# Volition > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Volition > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Volition.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volition > Source revision: 1357039990 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Cognitive process of decision to act For other uses, see [Volition (disambiguation)](/source/Volition_(disambiguation)). This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) **Volition**, also known as **will** or **conation**, is the [cognitive process](/source/Cognitive_process) by which an individual [decides on and commits](/source/Decision_making) to a particular course of action. It is defined as purposive striving and is one of the primary human psychological functions. Others include [affect](/source/Affect_(psychology)) (feeling or emotion), [motivation](/source/Motivation) (goals and expectations), and [cognition](/source/Cognition) (thinking). Volitional processes can be applied consciously or they can be automatized as [habits](/source/Habit_(psychology)) over time. Most modern conceptions of volition address it as a process of conscious action control which becomes automatized (e.g. see Heckhausen and Kuhl; Gollwitzer; Boekaerts and Corno). ## Overview Many researchers treat *volition* and *[willpower](/source/Will_(philosophy))* as scientific and colloquial terms (respectively) for the same process. When a person *makes up their mind* to do a thing, that state is termed 'immanent volition'. When we put forth any particular act of [choice](/source/Choice), that act is called an emanant, executive, or imperative volition. When an immanent or settled state of choice controls or governs a series of actions, that state is termed predominant volition. Subordinate volitions are particular acts of choice which carry into effect the object sought for by the governing or *predominant volition*. According to [Gary Kielhofner](/source/Gary_Kielhofner)'s "Model of Human Occupation", volition is one of the three sub-systems that act on human behavior. Within this model, volition refers to a person's values, interests and [self-efficacy](/source/Self-efficacy) (personal causation) about personal performance.[1] [Kurt Lewin](/source/Kurt_Lewin) argues that motivation and volition are one and the same, in distinction to the nineteenth century psychologist [Narziß Ach](/source/Narzi%C3%9F_Ach). Ach proposed that there is a certain threshold of desire that distinguishes motivation from volition: when desire lies below this threshold, it is motivation, and when it crosses over, it becomes volition. In the book *A Bias for Action*,[2] Heinrich Bruch and [Sumantra Ghoshal](/source/Sumantra_Ghoshal) also differentiate volition (willpower) from motivation. Using this model, they propose assessing individuals' differing levels of commitment with regard to tasks by measuring it on a scale of intent from motivation(an emotion) to volition (a decision). Discussions of impulse control (e.g., Kuhl and Heckhausen) and education (e.g., Corno), also make the motivation-volition distinction. Corno's model ties volition to the processes of self-regulated learning. ## See also - [Appetition](/source/Appetition) - [Avolition](/source/Avolition) - [Executive functions](/source/Executive_functions) - [Free will](/source/Free_will) - [Motivational salience](/source/Motivational_salience) - [Neuroscience of free will](/source/Neuroscience_of_free_will) - [Self-agency](/source/Self-agency) - [Prohairesis](/source/Prohairesis) - [True Will](/source/True_Will) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKielhofner200833–50_1-0)** [Kielhofner 2008](#CITEREFKielhofner2008), pp. 33–50. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Bruch, Heike (2004). *A bias for action : how effective managers harness their willpower, achieve results, and stop wasting time*. Sumantra Ghoshal. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-59139-408-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-59139-408-2). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [53824111](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/53824111). ### Bibliography - [Boekaerts, M.](/source/Monique_Boekaerts); Corno, L. (2005). "Self-regulation in the classroom: A perspective on assessment and intervention". *[Applied Psychology: An International Review](/source/Applied_Psychology%3A_An_International_Review)*. 54. **54** (2): 199–231. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1464-0597.2005.00205.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1464-0597.2005.00205.x). - Corno, L. (May 2001). "Volitional aspects of self-regulated learning". In Zimmerman, Bary J.; Schunk, Dale H. (eds.). *Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: Theoretical perspectives* (2nd ed.). [Mahwah, New Jersey](/source/Mahwah%2C_New_Jersey): [Taylor & Francis](/source/Taylor_%26_Francis). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780805835601](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780805835601). - Corno, Lyn; Cronbach, Lee J.; Kupermintz, Haggai K.; Lohman, David F.; Mandinach, Ellen B.; Porteus, Ann W.; Talbert, Joan E. (September 2001). Cronbach, Lee J. (ed.). [*Remaking the concept of aptitude: Extending the legacy of Richard E. Snow*](https://archive.org/details/remakingconcepto0000snow). [Mahwah, New Jersey](/source/Mahwah%2C_New_Jersey): [Routledge](/source/Routledge). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0805835328](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0805835328). - Deimann, M.; Bastiaens, T. (2010). ["The role of volition in distance education: An exploration of its capacities"](https://doi.org/10.19173%2Firrodl.v11i1.778). *The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning*. 11. **11** (1): 1. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.19173/irrodl.v11i1.778](https://doi.org/10.19173%2Firrodl.v11i1.778). - Kielhofner, Gary (2008). *Model of Human Occupation: Theory and application* (4th ed.). Baltimore: Lippencott Williams & Wilkins. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7817-6996-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7817-6996-9). ## External links - [Volition](https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?name=Volition) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine [Medical Subject Headings](/source/Medical_Subject_Headings) (MeSH) - [Weakness of Will](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/weakness-will/) (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) - [Modeling Willpower](http://yearlycider.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/modeling-willpower/) (Darcey Riley) - [Narziß Kaspar Ach (1871-1946)](http://www.psychologie.uni-konstanz.de/forschung/kognitive-psychologie/various/narziss-ach/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304033623/http://www.psychologie.uni-konstanz.de/forschung/kognitive-psychologie/various/narziss-ach/) 2016-03-04 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (University of Konstanz) - [http://www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~schopra/Persons/Frankfurt.pdf](http://www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~schopra/Persons/Frankfurt.pdf) (Harry Frankfurt's Analysis of the Volition among other things) v t e Mental processes Cognition Association Awareness Cognitive flexibility Cognitive liberty Forecasting affective Foresight Comprehension Consciousness Critical thinking Decision-making Imagination Intuition Problem solving methods strategies Prospection Perception Amodal Color RGB model Depth Form Haptic (Touch) Perception as interpretation Peripheral Social Sound Harmonics Pitch Speech Visual Memory Consolidation Encoding Storage Recall Other Attention Experiential avoidance Higher nervous activity Intention Ironic process theory Learning Mental fatigue Relational frame theory Mental set Thinking Thought suppression Volition Category Authority control databases International GND Other Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Volition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volition) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volition?action=history)). 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