Values and beliefs – Behavioral sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioral interactions between organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behavior through the study of the past, controlled and naturalistic observation of the present and disciplined scientific experimentation and modeling.
It attempts to accomplish legitimate, objective conclusions through rigorous formulations and observation. Generally, behavior science deals primarily with human action and often seeks to generalize about human behavior as it relates to society.
Values and beliefs
CONCEPT ABOUT VALUES
In sociology, the meaning of value is different from meaning of value in economics or philosophy. For example, in economics values means price. Social values form an important part of the culture of the society. Values account for the stability of social order. They provide the general guidelines for social conduct.
Values such as fundamental rights, patriotism, respect for human dignity, rationality, sacrifice, individuality, equality, democracy etc. guide our behavior in many ways. Values are the criteria people use in assessing their daily lives; arrange their priorities and choosing between alternative courses of action.
Definitions of Social Values:
According to G.R. Leslie, R.F. Larson, H.L. “Values are group conceptions of the relative desirability of things”.
According to H.M. Johnson, “Values are general standards and may be regarded as higher order norms”.
Functions of Values:
- Values provide goals or ends for the members to aim for.
- Values provide for stabilities and uniformities in group interaction. They hold the society together because they are shared in common. Some sociologists argue that shared values form the basis for social unity.
- Values bring legitimacy to the rules that govern specific activities. The rule are accepted as rules and followed mainly because they embody the values that most people accept.
- Values help to bring about some kind of adjustment between different sets of rules. The people seek the same kinds of ends or goals in different field of their life.
Characteristics of Values:
- Values may be specific, such as honouring one’s parents or owning a home or they may be more general, such as health, love and democracy. “Truth prevails”, “love thy neighbour as yourself, “learning is good as ends itself are a few examples of general values. Individual achievement, individual happiness and materialism are major values of modern industrial society.
- Value systems can be different from culture to culture.
One may value aggressiveness and deplores passivity, another the reverse, and a third gives little attention to this dimension altogether, emphasising instead the virtue of sobriety over emotionality, which may be quite unimportant in either of the other cultures
Definition of Beliefs:
Beliefs are generally defined as convictions that things held in the mind are true.
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A state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing
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Social or cultural beliefs are the beliefs by which groups in a community identify themselves. Those dissatisfied with the authority may form campaigns to promote their ideas. Members of these campaigns are called activists.
Types Of Belief:
➤ Meta: Beliefs about beliefs.
➤ Perceptions: Beliefs about how the world seems to be, based on the evidence I have.
➤ Opinions: Beliefs about how I should interpret reality
➤ Predictions: Beliefs about how I think things will end up in the future based on what I lo know now.
Definition of Habits:
A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.
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An action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness.
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The concept of habit refers to routine behavior which is based on repeated exposure to same kinds of environmental cues. These cues lead to an automatic association with the cue and the behavior that follows irrespective of whether a desired goal is reached.