1. the faculty by which an individual decides upon and commits to a particular course of action, especially when this occurs without direct external influence. The term encompasses a crucial set of activities involving the self, including choice and decision, self-control, intentional action, and an active rather than passive response to events. According to self-regulatory resources theory, volition depends on a limited resource that is expended whenever the self makes a decision or exerts control.

2. the act of exercising this faculty. See also free will; will. —volitional adj.