A Presentation on Technical writing and soft skills unit 5 CVMU

1. Unit 5.3
Belief, Values,
Attitude and
Virtue

2. BELIEFS
• Beliefs come from knowledge or information.
However, all knowledge cannot be the basis of
belief. Only true knowledge is helpful for real
understanding and belief.
• There are basically two types of beliefs: core
beliefs and dispositional belief.
• Core beliefs are more or less permanent and
are difficult to change,
• whereas dispositional beliefs depend on many
factors and are changeable.

3. Contemporary Approaches to Belief
Lynne Rudder Baker (1989) of Princeton University has analysed four
main contemporary approaches to belief:
1. Our common-sense understanding of beliefs is correct.
2. Our common-sense understanding of beliefs may not be entirely
correct, but is useful for making some relevant predictions.
3. Our common-sense understanding of beliefs is entirely wrong, or is
overridden by a theory, which does not make use of beliefs.
4. Our common-sense understanding of beliefs may be wrong but is not
useless. It may be used in the cases of human beings and animals for
making some predictive strategy.

4. Formation of Beliefs
There are generally the following six ways of belief formation:
• Beliefs come from confidence in the words of the persons whom you
respect. This type of belief is called commendatory belief.
• You may have some belief from childhood about the existence of
something like ghosts, heffalump or will-o-wisp and so on. These may be
real or not. This type of belief is called existential belief.
• Beliefs can be adopted from your role models.
• In younger days, somebody else’s belief may be internalized.
• Sudden changes in life may also result in new beliefs or cancellation of old
beliefs.
• Some beliefs are formed on the basis of new knowledge, new research or
advertisements.

5. VALUES
• Every person believes in certain critical values.
• Thus, Jesus Christ valued love more than anything else; Mahatma
Gandhi valued truth; Plato valued wisdom; and Moses valued justice.
• Value is anything that has utility or worth. It may be physical values
or intrinsic values (in psychological or philosophical sense).
• A value is a general belief containing the idea of individual as to what
is good and what is bad.
• Values guide your actions as individuals in personal or social life. It is
a particular standard that a community gives importance to.

6. Significance of Values
A good value is also socially useful and has many positive externalities
(external influences) for others.
For instance, if a person is non-violent, that person is helping others by not
hurting anyone.
A value system that a person is endowed with through experience and
inherent predisposition may help that person in the following ways:
• The value system helps a person in making clear decisions.
• The value system helps the perception of the individual.
• A clear value premise helps a person to arrive at flawless logical
deductions and moral reasoning.
• It gives a clear understanding of the duty of a person who is confronted
with a particular situation.

7. Significance of Values
Some examples of individual values are as follows:
• Adherence to justice
• Practice of honesty under all situations
• Hard work
• Sincerity
• Sacrifice
• Kindness
• Care and compassion for the poor
• Simplicity
• Respect for others
(The list is indeed very conservative here; you can add many more individual
values.)

8. Types of Values
Five classificatory schemas are generally used by researchers in the
categorization of values.
1. Terminal Values and Instrumental Values
• There are some values that are called terminal values. These are the
values that a person wants to attend to at the end.
• As against the end, there may be many means to achieve the terminal
value or the desideratum. These values are called instrumental
values.
• In terms of spirituality, to be just or righteous is instrumental in the
realization of God, which is the terminal value. An instrumental value
is necessary to achieve the ultimate goal or telos.

9. 2. Personal Values
The following are basic categories of personal values:
1) Egocentric values: The value is directed towards satisfying the ego.
2) Sociocentric values: The value aims at socialization and adaptation
to society.
3) Existentialist values: This value is in conformity with the existing
realities.
4) Conformist values: This is an orientation to achieving materialistic
goals by controlling the physical resources.

10. 2. Personal Values
5) Supernatural values: It is a type of metaphysical value beyond the
norms of the physical world to achieve the ultimate reality.
6) Tribalistic values: It consists of submitting yourself to higher power
and authority.
7) Deontic values: It considers your own duty as the supreme religion.
8) Utilitarian values: In this type, the aim is to realize the net benefits
over cost.
9) Consequentialist values: In this case, an important value is assigned
to those actions that have good consequences.

11. 3. Many psychologists, philosophers and sociologists have
classified values into the following categories:
Categories of Values
• Religious values
• Economic values
• Social values
• Aesthetic values
• Political values
• Logical values

12. 4. Individual Values can be further classified into the following
categories:
• Practical or pragmatic values
• Moralistic or metaphysical values
• Core values
• Cultural values
• Social values
• Values relating to social responsibilities
• Values relating to civic responsibilities

13. 5. Another type of classification of values is based on the following:
• Acquiring and dissemination of knowledge
• Justice, righteousness and fair play
• Care and compassion
• Universal love
• God-fearing attitude
• Truth and non-violence
• No desire for materialistic possession
• Character-building
• Honesty
• Kindness and sacrifice

14. Characteristics of Values
 A value is chosen freely without any coercion or compulsion.
 A value is chosen from a number of alternative values.
 The choice of a value is made after taking into account different
consequences of this choice.
 A value that is chosen is then practised and adored. It is sustained
and applied at different stages of life.
 Values make a man. They show up in every situation of life.
 Values become a part of yourself and being. They persist and stay on,
unless some drastic value changing situations and experiences arise.
 Values are partly genetically determined, and partly acquired
through experience and interactions.

15. Sources of Values and Attitudes
There are many sources of values. Some are listed below:
1. Parents and family
2. Teachers and classmates
3. Peer groups and friends
4. Reference groups
5. Culture and tradition

16. 1. Family
• The most important source of value formation is the family. In this
context, the influence of parental behaviour can hardly be
exaggerated.
• Parents are the first persons to instill ideas of right and wrong and
bad and good in the minds of children.
• The conscience of the parents and their ideas on morality and
immorality are gradually and deeply drilled in the minds of
youngsters.
• If parents lie, children may pick up that habit from them, and it will
be difficult to efface that from their minds.
• Children experience moral development and distinguish between
right and wrong through reward and punishment by parents.

17. 2. Peer Groups
• The second important source of value formation is peer groups,
friends and colleagues with whom you interact in day-to-day life.
• In the days as an adult, you are very much influenced by the value
system of your classmates, churches, clubs and playmates.
• You may, after moral reasoning once again, either retain your values
or reject them in favour of new ones. You may experience a wave of
creative destruction.
• A good peer group may be helpful in inculcating good moral values,
whereas a wicked peer group may be instrumental in sacrificing the
good moral values for the bad.

18. 3. Role Models
• Sometimes, there are some people whom you admire, respect, adore
and emulate.
• These people may be one of your teachers, a sportsman, a film star or
a political leader.
• A film hero’s moral behaviour in a film, which has become famous or
notorious, does influence the minds of millions of fans all over the
country.
• Like the peer groups, the role models can also modify the values of
people from good to bad, or from bad to good.

19. 4. Institutions
• The institutions may be educational institutions, religious
institutions or any other social institutions.
• Social institutions, through the process of socialization, may mould
your values and attitudes. Similarly, a religious institution, such as a
church, considerably influences your value premise and value system.
• The changes that they bring about are from bad to good, and these
influences are almost indelible.
• Thus, a regular church-goer inculcates a value system that is morally
progressive with qualities such as compassion and care, love,
kindness, sacrifice and so on.

20. ATTITUDES
• Attitudes towards life and other aspects are generally based on the
value system that you have inculcated.
• Values and attitudes go hand in hand. Attitudes relate to personal
feelings, beliefs and predisposed ideas.
Attitudes and values are interrelated: values influence attitudes and
attitudes, in some cases, influence our value system. There are
important similarities, as well as differences between values and
attitudes.

21. Major Differences between Attitudes and Values
Attitudes
1. Attitudes represent predisposition.
2. Attitudes are mostly personal.
3. Attitudes may be an amalgam of several beliefs.
Values
1. Values relate to judgements.
2. Values are gathered from social and cultural parameters.
3. Values originate from a single belief.

22. Major Differences between Attitudes and Values
Attitudes Values
Attitudes represent predisposition. Values relate to judgements.
Attitudes are mostly personal.
Values are gathered from social and
cultural parameters.
Attitudes may be an amalgam of several
beliefs.
Values originate from a single belief.

23. Similarities between Attitudes and Values
Attitudes Values
Attitudes represent predisposition. Values relate to judgements.
Attitudes interact with values. Values interact with attitudes.
Attitudes affect the behaviour of people. Values affect the behaviour of people.
Attitudes are learnt outcomes. Values are learnt outcomes.
Attitudes are acquired from family, peer
groups, role models and institutions.
Values are acquired from family, peer
groups, role models and institutions.
Attitudes are difficult to change. Values are difficult to change.

24. Components of Attitudes
The Greek philosophers were the first to recognize the components and
importance of attitudes.
There are three major components of attitudes—affective, behavioural
and cognitive. These are briefly written as ABC.
Affective Component (A) This component of attitude is the emotional
aspect of your belief about a situation or object.
Behavioural Component (B) This component relates to an individual’s
predisposition to respond.
Cognitive Component (C) In this case, there is a cognitive evaluation of
the entity that can be helpful to form an attitude.

25. VIRTUE?
• Moral virtue is an acquired mental disposition that forms a part of
the character of a morally good person. This is reflected in the
behaviour pattern of the person.
• There can be a long list of virtues. However, the major virtues are:
honesty, sincerity, truth, courage, temperance, integrity, compassion
and kindness.
• Virtue is the habit of deliberate choice of the right activities and
performance of duties in the right way.
• Virtue is excellence in character.

26. Classification of Virtue
General Classification
1. Self-regarding (truth, beauty, temperance, courage and so on)
2. Other regarding (justice, benevolence, patriotism, and so on)
3. Ideal regarding (love, truth, passion for God)
James Seth
1. Temperance (regulation of impulses)
2. Culture (inner excellence and self-development)
3. Justice
4. Benevolence

27. Classification of Virtue
Plato’s Cardinal Virtues (Basis of all other virtues)
1. Wisdom
2. Courage
3. Temperance
4. Justice
Aristotle
1. Intellectual Virtue (rationality and knowledge)
2. Moral Virtue (temperance, courage and habits for the realization of
God)
3. Aristotle accepted Plato’s cardinal virtues but interpreted them in a
narrower sense.

28. Thank You