Volition: Implementation of Intentions

Abstract

If all action tendencies, whether arising spontaneously or after some reflections, are viewed as intentions, then the research on motivation can be divided into two main camps. One of these studies how intentions are formed, the other how they are implemented. Why one wants to do something and that one wants to do it is one thing, but its actual implementation and successful completion is another. The first involves contemplating the reasons for doing something, i.e., considering various incentive-laden consequences of possible action or inaction. This is “motivation” in the narrow sense. The second is a matter of concrete implementation of actions appropriate to the attainment of a goal chosen in the motivation phase. This is “action,” or because the intended is willed, it can also be called “volition.” This distinction between issues in motivation and issues in volition can occasionally be sharpened further by a connecting link, namely the concluding process of intention formation, traditionally called an act of will.