Effect of Necessity and Coercion
Can Willingness be Blocked?
There are two human conditions that seem at first sight to make willingness redundant or even block its operation.
Necessity: because choices are imposed by nature or reality.
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Coercion : because choices are imposed by human intent.
If we have to function under those conditions, the question arises as to what role willingness plays in endeavours.
Necessity
While necessity may seem to be an issue for willingness, this misses the point. The whole of psychosocial functioning operates under the demands of necessity. If we do not function, that is to say do not pursue endeavours, then we die or are dead.
Willingness is the positive energy that supports functioning in a positive way given the unavoidable pervasive and permanent impingement of necessity.
Of course, many endeavours are optional: they are not really needed. For these, willingness can be taken for granted and it operates implicitly. However, for specifically chosen endeavours of importance, it is far more effective to become "fully willing" and develop a
But what about unusually stressful situations which are not specifically chosen but where the necessity for handling cannot be ignored? Such endeavours, though not willingly created, demand willing handling—and this is precisely where the fullest use of willingness comes into its own. The alternative is denying the reality and not facing the challenge that fate has handed you. At the extreme you will have to use every ounce of willingness as you attempt the impossible.
Coercion
Coercion may be applied via physical control for punishment or via psychological control using threats or blackmail. Where a person is coerced, the sense of operating willingly rapidly diminishes. However, even if a task or endeavour is imposed rather than being autonomously chosen, that does not mean willingness stops operating entirely.
Looking at the levels:
L1: a coerced individual acts, but does not have to try.
L2: a coerced individual will apply beliefs relevant to the task/situation.
L3: a coerced individual accepts reality as presented
L4: a coerced individual participates in the task with others
L5: a coerced individual expects no gain and does not take risks
L6: a coerced individual can learn during the task
L7: a coerced individual does not trust.
As might be expected from the analysis of oscillation, the odd-numbered levels, which enable personal development and call for subjectivity and transcending boundaries, do not function. However, the even-numbered levels, which enable social accommodation and assume divisiveness and the acceptance of outsiders, can and do function.
However, let us examine an extreme case: an individual doing forced labour in the gulag or concentration camp. Rather than speculating, we can draw on accounts of individuals like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Victor Frankl. They demonstrate that a person can be fully willing to engage even under the most appalling controls.
Details
Willingness can be overdone leading to:
Originally posted: 14-Jun-2026.
