will, apparently, no longer develops in a person. If by this age a person has already become strong-willed, then he will most likely remain so. if by this age he turned out to be weak-willed, then, most likely, he will remain so in the future.
What has been said, however, does not mean that the will of a person after the specified age and as it psychological development(it undoubtedly continues) does not change at all. Those changes of a volitional nature that can occur, and sometimes actually occur, after 25-30 years, are manifested in the fact that a person’s volitional behavior becomes more and more reasonable, conscious and balanced. Before putting volitional effort into something, a person thinks, weighs his chances, decides for himself whether it is worth doing something that requires volitional effort from him or not, and if after much thought he comes to the conclusion that it is It’s worth doing, only then does it begin to show its will. In other words, the will of a person, as he develops psychologically, ceases to be a blind, unreasonable force and becomes a conscious aid to his reason.
Let us summarize: 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 that if there is a will, there is a person, if there is no will, there is no person, and as much will as there is a person.
The real nature of the will allows us to reveal the idea of I.P. Pavlova about man as a system, the only "according to the highest self-regulation." This idea is realized in the idea of the regulatory function of the psyche, revealed in many fundamental works of the founders of Soviet psychology. Its concretization was facilitated by many years of research by V.I. Selivanov and his colleagues, the concept of conscious self-regulation of activity, developed by O.A. Konopkin and others.
The available data 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, action according to instructions and self-instruction always takes place here.
Actually, volitional actions cannot be voluntary at the same time, since they, too, always represent actions according to self-instruction. However, their characteristics do not end there. Volitional actions (will as a generalized designation of something specific, differentiating for a person top level control of all his psychophysical data) presuppose the ability of the 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.
If "I" bodily stronger than the spirit in the intensity of its needs, and in a volitional conflict the body defeats the spirit, then the spirit shows its weakness through its illnesses. What does “body conquering spirit” mean? This means that a person is not able to realize his claims to the appropriate social status and well-being, since immediate bodily desires do not give him the opportunity to concentrate on achieving social goals.
Will as a manifestation of the conflict between spirit and body is only one form of struggle of motives within a person.
It should be noted that we observe the absence of conflict with the predominance of the bodily “I” where social and spiritual motives are less developed than bodily ones, such as, for example, in a biological leader or simply in an undeveloped personality.
The Eastern tradition forms the internal relationships of bodily, social and spiritual motives as a community only if all three types of “I” are harmoniously developed and have the experience of mutual enrichment. Ancient Eastern cultures long ago realized the importance of cosmic intelligence. Ideas about the cosmic nature of the mind, its functions of self-improvement, the religions of Eastern cultures - Buddhism and Hinduism - were reflected in ideas about the Absolute and the unusually developed, diverse practice of physical, intellectual and spiritual self-improvement. What is the way of manifestation of will as a community of three basic motives of personality? This community corresponds to the formula: “If the consciousness says: “This is necessary,” the body responds: “I will do it with pleasure.”
The work of the mind is always creative process, and it manifests itself only in a creative assessment of the situation, setting a goal, and finding ways to realize this goal. In other words, reason in human consciousness manifests itself only when it is necessary to resolve simple or complex problematic problems or situations. However, a person carries out a huge number of mental actions with the help of so-called stereotypes, automatic attitudes, etc. The mind does not participate in all these manifestations of mental activity. If you conduct an experiment in which you record manifestations of both creativity and automaticity during 24 hours in solving your everyday problems, with the goal of calculating how much of your waking time is occupied by intelligent activity and how much by automatic activity, then you will get the ratio of your intellectual potential and the stereotypes you have, i.e. coefficient of the degree of intelligence of your being.
Thus, will is an active continuation of the mind, consciousness.
In the life of an individual, the position he occupies plays a huge role. Active or passive?
Passive- the less the will, the stronger the involvement in the elements of the environment, the inability to go beyond its limits and from one’s own circle, the less the right of personal choice, the lower the energy level of the individual, his field, the weaker he is and the more dependent on external factors.
Active- this is a chance, and the higher the activity and will, the higher the gradations, the more energy, the greater the variability of choices and opportunities, the more corrective factors (limiting, checking and controlling).