Usually ambition is understood as purposefulness, phenomenal knowledge of one's own and other people's strengths and weaknesses, the ability to play on other people's interests. In this regard, an ambitious person can carry both a positive charge, achieving his goals, and a negative one, associated with the neglect of the feelings and aspirations of other people.
In principle, answering the question: "Ambition - what is it?" - it is safe to say that we are dealing with an exaggerated perception of one's own "I". If a person is confident in his own abilities and his actions are rational, then ambition can become his moral and ethical adornment. And, on the contrary, if he is full of swagger and excessive pettiness, then he gradually turns into a cynic, for whom the opinions of others and the interests of others are nothing compared to his personal perception of the world where he lives.
On the other hand, every culturein its own way answers the question: "Ambition - what is it?" For some nations, it is about rationalizing their actions, as in the Anglo-Saxon system of values. For others, it is the ability to form one's position in such a way as to achieve maximum results in a particular area of activity, mainly in the economy. This approach is more typical for North American states.
Interestingly, Europe practically does not use the word "values", that it is of no fundamental importance to it. Yes, the continent recognizes its ambitions as a moral quality, but it all comes down to respect for personal rights and the rights of "others". In case of violation of such, the attitude towards an "ambitious" person can be quite tough and even antisocial. By this logic, ambition should help, not hinder, the achievement of the common good.
For Russians, the answer to the question "ambition - what is it" is also ambiguous. On the one hand, an ambitious person is respected, especially if he has managed to achieve certain goals with his own work. In other words, professional ambition is valued. It has nothing to do with business performance. Great ambitions in the economy, politics, business are clearly not welcome, and therefore are perceived exclusively in negative tones, up to contempt.
However, ambitions, the meaning of which cannot be determined purely from a scientific point of view, can also be considered as a criterion of psychological he alth. It is clear that in Western society, where allbasic conditions for an individual start, high self-esteem and a desire to get a specific result are welcomed and encouraged. In Russian, and in general post-Soviet conditions, the situation is somewhat different. A successful person is always an object of envy, if not hatred. We don't like rich people in our country. It does not matter here whether there is ambition, what it is. But they measure the magnitude of personal claims with their own growth. And most often it happens that the goals set are unattainable simply because others do not want someone to stand out from the crowd. Then he althy ambitions simply transform into loneliness and social apathy.
