Human activity has been an object of scientific research since ancient times and has its own types, forms, signs. It is inherent in a person who does not expect ready-made solutions to his own problems from fate and those around him. He is always looking for the most profitable life options for him.
What ancient philosophers said about her
Scientists of the ancient East and West approached the study of what human activity is from both materialistic and idealistic points of view.
Socrates (470-399 BC, Ancient Greece) explained it by the state of the soul, which he considered his mental property, the focus of moral ideas. These ideas are formed as a result of teaching a person what is good and evil, and the types of activity and the nature of his actions depend on this knowledge. Socrates' slogan "know thyself" should be understood as a call to analyze behavior and attitudes towards it, and not to analyze one's own emotions and experiences.
Aristotle (384-322 BC), studying what mental activity is, called exercises in moral deeds as a condition for its increase. Mere knowledge of good and evil does not make a person the owner of such qualities as, for example, virtue and prudence - constant training, exercises in them make him such.
The doctrine of the Stoics originated in Athens in the 4th century BC. e. His followers believed that an increase in the activity of the psyche was inaccessible to ordinary people, its management was the lot of only true sages, whose mind is impassive and does not allow emotional experiences. Any emotional upheavals deprive a person of inner freedom, interfere with the fulfillment of duty.
Epicurus (341-270 BC, Ancient Greece), on the contrary, considered renunciation of social activity to be true happiness. He saw it in the satisfaction of simple needs. The will, mind, mental activity of a person should be directed to training in self-restraint from inaccessible pleasures, otherwise suffering from their unattainability is inevitable.
Do society need active people?
Stimulation of the employee's business enterprise is one of the goals of modern management. Its development leads to a significant increase in labor productivity, the development of a culture of production and non-production relations.
In psychology, activity is defined as the activity of an individual directed to the environment in order to satisfy their own needs. Its owner is a person with such personal qualities as:
- focus,
- awareness of the choice of ways and means to achieve goals,
- the ability to analyze the results of their actions and, taking into account the current situation, correct them.
Such an individual, satisfying his own material, social, ethical, artistic needs, strives to transform the environment, meaningfully improves the tools of labor, participates in solving creative labor and social problems. His personality is improving as he wants to know more, to learn a lot. That is, it can be argued with good reason that the initiative of the members of society contributes to its comprehensive progress.
Activity levels
The more attractive a goal is for a person, the more energy he spends to achieve it. The highest level of activity is observed in people with a harmonic personality type: they have highly developed both responsibility for the work and the desire to get the greatest internal satisfaction from its results.
Productive-type personalities also have high results of actions, however, they achieve them because of their passion for their ideas, and not because of a high level of responsibility.
The reflexive type is distinguished by increased consciousness, hypercontrol, but these qualities, combined with self-criticism, make him unsure of himself and his initiatives. Therefore, he is ready for their active implementation only with extraneous moral support.
Lack of independence in achievingthe goals set for them are manifested by people of the performing and functional type. Taking responsibility, they strictly follow third-party instructions and instructions, use ready-made solutions without involving their own initiative.
Complex business and creative proposals can be put forward by contemplators, but in the foreground they have the promotion of their own "I", and not the activity to implement their ideas. Lack of responsibility and independence, offensiveness are characteristic features of people of this type.
Thus, what level of activity he has (high, medium or low) depends both on the personal natural qualities of a person (temperament, abilities), and on those brought up in him by his parents and the social environment.
Forms and factors of human activity
At birth, a person is completely dependent on the people around him. But as he grows up and develops, new opportunities appear that support his independent existence as an individual, encourage him to certain types of activity.
Soviet psychologist B. G. Ananiev in his research identified such forms of human activity as communication, work and knowledge.
In the works of other scientists, these include contemplation, reflection and behavior, managing other people, amateur performance, as well as creative, artistic, cognitive, motivational, practical, combat, sports, information and communication forms.
Reasons or factors of human activity are explained by the needsatisfaction of a number of needs that guarantee him, firstly, physical survival (food, clothing, shelter, protection, reproduction). Secondly, he needs to communicate and be recognized by other members of the society, which is a source of activation of his labor, communicative activity. Thirdly, the satisfaction of spiritual requests requires from the individual his own energetic search for inner freedom, self-promotion in creativity, actions to change the environment in accordance with his views and requests.
Activity as a result of upbringing
To purposefully act, a person must show creativity, strong-willed efforts, communicate with other people - consult, study someone else's experience. But these qualities - a strong will, a non-standard approach to the problem, the ability to communicate, analyze, draw conclusions are not born with the baby. What is activity? This is the result of proper upbringing.
Its formation in a child is one of the many parental tasks, which is not as simple as it seems at first glance. First of all, adults need a conscious approach to achieving this goal and patience: the development of activity is one of those pedagogical problems that are not solved quickly.
Note to parents: how to do it
An active person means active, energetic. Such children become in families in which a democratic style of relations between them and adults is maintained. It involves flexibility in relationships: showing sufficient demands and control,parents respect the opinion and position of the child, develop his independence, initiative, self-criticism. Feasible assignments and meaningful encouragement for him stimulate increased activity in achieving the goal. Sufficient help, a calm, business-like analysis of both the results of the children's initiative and the mistakes made and successful actions are important.
The authoritarian style of parenting suppresses the activity of the child, as threats of punishment and coercion cause fear to violate the instructions of an adult, to make mistakes in their actions.
Liberal style, on the contrary, is undemanding to children. Maximum freedom with a minimum of behavioral restrictions form aggressiveness and permissiveness. Such children believe that achieving the goal consists in forcing adults to bring them what they want on a silver platter, and not in being smart and entrepreneurial.
Society as a subject of activity education
The state is extremely interested in educating active and enterprising citizens. That is why any educational institution, the media, among other tasks, set themselves the difficult task of creating activity among the population.
Teachers, psychologists, social workers, cultural workers, public associations, leaders of all ranks act as subjects of the process, the purpose of which is the education of a socially responsible citizen. He must have:
- interest in community service,
- organizational qualities,
- diligence and initiative,
- self-criticism and exactingness towards oneself and others,
- willingness to help people.
These qualities guarantee the provision of public order and control over the implementation of laws on the ground, direct interaction between the population and the authorities.
Activity with minus sign
Criminal, immoral activities of citizens are not approved by society and are even punishable. What kind of activity a person has, what types, levels and forms of it he chooses - depends on the internal position of the individual. By the way in which actions and how it manifests itself, one can judge many human qualities. The higher the moral attitudes, the more the ways of satisfying needs (“I want” and “I must”) correlate with the rules and norms of human existence (“it is possible” or “impossible”). Hence the numerous examples of selfless courage and unprecedented meanness, hard work and shameless theft of other people's property for the sake of their own comfortable existence, uncompromising honesty and large-scale lies in order to become famous.
Anti-social "activity" in the selfish satisfaction of one's needs is the result of a combination of many circumstances of a person's personal and social life with his negative inner qualities - greed, vindictiveness, laziness, inability to control his actions and emotions.
Conclusion
Currently, there are many approaches to determining its types, forms, types, but the opinions of experts agree thatwhat is activity: it is a manifestation of initiative in activities that are significant for the individual himself and for society as a whole. Priorities in the upbringing of children and youth today have shifted towards the formation of a socially oriented, active, he althy morally and physically personality. Its public orientation does not exclude the freedom of individual needs and requests, but implies their delicate satisfaction without detriment to the public.
