Beleifs, Attitudes, and Behavior

By: Dieu-Donné Bitoyi

Speech 104

January 25, 2011

Do you know that 75% of Students in California cheats on tests?

66% of students find it okay to cheat to obtain a desired grade.

A change in students attitude has led to this change in “cheating” behavior.

Three important term help analyze this increase in student cheating: beliefs, attitudes and behavior

Beleifs (Knowledge)/Values (goods or bads)

Beliefs represent all the bits of information we collect about people, events, and thing in our life.– Some beliefs we feel are

absolutely true or false; probably true or false; or are not sure about

• Example: people belief that a college degree will allow ones to make more money.

Value is a special subset of beleifs.

Psychologist Milton Rokeach of Stanford University describes two basic types of values: – Terminal values: are

lifelong desired end-states• Ex: acquiring Wisdom

– Instrumental Values: are the goods and bads we follow each day.

• Example: being Polite

VALUES Values differ with

general beliefs in two important ways:

1. Values are enduring. They do not change with time, because no acceptable alternatives have been found for those values.

For example: freedom, or equality, or being loved. No alternative yet for these values

2. Values lack flexibility. They are absolute, and cannot be negotiated or traded for something else.

For example: we American value freedom of speech as an all-or-nothing situation.

Most politicians claim sharing the same values as their constituents to get their vote.

What is a Value System?

We may feel that all of our values are important, but when two or more values clash we have to decide which value is most important to us. This becomes a value system.

In one’s value system, values are prioritized with the most important values on top, and the least important on the bottom.– Ex: based on their value

system, some legislatures vow to cut findings for education and give massive tax cuts to billionaires.

Not everyone can be classified under the same value system.

Overview of the Standard American Value Systems

(Reike & Sillars)

Puritan Value System: our forefathers “Protestant Work Ethic” that individuals have an obligation to themselves and those around them, and to work hard to whatever they do.

Enlightenment Value System: limit restrain on people in matter of the mind. Certain rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness become inalienable. Reason must be free.

Transcendental Value System: accepts optimism about people, freedom and democracy, but rejects the emphasis on reasoning.

Personal Success Value System: emphasizes individualism.

Collectivist Value System: emphasizes cooperative action with other in order to gain success.

The Six Pillars of CharacterJosephonson Institute

1. Trustworthiness

2. Respect

3. Responsibility

4. Fairness

5. Caring

6. Citizenship

How are Values Learned?

Moralizing

“Don’t do as I do, but do as I say”

Values are transmitted in a direct manner from one individual to an other.

Modeling

“Don’t do as I say, do as I do”

Values learned by watching other people actions. For instance, form parent to child.

ExperimentingValues learned through life’s experiences. Learning what one’s considered good or bad, right or wrong.

ClarificationTeaches the consequences of accepting or denying a particular value. Approach to discover one’s values.

Attitudes/Behavior. Attitude (like or dislike) is

“a learned predisposition to respond favorably or unfavorably towards a person, place, or event” according to Milton Rockeach.– When more positive than

negative beliefs are clustered around an object, the resulting attitude is viewed as favorable.

Attitudes and Behavior

Attitudes guide our behavior.

Attitudes have a measurable direction.

Attitudes have importance or salience

How are Attitudes Changed?

Make ones realize that an inconsistency between their attitude and behavior exists.– Attitude change is a

slow and usually occurs in small increments

When inconsistency does exist a condition termed Cognitive Dissonance develops

It is a state of opposition between cognitions, an inconsistency among some experiences, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings.

Can Attitudes be Measured? Attitudes are not an all or

nothing predisposition. Thus, attitudes rest in degrees along a continuum between position and negative.

Charles Osgood developed a scale which measures the strength of an attitude, called Semantic Deferential.

Beliefs, Attitudes, Behavior One’s beliefs (knowledge) and values (goods or

bads) lead to the development of an attitude (like or dislikes), which in turn guides or directs one’s behavior.

As Reike and Sillards write, “Change will most often result from redistributing, rescaling, redeploying, and re-standardizing values.”

Despite the call for virtue, we live in an age of moral relativism. Enlightenment has reduced all ideas of right and wrong to matters of personal taste, emotional preference or cultural choice.