Plan

1. General concept of activity. System-activity approach.

2. Structure of activity. Conscious and unconscious components of activity.

3. Types of activities.

1. General concept of activity. System-activity approach

General concept of activity.

The main difference between living matter and nonliving matter, higher forms of life from lower ones, is activity. Activity is a universal characteristic of living beings, aimed at maintaining vital connections with the outside world. The activity of animals and humans has significant differences.

Let's look at an example related to the construction of a dam by a family of beavers on the one hand, and people on the other. This example is not accidental, because Among all animals, beavers rank first in terms of their influence on nature. The beaver builds a dam to provide a breeding site for its offspring. No one has ever taught a beaver to build a dam. This is inherent in him in the form of an instinct, which contributes to the adequate adaptation of the animal to environmental conditions. The beaver's influence on nature is direct. The activity of animals is in the nature of adaptation to the surrounding world; it is instinctive and unconscious. An animal does not create anything and consumes what is created by nature, so its activity can be called vital activity.

Human activity has features:

A person builds a dam to satisfy economic, economic, and spiritual needs. This shows awareness and focus activities of people.

The creation of such a gigantic structure as a dam allows a person to influence the environment, creating water reserves for irrigating fields during periods of drought, producing electricity for lighting rooms and for operating machines and electrical appliances. As a result, people do not adapt to nature, but actively modify it themselves in accordance with their goals, which indicates the transformative impact of purposeful activity. At the same time cognition peace. Thanks to activity, a person finds himself free from the influence of the natural environment.

Transformation and knowledge of the surrounding world is indirect nature: when influencing nature, a person uses tools, and when understanding the surrounding world - knowledge, sign systems.

4. The activity of each individual person depends on his place in society, his individual characteristics and is possible only in society. It is impossible to transform the world around us alone; interaction with other people is necessary, which is historically conditioned. The result of activity is material and spiritual benefits that all people enjoy. This speaks about social orientation of activities.

5. The activity is characterized by objectivity– this is what the activity is aimed at. The subject of the activity is associated with it content. The specificity of the objective determination of activity is that objects of the external world do not directly affect the personality, but only after being transformed in the process of purposeful human activity, due to which greater adequacy of their reflection in consciousness is achieved. Objectivity is manifested in the social conditioning of people’s activities, its connection with meanings fixed and enshrined in tools and sign systems, social roles, values, and social norms.

6. Always exists in activity subject(a figure who transforms reality) and an object– what the activity is aimed at (the reality that needs to be transformed). The subject of activity is the active principle, and the object is passive. Consequently, activity is a subject-object relationship. The activity of each person is characterized by subjectivity, which is expressed in life experience, interests, attitudes, emotions, motives, and personal meaning.

Thus, activity is a form of human activity. It is always purposeful, conscious, productive, social in nature, promotes knowledge and creative transformation of the environment, i.e. activity is the process of human interaction with the world and the source of personal development.

Conclusion. Activity is a specific type of human activity aimed at knowledge and creative transformation of the surrounding world, including oneself and the conditions of one’s existence.

System-activity approach.

The main aspects of the system-activity approach are revealed in the lecture “Theoretical and methodological foundations of psychology.” The founder of the system-activity approach is S.L. Rubinstein. The central concept of this direction of psychology is the concept of the unity of consciousness and activity. Activity becomes activity precisely when a person realizes his needs and the dependence of their satisfaction on the implementation of actions aimed at actualizing social needs.

Depending on the direction of human activity, the following are distinguished:

internal activity: perceptual (sensations and perceptions), mental, mnemonic (memory), imaginative (creativity);

external activities of a substantive and practical nature.

The relationship between consciousness and external objective-practical activity is expressed in the phenomena of interiorization and exteriorization.

Consciousness and activity form unity, but not identity. Consciousness - the internal plane of activity or internal activity - arose from external practical activity through interiorization. Interiorization (translation of the external into the internal) is a transition as a result of which processes that are external in form with external, material objects are transformed into internal ones. For example, a child, before learning to count in his head or on the internal plane, performs actions with counting sticks on the external plane.

Exteriorization (translation of internal into external) is the process of generating external activity based on a number of internal structures that have developed in the process of interiorization of external activity. For example, before a person does something internally, he formulates a goal and draws up a plan of action, which is then implemented in external substantive and practical activity.

Conclusion. Through the products of activity one can study the consciousness and psyche of a person. Using the concept of “activity” in the analysis of mental phenomena allows us to implement a systematic approach. Firstly, the psyche is considered as a combination of internal and external (consciousness and activity): the psyche is generated and functions in the processes of activity. Secondly, human consciousness develops in the process of activity, depends on objective external conditions and at the same time determines a person’s subjective attitude to the world around him and presupposes his activity.

1. Contents and basic concepts of marketing
F. Kotler gives the following definition of marketing : "Marketing - a type of human activity aimed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange.”

The social foundations of marketing are associated with the following concepts: needs, demands, requests, goods, exchange, transaction and market.

Needs (primary needs). Marketing is based on the idea of ​​human needs.

Need - a person's sense of lack of something. People's needs are varied and complex. These are physiological needs - for food, clothing, warmth and safety, and social needs - for spiritual intimacy, influence and affection, and personal needs - for knowledge and self-expression. These needs are not created by someone else's efforts, but are natural characteristics of a person.

If the need is not satisfied, the person feels unhappy and destitute. The more this or that need means to him, the more deeply he worries. A dissatisfied person will search for an object that can satisfy the need, or try to drown it out.

Needs. The second basic idea of ​​marketing is the idea of ​​human needs.

Need - it is a need that has taken a specific form in accordance with the cultural structure and personality of the individual.

For some South Africans, fried locusts are a delicacy. A hungry Filipino will be happy with a young pig, beans and mango. A hungry Russian will prefer beef with fried potatoes, apples, cherries. Needs are expressed in objects that can satisfy the need in a way that is inherent in the cultural structure of a given society.

As society develops, the needs of its members grow. People encounter more and more objects that awaken their curiosity, interest and desire. Manufacturers, for their part, take targeted actions to stimulate the desire to own goods. They try to form a connection between what they put out and people's needs. A product is promoted as a means of satisfying one or more needs. The producer of a product or service does not create a need, it already exists. Unfortunately, managers and entrepreneurs often confuse needs with wants.

Requests. People's needs are almost limitless, but the resources to satisfy them are limited. A person will choose goods that will give him the greatest satisfaction within the limits of his financial capabilities.

Deal. If exchange is the basic concept of marketing as a scientific discipline, then the basic unit of measurement in the field of marketing is the transaction. Deal - it is a commercial exchange of value between two parties. It presupposes the presence of at least two value-significant objects and agreement on the conditions, time and place of its implementation.

As a rule, the terms of transactions are supported and protected by customs, traditions, and legislation, the implementation of which is ensured by relevant public institutions and government agencies. If there are no customs and traditions necessary to support a certain type of transaction, then the market mechanism will not work in the sphere of these transactions. Legislation and the institutions that support it and government agencies can form appropriate customs and traditions if they satisfy the needs of the parties to transactions.

Market. The concept of “transaction” is associated with the concept of “market”. Market - This is a collection of existing and potential buyers of a product.

There are several ways to meet people's needs;

Market (exchange of work results);

Self-sufficiency (hunting, fishing, gardening);

Expropriation (robbery, theft);

Begging;

Forced distribution.

The most famous and effective of them is market.

The structure of markets was determined by the role played by the main actors, namely: the “seller” market, the “buyer” market, the “neither seller nor buyer” market.

Seller's market. A market condition in which demand significantly exceeds supply. Any goods and services offered to the market are immediately sold, regardless of whether they fully meet the requirements of buyers. The main thing is their presence. This market is characterized by:

1. poor range of products offered;

2. minimum volumes and scale of production;

3. complete absence of competition.

Buyers' market. A market condition in which supply exceeds demand. The buyer has the opportunity to ask for different varieties and brands of goods offered by various manufacturers and choose the ones that are most suitable for him in terms of price and consumer characteristics. This market is different:

1. large assortment, variety of products offered;

2. stable volumes and scale of production, clearly responding to any changes in customer demand;

3. high level of competition.

The market includes three main interrelated elements: the market for goods and services, the market for production factors, and the financial market (Fig. 28).

Fig.28. Competitive market structure
The market for goods and services requires the creation and functioning of commodity exchanges, wholesale and retail trade, and marketing structures; as a rule, it includes the consumer market, the market for services and spiritual goods.

The consumer market is of great importance for economic development, i.e. market for food, clothing, shoes, cars and other consumer goods. The state of the consumer market determines the security of the population, the level of consumption, the stability of money circulation, etc. The degree of development of the services market in the country’s economy is determined by the provision of services to the population and enterprises, their quality and timeliness. And finally, the market for spiritual goods includes the sphere of trade in cultural objects and spiritual ideas, stimulating their birth, distribution and use.

The market for factors of production includes the market for land, labor and capital. Land refers not only to the land itself, used by peasants to obtain agricultural products, but also to the raw materials extracted from its depths or “removed” from the land. Labor in the labor market is defined as the services of workers, including the services of workers, entrepreneurs, managers and heads of firms. The most important instrument of this market is the demand for labor and its supply. In addition, the labor exchange reflects the entire labor reserve, trains and retrains the unemployed, and organizes public works.

Capital, as a factor of production, consists of means of production (buildings, structures, equipment, etc.) and the funds necessary to purchase means of production. Recently, Western economists also include the entrepreneurial talent of a person who organizes production, makes decisions on the production of goods, takes on the risk of introducing new equipment, technologies, innovative methods of organizing production, etc., as factors of production.

The financial (money) market is a market that reflects the supply and demand for financial assets: money, bonds and shares.

All three markets are in close interaction.

Marketing Principles- these are the provisions that guide the enterprise in its business activities. The principles reflect the essence of marketing, are based on its modern concept and involve achieving the goals of marketing activities. Basic principles of marketing:

1) production of products taking into account the needs of customers, the market situation and the real capabilities of the enterprise;

2) the most complete satisfaction of the buyer’s needs;

3) sales of products and services in certain markets in planned volumes and on time;

4) ensuring stable performance (profitability) of the production and commercial activities of the enterprise on the basis of preparing the production of goods of market novelty;

5) unity of strategy and tactics of the manufacturer in order to adapt to the changing requirements of customers while actively influencing the formation and stimulation of needs; adaptation - changes in marketing plan carried out by a company (organization) in order to adapt to new changed conditions and business goals.

Marketing is a goal-oriented activity. Its beginning is the setting of goals with their subsequent clarification based on a comprehensive marketing research.

The goals of the company are, as a rule, long-term, strategic in nature, marketing goals specific, situational, and therefore revised in connection with changes in the external and internal environment of the company.

In modern conditions, high profits or the conquest and retention of a certain market share are realized mainly through the production and sale of goods of optimal quality.

Many firms are fighting for market share by cutting prices.

According to the German Marketing Association, the first place in the ranking of marketing goals is the creation of new products, modification of goods, and improvement of service.

The second most important goal of marketing is currently considered the so-called human factor, or more precisely, the formation of corporate culture. In the world of private entrepreneurship, the existence of the following relationship has long been recognized: high qualifications and motivation of personnel lead to active innovation, the creation of new goods and determine their production at the optimal level, with “zero defects,” and this predetermines high demand for consumer goods and, as consequence, achieving a “target” rate of profit or mastering a certain market share. Humane investments in people simply turn out to be profitable.

Naturally, the goals of a company's activities and marketing goals are always closely related and correlated with each other in content and time. Thus, marketing goals:

=> specific, can be expressed in numbers;

=> limited by time frame;

=> flexible, situational, can be adjusted due to changes in the state of affairs in the company and on the market.

Earlier we said that the subject of needs can be physical (object-oriented needs), social (subject-oriented needs) and cultural (person-oriented needs) aspects of the world. Accordingly, as a result of satisfying needs, certain bodily (physiological), social and personal changes occur. These changes can be reflected in consciousness (for example, a change in the state of consciousness when taking psychoactive substances or joy from achieving a high social status) or occur without the participation of consciousness (maintaining the sclera of the eye in a moist state). Needs can be satisfied either passively (for example, when the temperature drops, the blood capillaries in the skin narrow) or actively (moving to a warmer place). Moreover, the active form of satisfaction can be instinctive or active.

Let us note that a person’s method of actively realizing any need is sociocultural in nature. For example, a person does not tear a raw piece of meat with his hands, but prepares a steak from it, which he eats with a knife and fork. The basic specificity of human needs (compared to representatives of the animal world) is as follows:

• 1) a person is able to produce new items to satisfy his needs (for example, invent synthetic fibers);
• 2) at a certain stage of its development, it acquires the ability to arbitrarily regulate needs (for example, it can go on a hunger strike as a sign of protest);
• 3) new needs are constantly being formed in its activities;
• 4) a person is included in the dynamics of objectification and deobjectification of his existing needs, i.e. can change (including consciously choose) items of need.

From the point of view of adequate satisfaction of needs, the processes of their objectification And deobjectification. In the act of objectifying a need, a motive is born. The essence of the process of objectifying a need is the meeting of a living being with the world, when the internal readiness for action acquires a specific focus - it becomes an activity. Activity is always motivated, i.e. determined by the motive - the object to which it is directed. The possibility of the opposite process - the deobjectification of needs - provides flexibility and variability of behavior both in the event of changes in the external world (animal habitat or human living conditions) and in connection with changes in the subject himself, which is especially important for the life of the individual.

Instinctive Need Satisfaction

The most significant needs from the point of view of evolution acquired fixed methods of satisfaction in phylogenesis. Behavior to satisfy needs, which is carried out on the basis of innate programs, is called instinctive behavior. Instinctive satisfaction of needs is homeostatic in nature. The principle of homeostasis is chronologically the first explanatory principle of the mechanism of action of need. It consists in affirming the body’s tendency to maintain a constant internal state of the body that is optimal for a representative of a given species. In homeostatic concepts, need is thought of as tension that the body seeks to minimize.

The implementation of instinct is a chain of fixed actions, which is initiated by something innate and specific to a given animal species signal stimulus, those. some aspect of the environment (color, size, smell, etc.), rather than a complete object. For example, the male of a small fish, the three-spined smelt, has a bright red belly during the mating season. The red spot on the fish's abdomen acts as a signal stimulus that triggers instinctive territory defense behavior in other males. During the breeding season, male smelt will make menacing attacks even on a rough dummy with a red spot, while maintaining complete indifference towards the male of their own species, whose redness will be masked.

The classic concept of instinctive behavior was formulated by K. Lorenz and N. Tinbergen, who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1973. Scientists argued that both internal and environmental factors are important for the realization of instinct. The model proposed by Lorenz and Tinbergen was called hydromechanical model of motivation (Fig. 4.2).

Instinctive behavior of a certain type can be initiated under different conditions. Firstly, such a large amount of instinctual “energy” can accumulate in the “reservoir” that behavior begins to unfold without the influence of external stimuli. Thus, hunger forces an animal to look for food, even when nothing in the external environment reminds of it; and some birds perform very complex mating dances in the absence of a potential partner simply because “the time has come.”

Rice. 4.2.

1 – a reservoir in which activation “energy” is accumulated, different for each need. Energy accumulation is associated with the physiological state of the body; 2 – external signal stimuli (“weights”); 3, 3", 3" – options for the intensity of implementation of instinctive behavior; 4 – threshold for triggering instinctive behavior

Secondly, a sufficiently high degree of activation reduces the threshold for triggering instinctive behavior, and a low-intensity signal stimulus is triggered. A striking example of such a mechanism is the migration of salmon (A. Hasler, 1960). Pacific salmon are born in streams in the western United States and Canada. Then the fry go with the current into the Pacific Ocean. Two years later, when the required level of sex hormones accumulates in their bodies, salmon rush back to their place of birth. The implementation of the salmon’s sexual instinct includes focusing on the minimum concentration of chemicals in their native stream, which gives them the opportunity to accurately choose the direction and go where they need to spawn. Fish that have not reached sexual maturity remain indifferent to this kind of signal stimuli, while mature fish demonstrate fantastic sensitivity: literally a drop of native water is enough to trigger instinctive behavior.

Rice. 4.3.

With instinctive motivation, the process of objectifying a need is often of the nature imprinting, those. instantaneous and irreversible finding by need of its object. The discovery of the imprinting phenomenon belongs to Douglas Spalding (D. Spolding, 1875), who, observing the development of chicks hatched from eggs, discovered that in the first days after birth, chicks follow any moving object. They seem to “consider” him as their mother and subsequently show affection for him. However, Spaulding's observations were not appreciated during his lifetime and only became widely known in the 1950s.

K. Lorenz repeated and significantly expanded Spalding's data. He believed that the phenomenon of imprinting is possible only at a strictly defined stage of organism development ( sensitive periods ). The chick exhibits a pronounced following reaction (mother imprinting) only in the period 5–25 hours after hatching from the egg. After this period, when a similar object approaches, he is more likely to demonstrate a fear reaction. The presence of sensitive periods for the instinctive objectification of needs is biologically expedient. Indeed, the creature that the cub sees immediately after birth will most likely turn out to be its mother, and the one that comes later may be a dangerous predator. In turn, the mother also experiences imprinting of her baby. So, goats have a special sensitivity to the smell of the baby, which quickly disappears. If you replace a kid during this sensitive period, then, according to P. Klopfer and J. Gamble, the goat will perceive it as one of its own, and will reject its own baby (R. Klopfer, J. Gamble, 1966).

The question of the presence of instinctive behavior in humans still remains controversial. There is evidence that phenomena similar to imprinting in animals are also observed in humans. The term " bonding " is used to refer to the process of emotional attachment between parents and a newborn, forming in the first hours and days after birth. For example, fathers who were present at the birth of their children and had the opportunity to communicate with them in the first hours of life subsequently showed much more love and involvement An alternative interpretation of these results is that such men were generally more interested in fatherhood and this was what influenced their attitude towards children.

Another study found that mothers who shared a room with their baby for three days after birth showed significantly higher attachment to their babies, even years later, than those whose babies were only brought in for feeding. There is also evidence that people who spent their childhood together have no sexual attraction to each other. This fact is associated with the action of a mechanism similar to kin imprinting in animals: since inbreeding is evolutionarily dangerous, animals avoid their family brothers when forming a pair, imprinting them in an early period of life.

Despite the important role of instinctive behavior for biological evolution, it is obvious that at the human level, lifelong acquired forms of need satisfaction play an incomparably greater role than innate ones. This is especially significant in the process of deobjectification of needs, i.e. when a need changes its subject. As mentioned above, the classical idea of ​​instinct includes the idea of irreversible imprinting – the formation of a rigid motivational connection with an object. Although outwardly similar phenomena can be observed in human behavior (some men, for example, fall in love only with blondes), in fact, we can only talk about “instincts” in a person in a metaphorical sense: human activity is motivated not by isolated characteristics of the environment, but by a holistic picture of the world , having semantic and value dimensions.

Activity satisfaction of needs

In human life, the instinctive way of satisfying needs (if it exists at all) is more a rudiment than a predominant form. A person is included in a constant chain of activity in which he not only satisfies his existing needs, but also creates new ones. We can say that a person acts as a “producer” of his motives. A person sets goals (conscious ideas about the desired future) and is guided by them no less than by the current situation.

One of the ways to generate new motives in activity is the mechanism shifting the motive to the goal, described by A. N. Leontyev. In this case, a new motive arises from the purpose of an action that was previously a component of another activity. Let us explain the operation of this mechanism with an example. A student goes to a lecture by a new teacher, attracted by the intriguing title of his course. She is driven by cognitive motivation, as well as a motive of achievement, since she wants to best master everything necessary for her future profession. These two inherent motives for our heroine were embodied in action - going to a lecture. But upon entering the classroom, she discovers that the new teacher is a very attractive young man. From that day on, she does not miss a single lecture of his, and even those given at other faculties and not included in her curriculum; the teacher acquires a motivating force for her in himself, as a person of interest to her. There was a shift in the motive to the goal, i.e. what at first was the goal of a specific action for the student (listening to a course) within the framework of a higher level activity (training and mastering a profession), has now turned into an independent motive (to see this person). Using this example, it is convenient to explain another important division in the activity approach into external And internal motives of activity: internal motives are those that coincide in content with the activity being performed, and external motives are those that go beyond its scope. In our case, the internal motives of the student remain the motives of learning and achievement (after all, the girl has not ceased to be interested in her profession and has not become less inquisitive), coinciding with what she actually does (goes to college and attends lectures). The external motive for her was the attractiveness of the teacher. At first glance, this motive is not related to educational activity, but in fact it additionally encourages and supports it.

Activity and labor, activity and behavior. The previous presentation spoke of activity as a certainty of the generic essence of man. This designated one of the many methodological functions of this philosophical category. The second half of the 20th century is rich in discoveries in the field of human problems, in natural sciences and technical sciences, the achievement of which is directly related to the use of the category of activity. 46 And what is most interesting: almost every new study using the category of activity is original and unique both in terms of the subject of the study and in the sense of the result of the study.

In this chapter, following the method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete, an attempt will be made to move from the philosophical understanding of man to needs, to study the empirical functions of human activity. From this angle, a definition of activity will be given.

Activity is a universal way to satisfy human needs through an active transformative attitude towards the world. Unlike authors who attribute activity to certain types of animals and even technical units (Markaryan E. S.), we proceed from the fact that activity is the exclusive privilege of man, a sign of his generic essence.

The fundamental difference between human activity and the adaptive activity of animals is that no form activities, Not a single ability for activity is inherited along with the biological structure of the body; they are all the result of social inheritance (training, upbringing, practical experience). This, however, does not mean that activity is carried out independently of the biological basis, which is the substrate and objective prerequisite for activity. Activities aimed at the normal functioning of the human body and its functioning in the world are called life activity. It represents the sphere of satisfaction of a complex of physiological needs.

Man and society are not a simple addition to the evolution of nature, not its continuation. He is the accumulation of his own activities, which replaced the evolution of nature with the history of society. Thanks to activity, human practice creates a supernatural form, a “second nature.” In this sense, activity is an expression of the supernatural essence of man.

The concept of "work" and "activity" often used as unambiguous. Indeed, in most cases the distinction between labor and activity is immaterial. It can be said that activity- this is a broader definition of labor, and labor is one type of activity that determines all its other types. Defining labor in Capital as “first of all, a process taking place between man and nature...” Marx emphasized that labor is a purposeful activity for the creation of use values... an eternal natural condition of human life.”47

Using natural forces transformed as a result of activity in the process of labor, a person is in the power of external necessity, and his freedom exists as a potential opportunity in the form of the accumulation of its material prerequisites.

Labor creates objective conditions for freedom, but is not yet this freedom itself. "Only on the other side of it (productive labor. - approx. N.B.) the development of human powers begins, which is an end in itself, the true kingdom of freedom." 48

One of the patterns of modern scientific and technological progress is the increase in the intermediary links between man and nature, the transformation of material production into a process controlled by man and relatively independent of nature. There is a displacement of people from direct productive labor into the service sector of scientific, technical and artistic creativity.

Such work will cease to be work dictated only by “external expediency” and will turn into free activity. The humanistic mission of human history is to promote this progress. It was precisely this givenness of the historical process that Marx saw when formulating the humanistic ideal of the future, where labor appears “no longer as labor, but as the complete development of activity itself, where the necessity determined by nature disappears in its immediate form.” 49 But this is possible only in a society built on the principles of social justice and equality.

Non-work activities carried out in various spheres of public life (culture, science, education, sports, etc.). In it, the goal, means, object, result are less precisely defined than in work, their choice is more diverse, the connection between them and the subject of the activity is less rigid. This nature of the connection between the internal components of activity determines a broader sphere of activity of the individual than in work, a higher degree of independence and freedom. If labor is essentially overcoming the resistance of natural matter and a serious expenditure of physical strength, then activity does not require such an expenditure of physical strength and requires a greater expenditure of mental effort and nervous overload.

Thus, work represents the historically original “cell” of all forms of human activity. Such forms of activity as activity and behavior are based on labor and are determined by it.

Behavior can be viewed as the outward expression of a person's activity. Unlike activity, behavior is characterized by a slightly modified connection between the components of activity. The subject and result of labor at the level of behavior are not defined, behavior is an act, the goal is transformed into a motive, the means are dematerialized. Behavior is determined, first of all, by social (legal and moral) norms, the level of consciousness and culture of the individual. The subject of activity is transformed into a personality.

The main components of the external determination of behavior are the social environment, situation, and circumstances. The determination of behavior is more plastic; it has the nature of regulation. Therefore, a person must be assessed not by his behavior, but by his activities. You cannot turn a person into a “ladybug” by driving him into the Procrustean bed of the prevailing public opinion in a particular environment.

Thus, behavior is an external manifestation of activity, viewed through the prism of public opinion, interests and legal norms of a certain class, social class, social group. 50 Activity and work have the same internal structure, being the methodological basis for studying the empirical essence of human nature and an active approach to needs.

The structure of an act of activity. Isolating the concept of “act of activity” is aimed at concretizing the activity approach for studying the individuality of a person and his empirical essence.

Human activity can be presented as an endless process of a person’s transformative relationship to the world, a process consisting of many acts, each of which has a beginning, middle and end. This approach creates the opportunity to judge the degree of completion of both an individual act and a certain set of acts of activity, as well as the degree of maturity of a particular subject of activity in solving practical problems. If an activity is applied without clear restrictions in space and time, then the act of activity records the beginning, middle and end of an activity.

Activity structure in expanded form includes the following elements: subject (individual, group of people or society as a whole), goal, means, object, action, result .

A collective subject of activity can be called a group of people or society as a whole who are united by a common goal that forms the unidirectionality of actions to achieve a result acceptable to all. Such an association of people, the various forces within which act according to the principle: swan, crayfish and pike, cannot be determined by the subject of activity.

Target- this is an ideal image of the desired future; what a person wants to achieve. Goal, goal-setting is an exclusively human quality, the focus of a person’s subjective world. Setting a goal in itself will turn into an empty dream if the chosen goal is not provided with means.

Means- this is the moment of objectivity (reality) in the act of activity. The determinacy of the means includes everything that exists, that exists as a real phenomenon, regardless of the consciousness of the subject of activity. These are tools of labor, physical strength, life experience and labor qualifications of the subject, his abilities, the amount of knowledge that the subject of the activity possesses. At the same time, a means does not become such in itself, but only by being involved in an act of activity and defined through a goal. “A means,” Hegel wrote, “is precisely that which does not represent anything in itself, but exists only for the sake of another and in this other has its definition and its value.” 51

The mutual determination of goals and means is the most important condition for successful activity, a condition for the harmonious development of a person. Those life collisions and contradictions that so often occur in individual life are not least due to the disharmony of goal and means, for, as Marx wrote, “a goal that requires wrong means is not a right goal.” 52

Subject of activity- what the subject’s activity is aimed at. These are both natural forces of nature (earthquake, flood, landslides, etc.) and natural materials filtered by primary labor (iron ore, timber supplied to sawmills, fish caught in the sea and sent to processing plants, and much more) , as well as a person as a subject of education and training.

Action is the culmination of transforming an object in accordance with the intended purpose. This is the most intense moment, requiring the concentration of a person’s intellectual and physical forces, such an interaction of the subjective and objective components of activity that determines (causes) the result of the activity.

The final point of the activity is result. As a result of activity, it fades away, is objectified, and is realized. truth set goals. As a result, not only a completed goal is discovered, but also undesirable “additions” to the goal, and often these “additions” in their negative value exceed the value of the completed goal.

A striking example of this is the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, dust storms after the development of virgin lands in the 50s, and much more. When creating nuclear power plants, people did not want, did not set as their goal the occurrence of radiation sickness, the contamination of vast territories with atomic radiation, the displacement of millions of people as a result of the accident, but they got it.

Investigating the problem of the interaction of goal, means and result, N. N. Trubnikov noted that targeted human activity is possible only insofar as the result is not equal not only to the goal, but also to the means; for he promises to give and actually gives something more than was expended in achieving it." 53

This “something more,” an undesirable addition to the goal, is the main source of unforeseen long-term consequences of activity.

Undesirable “additions” to the goal as a result of activity are determined by those properties and characteristics of the object that are beyond its definition as a means and are realized as an unknown necessity, “behind our back.”

There is often something in an object used as a means that “works” against the end. Therefore, as Hegel noted, “they also obtain somewhat different results than those to which they strive.” 54

Here the “logical figure” of the act of activity was briefly outlined. The act of activity is that “channel of communication”, thanks to which the inner world of a person seems to go beyond the boundaries of the individual’s “I”, and the external world - the natural and social world - is transformed into the subjective “I” of a person.

Completeness- the main feature of an act of activity in contrast to activity as a process. This feature is associated with great heuristic opportunities for assessing the activities of various categories of workers when assigning them to certain areas of responsible activity. The use of the logical figure of an act of activity creates a new impulse to substantiate a person’s individuality.

Let's name some types of personality. First type individuality. The main feature is the desire for completeness activities. This is an indicator of a strong and predictable personality. Having taken up any business, such a person will not stop halfway, will not give in to difficulties, and will go to the end.

Second type The person’s personality is very proactive; there are many projects in his portfolio, but none of them are provided with the means to implement them. His principle: we need to start, and then we’ll see what to do next, everything will work out. And he starts many projects, but doesn’t bring any of them to completion.

This type of personality is characterized by impulsiveness, thoughtlessness the entire chain of activities - from goal setting to the provision of funds and forecasting the result of the activity. These people lack a sense of responsibility for the completion of the work they have started, and they often change their beliefs and attitudes towards their activities.

Modern political life in Russia is rich in examples of this kind of personalities; even more such examples can be found in the sphere of modern Russian business. Unfortunately, there are no statistics to judge how many of those who wanted to become businessmen or farmers became them, and how many went bankrupt halfway through.

Third personality type- these are people who live by the principle: the result is not important, the main thing is the process of doing. It is an activity without definition beginning, middle and end, Sisyphean labor Reckless passion for activities that do not bear fruit can serve as consolation and bring temporary satisfaction only to the creator himself, his epigones and imitators.

On the other hand, the incompleteness of the act of activity is attractive because it leaves open the question of the ultimate goal of the activity, encouraging the co-creation of new successors of the process and associates who are confident in the miraculous power of His Majesty Chance.

There are many such people among yesterday’s career workers, thrown into “freedom” as a result of the collapse of industry, and earning their living by building dachas, cottages, or simply becoming lackeys for the “new Russians.” You can feel sorry for them, but hardly respect them.

Consequently, the heuristic value of the structural analysis of the act of activity is not limited to the ontological status of human existence, it emphasizes the creative and transformative role of man in the world, that is, it expresses his active essence. Take away a person’s activity, leaving only his somatic nature, and he will cease to be himself, turn into a thing among things, into a meaningless, abstract fragment of the existence of the world. This is the tragedy of the millions of unemployed people created in Russia as a result of market reforms.

The act of activity and activity as a process are of the same type in their structure, but in the second case the structural elements (goal, means, result) exist abstractly, the boundaries between them are blurred, the beginning, middle and end are stretched out in time and not fixed in space. An analogy between the flight of an arrow and the flight of a bloodworm is appropriate here. The arrow flies along a strictly marked line, its flight is irreversible. The bloodworm hovers in the air, makes circles or returns back, and changes altitude.

Needs are prerequisites and a product of activity. The reader or listener may have a question: why didn’t I include needs in the structure of the activity?

I answer: a need is a need or lack of something necessary to maintain the life of an organism, a human person, a social group, or society as a whole. This is an unconscious stimulator of activity. It follows that need is a component of a person’s inner mental world, and as such exists before activity. She is a structural element subject of activity, but not the activity itself. This does not mean, however, that need is walled off from activity. As a stimulant, it is woven into the activity itself, stimulating it until a result is obtained.

Marx defined need as the ability to consume in a system of productive activity. He wrote: “As a need, consumption itself is an internal moment of productive activity, a moment of a process in which production is truly the starting point, and therefore also the dominant moment.” 55

The methodological significance of this thesis of Marx lies in overcoming the mechanical interpretation of the interaction of need and activity. As a residual element of naturalism in the theory of man, there is a mechanical concept, according to which an individual acts only when he is prompted to do so by needs; when there are no needs, the individual remains in an inactive state.

When needs are considered as the main cause of activity without taking into account the intervening factors located between the need and the result of the activity, without taking into account the level of development of society and a specific individual, a theoretical model of a human consumer is formed. The disadvantage of a naturalistic approach to determining human needs is that these needs are derived directly from natural human nature without taking into account the determining role of the specific historical type of social relations, which act as a mediating link between nature and human needs and transform these needs in accordance with the level of development of production, making them truly human needs.

A person relates to his needs through his relationship with other people and only then acts as a person when he goes beyond the limits of his inherent natural needs.

“Each individual, as a person, goes beyond the limits of his own special needs...”, wrote Marx, and only then do they “relate to each other as people...” when “the generic essence common to them is recognized by all.” 56

At the level of social activity, there is no direct cause-and-effect relationship between need and activity, which takes place in the conditions of individual activity. Here this connection is so mediated by the laws of social formation and the newly emerged components of the personality structure (the structure of communication and the social functions performed by the individual, knowledge, abilities, etc.) that the activity of the individual ceases to be a means of satisfying an individual need and becomes an end in itself. There is a significant difference between a natural need and a need created historically (the need for education, for comprehensive personal development, for creative activity). If a natural need is internal and homeostatic, forcing a person to activity for its immediate satisfaction, then a socially acquired need ceases to be only his, the individual’s, need; in it, the individual is not isolated, but is identified with the general social essence. Therefore, it ceases to be a need in the proper sense of the word and becomes a need for activity that breaks the umbilical cord connecting the individual with the satisfaction of basic needs, and is characterized by a measure of tolerance even for prolonged dissatisfaction. A change in the function of needs in the organic structure of the individual at the level of social (collective) activity causes a “reversal” of the direction of determination. Two main features characterize this moment of re-determination: 1) at the level of social activity, it is not the needs that determine the activity of the individual, but, on the contrary, the nature of the activity determines the nature of the needs, therefore the theory of activity is the starting point in determining the nature of the needs; 2) at this stage there is a “reversal” of the relationship between the social and the biological in the organic structure of the personality: the genetically inherited stock of inclinations is exhausted, the abilities acquired by the individual during his lifetime are brought to the fore. If, in the process of personality formation, inherited inclinations play the role of the individual’s basis, on top of which the individual’s social qualities are, as it were, “built on,” then in a developed personality this connection takes on the opposite character. P. Sav was right when he argued that “the source of a developed personality is external to childhood.” 57

In an antagonistic society, where all activity, including the activity of the individual in the sphere of social production, is subordinated to the satisfaction of the simplest needs of life, the individual is in a state of universal alienation from his socially active essence. Revealing this inhumane feature of capitalist production, Marx wrote: “Thus, the individual consumption of the worker constitutes a moment in the production and reproduction of capital, regardless of whether it takes place inside or outside the workshop, factory, etc., inside or outside the labor process, like the same point is the cleaning of the machine, regardless of whether it is done during the ore process or during certain breaks in the latter." 58

Under these conditions, work ceases to be the “self-expression” of the individual and is reduced to the level of a simple dehumanized means of “earning a living.” These “self-expression”, initiative, dynamism of the individual are pushed by the entire system of capitalist society into the sphere of individual activity (private consumption, leisure, interpersonal communication, amateur activities, admiring nature, etc.), where they find only their imaginary resolution and form an asocial personality human consumer.

The first necessary condition for eliminating the antagonistic contradiction between individual and social activity, between the existence and essence of man, is a radical transformation of social relations, opening the way for the transformation of social labor into a means of self-expression of the individual.

A socialist society, which opens wide access to education, production management and all the affairs of society to all members of society, creates objective prerequisites for the abolition of the dichotomization of the individual, dividing him into an abstract and concrete personality, frees the individual from the need to sacrifice social activity and socially acquired abilities as a sacrifice to natural needs .

Conclusion: in the process of individual personality development, not only the nature of needs changes (elevated needs appear), but the role of needs in the structure of the personality also changes, the individual’s attitude towards his needs changes: from a slave of needs, he turns into a master over them.

The principle formulated above of changing the direction of determination in the need-activity relationship can bring fruitful results in pedagogical practice and in the practice of forming a comprehensively developed personality.

Introduction

Activity is a universal way to satisfy human needs through an active transformative attitude towards the world. Activity is the exclusive privilege of a person, a sign of his tribal essence.

The fundamental difference between human activity and the adaptive activity of animals is that not a single form of activity, not a single ability to act is inherited along with the biological structure of the body; they are all the result of social inheritance (training, upbringing, practical experience). This, however, does not mean that activity is carried out independently of the biological basis, which is the substrate and objective prerequisite for activity. Activities aimed at the normal functioning of the human body and its functioning in the world are called life activities. It represents the sphere of satisfaction of a complex of physiological needs.

The concepts of “work” and “activity” are often used as unambiguous. Indeed, in most cases the distinction between labor and activity is immaterial. We can say that activity is a broader definition of labor, and labor is one type of activity that determines all its other types.

Labor activity as a means of satisfying needs.

1. Human activity and its diversity.

Compare the two definitions. The first is from the philosophical dictionary: “Activity is the form of existence of human society; manifestation of the subject’s activity, expressed in the expedient change of the surrounding world, as well as in the transformation of a person himself.” The second is from the psychology dictionary: “Activity is a form of mental activity of the subject, consisting in the motivational achievement of a consciously set goal of cognition or transformation of an object.”

It is easy to notice that both definitions speak of the activity of the subject in an expedient (consistent with the goal) change (transformation) of the surrounding world. However, the philosophical definition treats activity in the same way as a form of existence of society, and psychology places emphasis on mental activity, that is, manifested in a person’s subjective experiences, in his feelings, thinking, and will. As you can see, viewing an activity from different perspectives allows you to understand it more fully.

2. The essence and structure of work activity.

Let us turn to the first definition of activity given above. Being one of the aspects of human existence, activity reproduces social connections. It realizes the strengths and abilities of a person, which are embodied in the products of activity. This chain of connections reveals the social essence of the activity.

In the structure of labor activity, its subject and object are distinguished. The subject of labor activity is the one who carries out labor activity, the object is what it is aimed at. For example, a farmer (subject of labor activity) works on the land and grows various crops on it (object of activity). For the Ministry of Education as a subject of labor activity, all educational institutions of the country are an object in relation to which management activities are carried out.

So, the subject of labor activity can be a person, a group of people, an organization, or a government body. The object can be natural materials, various objects, spheres or areas of people's lives. The subject’s labor activity can also be directed at another person. For example, a coach influences an athlete (trains him). The object of the artist's activity is the public in the hall (audience). Finally, the subject’s labor activity can be directed towards himself (a person consciously trains his body, hardens it, cultivates his will, engages in self-education, etc.).

A goal is a conscious image of an anticipated result towards which work activity is aimed. For example, in the mind of an architect, before the construction of a house begins, an image of it appears. In fact, is it possible to start building a building without imagining what it will be like (an apartment building or an office building, a village hut or a temple, a barracks or a palace)? Its image can be shown in a drawing, drawing, three-dimensional model, but first it appears in the mind of the architect.

So, a goal is what is presented in the mind and expected as a result of a certain way of directed work activity.

When the goal is determined, its achievement or failure of work depends on the means. To build a house, you need building materials, mechanisms, tools and other means of production. To grow a crop, you need seeds, tools, a system of agricultural techniques, etc. To teach students to read and write, you need textbooks, notebooks, effective teaching methods, etc. The means must correspond to the goal. When they say: “Fire a cannon at sparrows,” it means that the means do not correspond to the goal.

3. Needs and interests.

Psychologists study human experiences that motivate him to activity. Such human experiences are called motive. The word “motive” is of French origin and literally means “motivating reason, reason for some action.” In psychology, motive is understood as what motivates human activity, for the sake of which it is performed. The role of motives can be needs, social attitudes, beliefs, interests, drives and emotions, and people’s ideals.

The motives of activity reveal human needs. And a need is a person’s experienced and perceived need for what is necessary to maintain his body and develop his personality.

Human needs can be divided into three groups:

1. Biological needs (experience of the need for breathing, nutrition, water, normal heat exchange, movement, self-preservation, preservation of the species and other needs associated with the biological organization of man, his belonging to nature).

2. Social needs generated by society. They embody the need of the individual, for example, in diverse relationships with other people, in self-realization, self-affirmation, and public recognition of one’s merits.

3. Ideal needs: to understand the world around us as a whole and in its particulars, to realize one’s place in it, the meaning and purpose of one’s existence. The need for knowledge was noted in ancient times. The philosopher Aristotle wrote: “All people by nature strive for knowledge.” Many people devote their leisure time to reading, visiting museums, concert halls and theaters. Some people's ideal needs revolve around entertainment. But even in this case they are diverse: some are interested in cinema, some in dancing, and some in football.

Biological, social and ideal needs are interconnected. Biological needs in humans, in contrast to animals, become social. In fact, on hot days many people are thirsty, but no one (unless he is in an extreme situation) would drink from a puddle on the road. A person chooses a drink that quenches his thirst and makes sure that the vessel from which he drinks is clean. And eating food for a person becomes a need, the satisfaction of which has many social facets: culinary subtleties, the decor, the table setting, the quality of the dishes, the presentation of the dish, and the pleasant company sharing the meal are all important.

For most people, social needs dominate over ideal ones. The need for knowledge often acts as a means to acquire a profession and take a worthy position in society.

In some cases, it is generally difficult to separate the biological, social, and ideal. An example is the need for communication.

The above classification of needs is not the only one in the scientific literature. There are many others. One of them was developed by the American psychologist A. Maslow. He identified the following basic needs:

Physiological: in reproduction, food, breathing, clothing, housing, physical movements, rest, etc.;

Existential (from the Latin word meaning literally “existence”): in the security of one’s existence, comfort, constancy of living conditions, job security, accident insurance, confidence in the future, etc.;

Social: in social connections, communication, affection, care for others and attention to oneself, participation in joint activities with others;

Prestigious: in self-esteem, respect from others, recognition, achieving success and high praise, career growth;

Spiritual: in self-actualization, self-expression.

According to Maslow's theory, the first two types of needs are primary (innate), and the next three are secondary (acquired). The needs of each subsequent level become urgent when the previous ones are satisfied.

Along with needs, the most important motive for activity is social attitudes. They mean a person’s general orientation towards a certain social object, expressing a predisposition to act in a certain way regarding this object. Such an object could be, for example, a family.

Depending on the assessment of the importance of family life and its usefulness for oneself, an individual may be predisposed to creating a family, preserving it, or, on the contrary, may not be inclined to create and preserve family ties. His actions, his behavior depend on this.

An important role in the motives of activity is played by beliefs - stable views on the world, ideals and principles, as well as the desire to bring them to life through one’s actions and deeds.

In human activity, will is of great importance, i.e. the ability to act in the direction of a consciously set goal, while overcoming one’s own desires and aspirations that are opposite in direction.

3.1. Human needs in activity.

Man, like other living beings, also needs for his existence and activity certain conditions and means drawn from the external environment.

Needs are the internal states experienced by a person when he experiences an urgent need for something.

The characteristic features of the needs are:

· The specific substantive nature of the need, usually associated either with an object that one strives to possess, or with any activity that should give a person satisfaction (for example, a certain job, game, etc.); in this regard, a distinction is made between objective and functional needs (for example, the need for movement);

· More or less clear awareness of a given need, accompanied by a characteristic emotional state (attractiveness of an object associated with a given need, displeasure and even suffering from unsatisfied needs, etc.);

· An emotional-volitional state of motivation to satisfy a need, to find and implement the necessary ways for this; thanks to this, needs are one of the most powerful motives for volitional actions;

· Weakening, sometimes complete disappearance of these states, and in some cases even their transformation into opposite states (for example, a feeling of disgust at the sight of food in a state of satiety) when a need is satisfied;

· Re-emergence, when the need underlying the need again makes itself felt; the repetition of needs is an important feature of them: a one-time, episodic and never repeated need for something does not turn into a need.

Human needs are diverse. They are usually divided into material, related to bodily needs (needs for food, clothing, housing, warmth, etc.), and spiritual, related to human social existence: needs for social activity, for work, for communicating with each other, for acquiring knowledge, in the study of sciences and arts, the need for creativity, etc.

The greatest importance in human life and activity are the needs for work, learning, aesthetic needs, and the need for communication with other people.

Need for labor. Man satisfies his material needs through labor. He satisfies these needs in the process of life, mastering a certain system of actions necessary for this.

Modern man, in order to feed and clothe himself, does not prepare the food he needs and does not make fabric for the clothing he needs, but receives all this from society, participating in the work of satisfying other needs of society. Social labor has become a condition for human existence and at the same time his most important need.

In different social formations, among representatives of different classes of society, the need for work in connection with the characteristics of people’s social life takes on a different character and is expressed to varying degrees.

Need for learning. Along with labor, in the process of work itself, the need for learning and the acquisition of knowledge develops. To characterize a person, it is important to take into account both the degree of development of this need and its characteristics. For example, some people strive to satisfy this need through independent scientific work, others - through the assimilation of ready-made knowledge.

Aesthetic needs. An important personality trait is the need for aesthetic pleasure and corresponding creative activity in the field of one or another art. This need appeared already at the dawn of the historical development of man, who had just emerged from the animal world. As soon as a person began to engage in labor, he began to give aesthetically pleasing forms to the objects, tools, and utensils he made, decorating them first with simple, and then with more and more artistic ornaments, thus satisfying not the natural needs immediately necessary for life, but the aesthetic need in enjoying the beautiful.

Along with the development of society, human aesthetic needs also developed, which led to the emergence of numerous and complex types of art: painting, sculpture, architecture, music, literature, theater, cinema, etc.

To characterize a person, both the content and degree of development of aesthetic needs, as well as the method of satisfying them, are important. Some people have the most pronounced aesthetic needs in music, others in painting, in dance; Some are well versed in perfect works of art, others are satisfied with mediocre and primitive ones. According to the method of satisfying aesthetic needs, some people can be classified as passive, or contemplative, type, others - as active, or creative.

Needs are formed in a person throughout life. Concerns about the correct organization of needs are one of the important issues in the education of a person’s personality.

4. Labor activity.

Labor activity is a multifaceted phenomenon. Various aspects of work have become the subject of study in several social sciences.

From the point of view of economic science, labor is considered as a planned, conscious activity with the aim of processing what nature provides into consumer goods. Economics studies labor as one of the factors of production, examines the mechanism of action of economic laws in the sphere of labor, labor costs at all stages of the production cycle, and the relationship between wages and its results. Psychology studies the psyche of the worker, the distinctive personality traits of workers, the formation of work attitudes and motives of behavior, the psychophysiological characteristics of various types of work activity. Legal scholars study problems related to the legal status of workers, legal registration of labor relations between employees and employers, and labor protection. Sociology views labor activity as a relatively rigidly fixed in time and space expedient series of operations and functions performed by people united in production organizations. The sociology of labor studies the structure and mechanism of social and labor relations, as well as social processes in the world of work. Philosophy comprehends labor as the process of people creating conditions and means of existence, in which human strength, skills, and knowledge are embodied. For philosophy, it is important to determine how a person who realizes himself in work manifests himself in this process.

The sciences that study labor are in many cases closely related and often overlap. Comprehensive knowledge about such a phenomenon as labor can only be provided by comprehensive research, which combines the efforts of various sciences. The content of this paragraph integrates some results of the study of labor activity by the social sciences, mainly sociology.

5. Labor as a type of human activity.

The needs and interests of people are the basis that determines the purpose of work. Labor in the proper sense of the word arises when human activity becomes meaningful, when a consciously set goal is realized in it - the creation of material and spiritual values ​​necessary for people's lives. In this way, work activity differs from educational activity, aimed at acquiring knowledge and mastering skills, and gaming activity, in which it is not so much the result that is important, but the process of the game itself.

Sociologists characterize work activity, regardless of the method, means and results, with a number of general properties.

Firstly, a set of labor operations prescribed to be performed at certain workplaces. In each specific type of labor activity, labor operations are performed, which include various labor techniques, actions and movements. As a result of the introduction of new equipment and modern technologies into the content of the labor process, the relationship between physical and mental labor, monotonous and creative, manual and mechanized, etc. is changing.

Secondly, labor activity is characterized by a set of relevant qualities of the subjects of labor activity, recorded in professional, qualification and job characteristics. Let us remind you that qualifications should not be equated with professionalism. It is a necessary but not sufficient condition for effective work. To become a professional, a person needs to gain experience, he must be characterized by commitment, self-discipline, business integrity, and responsibility.

Thirdly, work activity is characterized by material and technical working conditions. To achieve a goal in work activity, as in any other activity, various means are used. These are, first of all, various technical devices necessary for production, energy and transport lines and other material objects, without which the labor process is impossible. All of them together constitute the means of labor. During the production process, there is an impact on the subject of labor, i.e., on materials undergoing transformation. For this purpose, various methods are used, which are called technologies. For example, you can remove excess metal from a workpiece using metal-cutting equipment, but using the electric pulse method allows you to achieve a similar result 10 times faster. This means that labor productivity will increase 10 times.

The modern technical base of enterprises is a complex combination of different types of labor tools, therefore there is a significant differentiation in the level of technical equipment of labor. This entails its significant heterogeneity. A large number of workers are engaged in monotonous, uncreative work. At the same time, many perform work that requires active mental activity and solving complex production problems.

Fourthly, labor activity is characterized by the method of organizational, technological and economic connection of labor subjects with the means and conditions of their use. The most important feature of people’s work is that it usually requires joint efforts to achieve their goals. However, collective activity does not mean that all members of the team creating a product do the same work. On the contrary, there is a need for division of labor, due to which its efficiency increases.

It is obvious that the work of an entrepreneur, characterized by a high degree of independence and financial responsibility for the decisions he makes, differs from the nature of the work of an employee, who, under the terms of the employment agreement, is obliged to carry out the orders of production managers. In 2001 in Russia, the share of employees was 93% of all employees, the share of employers was 1.4%, and the share of individuals engaged in self-employment was 5%.

Fifthly, labor activity is characterized by the structure of organization and management of the labor process, norms and algorithms that determine the behavior of its participants. In particular, the concept of discipline is very important. Normal work activity is impossible without the voluntary, conscious observance by each employee of the rules and procedures of behavior in the team, which are mandatory for all its members. Labor laws and internal labor regulations require productive use of working time, conscientious performance of one's duties, and high quality work. Fulfillment of these requirements is labor discipline.

Working conditions are of great importance. They include the degree of danger or safety of the object and means of labor, their impact on the health, mood and performance of a person. Potentially dangerous factors are physical (noise, vibration, increase or decrease in temperature, ionizing and other radiation), chemical (gases, vapors, aerosols), biological (viruses, bacteria, fungi).

Work culture plays a big role. Researchers identify three components in it. Firstly, it is the improvement of the working environment, that is, the conditions in which the labor process takes place. Secondly, this is the culture of relationships between labor participants, the creation of a favorable moral and psychological climate in the work team. Thirdly, the participants in the labor activity understand the content of the labor process, its features, as well as the creative embodiment of the engineering concept embedded in it.

Labor activity is the most important field of self-realization in the life of any person. It is here that a person’s abilities are revealed and improved, it is in this area that he can establish himself as an individual.

6. Satisfying needs with work.

People have different attitudes towards their work. Some do not overburden themselves with work and work coolly. Others are literally “burning” at work. When they come home, they continue to think about what they did not manage to do during the day. The latter are tied to work, while the former are alienated from it. It is for those who are “burning” at work that work becomes the central vital interest.

The concept of “central life interest” was introduced in 1956 by a prominent specialist in industrial sociology, Robert Dubin. The idea turned out to be so fruitful that an entire concept arose based on it. It includes the following provisions:

1. The center of a working individual’s life is his work; everything that happens at work affects every other aspect of his life.

2. People constantly strive for satisfaction, no matter what they do: if a job does not bring satisfaction, they change it.

3. People work only for satisfaction, and nothing more.

4. A satisfied employee is the most productive; on the contrary, those who are dissatisfied with their work are less productive.

5. People can be motivated by increased satisfaction.

6. A satisfied worker is highly integrated both within and outside of work.

7. A satisfied worker usually does not experience depressive emotions such as disappointment, fear, depression, guilt, vindictiveness, horror and envy.

8. Contentment equals happiness; Therefore, every effort should be directed towards making the existence of the worker in the field of his occupation as happy as possible...

Job satisfaction does not really have the meaning that is given to it. Work is only one aspect of a person’s life, but not his only goal, the justification of his entire existence. But this is true until the person loses his job. At this moment we realize that work is something that a person cannot do without. If without work human existence loses its meaning, it means that work turns into the first vital need, that is, the central life interest.

Conclusion

Activity is a form of existence of society, a characteristic way for a person to relate to the outside world, a manifestation of the activity of the subject, expressed in the expedient change of the surrounding world, as well as in the transformation of a person himself. In the process of activity, the development of society and the person himself occurs. In any activity there are motives, a goal, means of achieving it, actions aimed at achieving the goal, and a result. Motives can be needs, interests, social attitudes, beliefs, ideals, drives and emotions.

Creative activity plays a special role in the development of man and society, in the process of which something new is created that has never existed before. The variety of manifestations of human creative activity is expressed in such activities as play, study, and work. Creative activity develops human abilities, and its result is culture, renewal of all aspects of social life.

Labor is a purposeful human activity aimed at creating, using the means of labor, material and spiritual values ​​necessary for people’s lives. It is a way of satisfying human needs; source of public wealth; factor of social progress. Labor activity is characterized by a set of labor operations; quality of labor subjects; material and technical working conditions; the way of connecting labor subjects with the means and conditions of their use; structure of the organization of the labor process and its management. The transformation of the technical factor of production significantly increases the role of the human factor.

List of used literature

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