is a term that stems from the Latin conatus, meaning any natural tendency, impulse, striving, or directed effort.[1] Conation refers to action derived from instinct; a purposeful mode of striving, volition. and a conscious effort to carry out self-determined acts.
"The Latin “conatus”, from which conation is derived, is defined as “any natural tendency, impulse or directed effort.” As a faculty of the mind, conation is defined by Funk & Wagnalls Standard Comprehensive International Dictionary (1977) as “the aspect of mental process directed by change and including impulse, desire, volition and striving”, and by the Living Webster Encyclopedia Dictionary of the English Language (1980) as: “one of the three modes, together with cognition and affection, of mental function; a conscious effort to carry out seemingly volitional acts.” It is also in The 1000 Most Obscure Words in the English Language as: “the area of one’s active mentality that has to do with desire, volition, and striving.” Wisdom of the Ages
The conative is one of three parts of the mind, along with the affective and cognitive. In short, the cognitive part of the brain deals with intelligence, the affective deals with emotions and the conative deals with instinctive drives and how one acts on those thoughts and feelings. While considerable research has been undertaken exploring the cognitive and affective over the years, the conative hasn't been explored in depth until recently.
Three Parts of the Mind
Ancient philosophers and modern psychologists agree on the concept of a three-part mind with separate domains for thinking, feeling, and doing. "Psychology traditionally refers to these as cognition, affect, and conation" and the three of them work together as part of a creative process.
Theory of Human Instincts and Conation
From Plato and Aristotle in ancient times, to McDougle, Maslow and Kolbe in modern times, the discussion of the human mind has included conation. Unfortunately though, conation hasn't garnered nearly the level of scientific interest and research that cognition and affect have.