Hello and welcome back to my blog! My inquiry question for this semester is, “How are values and beliefs developed?”
Today, I will be focusing on answering my first mini question. That being, “How are ones values and beliefs formed?”
What are values and beliefs? As this whole inquiry question is based on these two ideas, I figured answering this would be a good first step. “Values are individual beliefs that motivate people to act one way or another” (1). In other words, values are a form of beliefs that affect the way we as humans act. Some examples of values include honesty, compassion, kindness and loyalty (2).
“A belief is something that you believe or accept as true” (3). A belief is not a proven fact but a way one thinks about a certain topic. Examples of beliefs include love is good, you shouldn’t lie and stealing is bad (4).
Values and beliefs are a part of everyones daily lives whether we realize it or not. Now to come back to the main question for this post, “how are ones values and beliefs formed?” As stated before, “beliefs are the ideas [we] accept as true.” (5) Factors that affect how our beliefs are formed include family, culture, education and mentors around us. This is because beliefs are formed by the way we hear others talk about certain topics. Whether we want to follow their beliefs or not support them is up to us.
Values on the other hand, are formed with the help of our beliefs. Our ” belief system then impacts [our] personal values” (5). Which in other words means that our values are based off of our beliefs. An example of this would be how someone who grew up in a small town would hold a belief of why a small town life is better for the growth of a child, which would mean they value a sense of community, home and family.
I hope I helped you understand the topic of values and beliefs a little better through my post today. My next post is going to focus on answering the question “How do ones values and beliefs change depending on where ones brought up?”. As mentioned in my last post, I have always wondered what the answer to this could be. Finding an answer to this question would not only help deeper understand the topic but also help answer a question that many think about! I look forward to seeing you next time.
Thank you for reading!
Citations:
- What is a belief? – about my brain. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2023, from https://www.aboutmybrain.com/blog/what-is-a-belief
- Values – ethics unwrapped. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/values
- A list of 20 common values [and why we can’t agree on more] – nir and far. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://www.nirandfar.com/common-values/
- Examples of core beliefs and how to change yours – medium. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2023, from https://medium.com/modernidentities/examples-of-core-beliefs-and-how-to-change-yours-a1773dae518b
- How are personal values formed? learn to live better with alignment. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2023, from https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-are-personal-values-formed
- Beliefs versus values: How to know what they bring to your life – betterup. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2023, from https://www.betterup.com/blog/beliefs-vs-values
- List of family values | lovetoknow. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2023, from https://family.lovetoknow.com/list-family-values
Hi Anannya,
I’m really enjoying your new inquiry project! I think it’s so interesting how our different values are formed and I definitely think it is very dependent on how we are raised.
This article might be helpful for you to find some more info on how values develop in people.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/how-do-people-develop-values-beliefs.html
Looking forward to your next posts!
Aniela
Hey Anannya, interesting post! As someone who is agnostic, but strangely superstitious at the same time, beliefs, values, and how they are formed is a fascinating topic to me. How you are brought up is so integral in the formation of your morality and what you consider just. As is quite obvious, babies aren’t born with a sense of morality, justice, or any biases against certain groups of people. Other than a few phobias, most of our opinions are caused by our environment, particularly the environment that surrounds us during our developmental years. Great post and I will be looking forward to your next one!
Some sources you may find useful are:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2802367/#:~:text=%5B8%2C9%5D%20Beliefs%20are,Beliefs%20help%20in%20decision%2Dmaking.
https://www.nature.com/articles/474446a
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/finding-purpose/201810/what-actually-is-belief-and-why-is-it-so-hard-change
https://www.bethinking.org/truth/the-formation-of-belief
https://edubirdie.com/examples/the-formation-and-effects-of-personal-beliefs/
Hey Victor, Thank you so much for commenting on my post in such depth. I completely agree with what you said about how babies are not born with morals but develop them through the years. I will be using your sources in my next couple posts as I looked through them and found them helpful.
Thank you again, Anannya B.
Hey Annanya,
This is a really great in depth topic! I have always been fascinated by how different people’s beliefs are from one another, and have always wondered what their beliefs stem from. Did their beliefs come from their parents? Did the country or city they lived in affect their beliefs? Those were questions I often thought and wondered about.
These are some resources that I hope can help with your research:
https://www.iaa.govt.nz/for-advisers/adviser-tools/ethics-toolkit/personal-beliefs-values-attitudes-and-behaviour/#:~:text=A%20belief%20will%20develop%20into,wealth%2C%20career%20success%20or%20family.
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=21013§ion=2#:~:text=Personal%20values%20stem%20from%20our,Personal%20values%20are%20not%20static.
I am really excited to see all your next posts and final project!
-Natalie:)
Hi Anannya,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post! your topic is interesting and your blog post made me reflect on your inquiry question as well. The blog post was very well developed and in depth. I like how you mentioned how values are formed based on our beliefs. A question I have is, does age and the influence of other people (ex. family) impact beliefs or values throughout our entire life?
A source that may be helpful in future blog posts is:
https://www.lovetopivot.com/how-family-affect-values-share-create-different-legacy-relationship-workshop/
Good luck in your future blog posts. I’m looking forward to reading them 🙂
Perla