Values, and Beliefs

Jha, Associate Professor (EEE) of G.G.S.I.P.U. Delhi. Interests : Chess, Ecology,Travels.

Written Nov 14, 2015

Attitude is that facet of personality which decides how an individual behaves/reacts in situations which are favourable to him/her and how he/she takes up things in an adverse circumstance. They are termed as positive attitude & negative attitude, depending on his/her bent of mind and decisions taken on the basis of past experience and belief. Attitude is often mixed up with words like self-esteem, ego & pride and commonly used in a negative sense as synonym of proudy, which is totally incorrect, according to me. For example, an urban girl, well dressed up and walking with confidence in a Mall, is said to have 'attitude' ( meaning that she is an egoist n proudy. Belief is the state when based on your personal experience, you establish a notion or perception of an object, person or happening, which may or may not be a truth but you have firmly established your opinion about it so strongly, which you yourself can change with time, if you keep on observing things on the contrary & repeatedly. Faith is based on individuals nurturing & 'sanskars' imbibed in him/her and is more strongly bounded in one's personality than 'attitude' which may change and 'belief' which may be re-established.People often use the force of faith to achieve their goals. Eg. You may often find in Connaught Place in Delhi,Residents putting the Tiles of Gods & Goddesses on their boundary wall to prevent trespassers with sick attitude to piss off on the walls in areas which are not well-illuminated at night. Thus, summing up: Attitude changes your belief with time and belief gets established as a faith if it doesn't change with time.

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Personal values, belief and attitudes

As human beings, we all have our own values, beliefs and attitudes that we have developed throughout the course of our lives. Our family, friends, community and the experiences we have had all contribute to our sense of who we are and how we view the world. As community services workers, we are often working with people who are vulnerable and/or who may live a lifestyle that mainstream society views as being different or unacceptable. If, as community services workers, we are to provide a service that meets the needs of our target groups and helps them to feel empowered, we need to be aware of our own personal values, beliefs and attitudes and be prepared to adopt the professional values of our industry—and not impose our own ideas on our clients.

What are values?

Values are principles, standards or qualities that an individual or group of people hold in high regard. These values guide the way we live our lives and the decisions we make. A value may be defined as something that we hold dear, those things/qualities which we consider to be of worth.

A ‘value’ is commonly formed by a particular belief that is related to the worth of an idea or type of behaviour. Some people may see great value in saving the world’s rainforests. However a person who relies on the logging of a forest for their job may not place the same value on the forest as a person who wants to save it.

Values can influence many of the judgments we make as well as have an impact on the support we give clients. It is important that we do not influence client’s decisions based on our values. We should always work from the basis of supporting the client’s values.

Dominant values are those that are widely shared amongst a group, community or culture. They are passed on through sources such as the media, institutions, religious organisations or family, but remember what is considered dominant in one culture or society will vary to the next.

Using the sources listed above, some of your values could be:

• family—caring for each other, family comes first

• peers—importance of friendship, importance of doing things that peers approve of

• workplace—doing your job properly; approving/disapproving of ‘foreign orders’ (doing home-related activities in work time or using work resources for home related activities)

• educational institutions—the valuing or otherwise of learning; value of self in relation to an ability to learn (this often depends on personal experience of schooling, whether positive or negative)

• significant life events—death of loved ones and the impact on what we value as being important; marriage and the importance and role of marriage and children; separation and divorce and the value change that may be associated with this (valuing of self or otherwise)

• religion—beliefs about ‘right and wrong’ and beliefs in gods

• media—the impact of TV, movies, radio, the Internet and advertising on what is important in our lives, what is valued and not valued

• music—music often reflects what is occurring in society, people’s response to things such as love and relationships which may then influence the development of our values

• technology—the importance of technology or otherwise; the importance of computers and developing computer skills

• culture—a cultural value such as the importance of individuality as opposed to conforming to groups

• major historical events—not wasting anything, saving for times of draught, valuing human life, patriotic values.

It is important that you develop an awareness of what you value, as these values will be important in informing your relationships with clients, co–workers and employers.

We are all influenced in varying degrees by the values of our family, culture, religion, education and social group. Knowing your own values can help you work effectively with clients, resolve conflicts and support the organisation’s philosophy of care appropriately. Wherever our values come from they make us the unique person we are today!

Answer the following and then think about what it tells you about yourself, where your values have come from and how people with different backgrounds and life experiences would answer these questions. There are no right or wrong answers—just answer honestly and be willing to explore and reflect upon your own values.

Race

• With what race do I identify?

• Do I know people from a different race to me?

• Do I believe people from different races should live together?

• What would life be like if my skin colour was different?

• What do I think about marriages and relationships between people from different races?

Gender

• How many friends do I have from the opposite sex?

• If I was a different gender how might life be different?

Religion

• What is my religion? Do I believe in it?

• What is my family’s religion?

• Are most people in my community from this religion?

• How does my religion influence my life?

Culture

• What culture do I identify with?

• What do I like and dislike about my culture and traditions?

• What other cultures interest me? Do I like learning about them? Why?

Language

• What is my first language?

• What other languages do I speak?

• Who should decide what language people should speak?

General

• What political party do I support? Why?

• Do I believe in the death penalty? Why?

• What are my views on abortion? Why?

• What are my views on homosexuality? Why?

• What are my views about illegal drugs? Why?

• What are my view about voluntary euthanasia? Why?

What is an attitude?

The word ‘attitude’ can refer to a lasting group of feelings, beliefs and behaviour tendencies directed towards specific people, groups, ideas or objects.

An attitude is a belief about something. It usually describes what we think is the ‘proper’ way of doing something. The attitudes that we feel very strongly about are usually called values. Other attitudes are not so important and are more like opinions. Sometimes our own attitudes can make us blind to other people’s values, opinions and needs. Attitudes will always have a positive and negative element and when you hold an attitude you will have a tendency to behave in a certain way toward that person or object.

You will need to be aware of your own personal values, beliefs and attitudes and how they might impact on your work.

It is important to consider the mapping of your own life – what have been some significant events that have shaped you, what qualities you admire in yourself and others, what beliefs are important to you, what you value and so on. Some examples of these may be personal features such as strength of character, helping people, respect, honesty, wealth, success, health etc.

What we believe are important qualities, or what qualities we admire in ourselves and others, generally reflect our life experiences and the values which we established in our early years through the influence of family, teachers, friends, religion, our culture, our education.

Given that all of us have differences which have been shaped by our life experiences, we can understand that we will all have different sets of values and beliefs. We do not all think about issues in the same way!

To work effectively it is critical to understand your own values and beliefs and to understand the importance of not allowing them to affect the way in which you work with clients. Remember they are your values and may be quite different to the values held by your clients.

In order to remain professional it is necessary to leave your personal values out of the client/worker relationship. This means that it is important that you allow clients to make decisions based on their own values and beliefs rather than decisions that reflect what you think they should do.

When we are carrying out our daily duties at work we rarely think about our attitudes, we are immersed in work itself and often remain unaware of just how different our attitudes could be to others around us.

As previously defined an attitude is simply a belief, and describes what we think is the proper way of doing or thinking about something. Attitudes vary in intensity.

When we feel strongly about something attitudes are called values. Attitudes that are less important to us are called opinions. For example we may feel strongly that older people should give up their jobs when they reach a certain age, so that younger people can get work. Strong attitudes are often very emotional and can cloud our judgement in meeting other people’s needs. This means that some people or clients may be denied their rights to be allowed to make their own choices and decisions about their life.

The influence of attitudes

Our attitudes develop over time and not only reflect where we have come from i.e. the influence family, friends and experiences have had on our attitudes, but also how we will proceed with our life in the future. Attitudes are therefore a powerful element in our life, are long enduring and hard to change—but not impossible!

The problem with attitudes

One of the problems with our attitudes is we often ignore any information which is not consistent with them—we become selective in the way we perceive and respond to events and issues—and lose our ‘objectivity’ about the world. By developing insights about our attitudes we reduce the risk of making decisions at work based on our unconscious, pre-existing perceptions, allowing us work more professionally with clients.

Awareness of personal attitudes

It is good practice to think about your attitudes and beliefs: it helps you to understand yourself better. It is beneficial to reflect on your life, identify some of the significant events that have shaped you, consider what qualities you admire in yourself and others and be mindful of what values and are important to you.

Sources

State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training, 2009

https://www.reference.com/world-view/difference-between-values-beliefs-1276cc034607bc3d

#Values #beliefs