Action — changes in a person or in the world around him, the source or cause of which was the person himself.
The reason is the basis, a pretext for any actions and deeds. For example, a funeral is a good reason why I am absent from work. Or I laugh for no reason.
In addition, a cause is a phenomenon that causes the occurrence of another phenomenon. For example, the cause of the fire is that the damaged wiring was not changed in time.
Action can be: thought, decision, order, statement, bodily movement or movement …
If you got into the car and went to a meeting, this is your action. But if you get stuck in a traffic jam along the way, this is usually not called your action, they will say “circumstances”. It depends (it is considered) — not from you, but the action is only that the source or cause was the person himself.
And if the child crap one’s pants — is this his action? No, at a young age this is not considered the action of the baby, but the reaction of his body. At least that’s the usual point of view. But there may be other views, in which a person establishes the author’s responsibility for such processes — either at a certain age of the child, or in connection with a certain situation, or with a certain attitude towards this person.
Was something an action or reaction of the organism, defined by the concept of author’s responsibility. If it seems that you have done something, it is your action. If it can be assumed that it was not you who did it, but what happened to you, most likely, what happened will not be called your action. However, the subjective factor always intervenes here, and much depends on the attitude of those around you. If as a result of your actions only you became ill, this may well be treated condescendingly and your actions should not be considered actions. You got caught in the rain, all your clothes got wet. They will say: “Oh, how wet you are! The rain soaked all your clothes!” (copyright on the rain). If you wet someone else’s clothes in the rain, then you may well fall under a more strict attitude: “Why did you wet my clothes?” (You will be responsible for the copyright).
The child laughed in the classroom during the lessons. If the teacher is not in a good mood or is angry with the child, she may well evaluate laughter as an action of the child: “What an outrage! Stop your laughter!”, and blames parents: “Your child behaves badly, does not control himself at all, laughs in class!” If the teacher is in a good mood and treats the child well, her assessments may be different: “Vladik, try to calm down!” And to parents: “No, he doesn’t do anything in class, he just has a lot of laughter in him.”
Action types
Action can be both an action and a reaction. An action is an action that is launched by the person himself, his decision and free choice. Reaction — a response action: what happens to a person as a response to external influences (the impact on him of something other than his Self). If you decide to do exercises in the morning, this is your action. If during charging they answered a question addressed to you, most likely it was a reaction. See Action and Reaction
Actions can be meaningful and meaningless. Meaningful and serving some (conscious or unconscious) purpose of a person’s actions, the responsibility for which is assigned to him, is usually called already — behavior.
Action can be physical and social. Physical action manipulates only objects, social action refers to people. Actually nailing the boards and making a shelf is a physical action. Making a shelf for your wife is a social action.
M. Weber indicates four types of social action: expedient, value-rational, affective and traditional.
Actions can be internal or external. Internal — to get together, put your thoughts in order before an important speech. External — straighten your shoulders, go on stage, smile, start talking.
Actions and level of personality development
It is believed that an infant at birth does not yet have actions, he has only the germ of his future actions — his activity. The actions of the infant are formed at the sensorimotor stage from birth to 2 years. The more a person develops and matures, the greater the volume of his activity is already considered his actions. At the same time, the mass personality is dominated by reactions, not actions. And even when it seems that a person at the level of a mass personality makes a decision himself, more often he is controlled by the needs of his body, the patterns of his mind work and subordinate random, including someone anchored, emotions. In a developed personality, the body, mind and feelings are more manageable, more under the control of the Self, so the actions of a developed personality are more often actions.
A person acts a lot or a little, largely depends on his energy and the availability of internal permissions: energetic and courageous people are more inclined to act. The repetition of actions usually leads to the formation of a habit.
Action in academic psychology
In academic psychology, action is described as a functional organ constructed in vivo, having its own biodynamic, sensual and affective tissue. See →