PSYCHOLOGY OF BELIEFS
DEFINITION OF BELIEFS: - inferences, propositions, or hypotheses where there is insufficient evidence to prove them as correct. They exist along a CONTINUUM OF CERTAINTY that includes such positions as conviction, assurance, opinion, persuasion, inclination and sentiment.
OBJECTIVE REALITY has some inherent structure or pattern to it, e.g., grass is green, so this partly structures our perception of reality. But real- ity is SELECTIVELY PERCEIVED via our selective ATTENTION. Our perception of reality is not a passive reception but an ACTIVE SEEKING OUT of information FROM A PARTICULAR VIEWPOINT. Our particular perspective is a PHYSICAL, COGNITIVE, EMOTIONAL, MOTIVATIONAL viewpoint in the light of MEMORY. Thus, REALITY is INTERPRETED with a particular BIAS. Our perception of reality is a mixture of TOP DOWN/BOTTOM UP processing and is imbued with MEANING. It is top down because it is interpreted and categorised within our framework and selectively attended to. It is bottom up be- cause raw information enters our senses. In addition, this information is often processed automatically. These beliefs about reality are shared with others in a particular SOCIETY and CULTURE at a particular TIME. It is shared by PARALLEL EXPERIENCE, COMMUNICATION using SHARED SYMBOLS (language, pictures) which are CULTURAL TOOLS. This gives a CULTURAL OR GROUP BIAS.
WHY DON’T WE WAIT FOR CONVINCING PROOF OF EVERYTHING?
We would not be able to FUNCTION. Based on what evidence we have, together with other related factors, we make INFERENCES:
in order to make PREDICTIONS
in order to FUNCTION, to behave appropriately
in the world. in order to SURVIVE
and in order to MAKE SENSE of the world.
MAKING SENSE OF THE WORLD INVOLVES using:
CONCEPTS, CATEGORIES AND SCHEMAS - REPRESENTATIONS of the world involving beliefs and interpretations about reality.
Events, people and objects are:
LABELLED, via a language
CATEGORISED according to features and prototypes
SORTED with related concepts in memory.
We use SCRIPTS - stored ROUTINES in memory which give us
EXPECTATIONS.
Such representations are not isolated chunks of information but are
HIGHLY INTERCONNECTED with:
OTHER BELIEFS
OTHER KNOWLEDGE
EMOTIONS
BEHAVIOURS
MOTIVES
MEMORY
EXPECTATIONS
VALUES
to form a COMPLEX NETWORK.
Since all these factors are related to our beliefs, we INVEST varying amounts of ourselves in our beliefs. For example, if we believe it is im- portant to help those less fortunate than ourselves we may invest our time, energy and money or other skills into various pursuits to this end.
Therefore:
BELIEFS.ARE.LOADED.WITH.INVESTMENTS.AND COMMITMENTS which VARY IN TYPE according to the particular be- lief and it's strength.
As we embrace beliefs, CONSEQUENCES follow for other beliefs via the interconnected network we form. These beliefs in turn involve com- mitments and consequences.
In the main, we do not entertain CONTRADICTORY BELIEFS:
A person does not hold belief in God and at the same time not believe in God, this would be the opposite of the order and structure that we seek. However, FALSE BELIEFS MAY BE HELD ON TO because they may enable us to function reasonably well, even better than understand- ing the truth.
SUMMARY 1
In order to make sense of a partially structured or patterned world, and to function and survive in it, we interpret and categorise our biased perceptions via the cultural tool of language. Since we cannot investigate all the evidence, we make inferences, which form highly complex beliefs about our world. These interact with other beliefs, our emotions, motives, behaviour, memory and expectations to produce a complex in- terrelated system. These beliefs carry with them varying degrees and types of investment of our time, energy and behaviour e.t.c., and have lo- gical and other consequences for other beliefs in the system. Because we are trying to make sense of our world, we do not tend to hold on to explicitly contradictory beliefs.
The effect of holding particular beliefs, or the function of beliefs, which affect us in these complex ways may be to give us:
IDENTITY: A sense of the qualities that make us who we are. PURPOSE: an arousing of short and long term goals and directions.
COHESIVENESS: a sense of personal integrity and unity. BELONGING: a sense of unity with others - of sharedness, connectedness that inevitably also means division and separateness from some other groups. For example if you are a Christian, you are divided from and separate from Muslims.
REDUCTION IN ANXIETY: a calming of fear and uncertainty, though some beliefs will increase fear and anxiety, e.g. the belief that the world is going to end tomorrow.
These effects will follow REGARDLESS of whether the belief is TRUE or NOT, so long as the person concerned considers them to be true. The above qualities may override considerations of truth/falsity. It may be more important to belong to a group than become separate from them by considering the group's beliefs to be false. Thus there may be an UNWILLINGNESS to examine the truth or otherwise of beliefs because of the investment/commitment/reward of these other factors.
Beliefs are NOT STATIC and RIGID but often FLUID and the processes of ACCOMODATION and ASSIMILATION usually apply:
ASSIMILATION: As new information is received, it is assimilated into various categories, concepts, schemas and scripts.
ACCOMMODATION: Sometimes, new information does not fit into the categories, concepts, schemas and scripts that have been formed, e.g. the world did not end as predicted, so the schema and scripts may have to be modified to accommodate the new information.
BUT, DIFFEENT BELIEFS OFFER DIFFERENT RESISTANCES TO CHANGE:-
Some beliefs are PERIPHERAL, and their alteration has hardly any ef- fect on the network. Peripheral beliefs have not involved much in the way of investment or commitment. The average person may not believe that there is water on the Moon. Assimilation of the discovery that there is water on Mars is probably quite easy. It has little real effect on day-to- day living.
Other beliefs are CORE, well established and deeply interconnected with our orientation, identity, purpose, integrity, sense of belonging and ability to keep anxiety at bay. To change these beliefs may have GREAT COST. We may have to accept that our investment in such beliefs are misplaced. Our sense of understanding the world and ourselves may be threatened. Other beliefs may be affected as a consequence of changing this one. Our emotions, behaviours, motives, expectations, and even our memory may be affected. Our sense of orientation, identity, purpose, integration and social belonging may all be threatened. Anxiety, fragmentation and aloneness may increase. In short, challenging beliefs that have become core beliefs will cause a person to feel threatened, and thus defensive measures such as physical threats, shouting people down denial, refusal to listen and avoidance may follow. The continuation of such dissonance may lead to psychological problems.
Sometimes, new information is REFRAMED to fit in with the existing belief system. Thus when the 'Aliens will destroy the world tomorrow' prophecy fails, rather than admit failure, the believer may say that the aliens changed their minds as a result of the prophet's efforts at warning the world, even when no such efforts have been made, because it is too costly to personal integrity and cohesiveness to declare that the whole thing was a mistake. Time, effort and money had been invested in the be- lief that the world would end… perhaps homes and jobs were given up, and preparations made…
Beliefs are VALIDATED by reference to others, (SOCIAL REFERENTS) the world itself and our internal system. We constantly MONITOR and REVIEW our position by earning new information and via SOCIAL COMPARISON with: AUTHORITY FIGURES WE RESPECT: Scientists, religious leaders, experts. PEERS: Friends in and out of the groups to which we belong. RELATIVES.
The PRESSURES that such people can exert on our beliefs is very high, and hence they can affect our behaviour, emotions and sense of identity. (See; Zimbardo, Milgram).
Our beliefs are imbued with VALUES e.g. good, bad, right, wrong or worthy. We have our own INTERNAL VALUE SYSTEM - what WE think is good, right e.t.c., which though to a great degree learned from others, is nevertheless our own. Such values are linked to our sensations of pleasant/unpleasant, and are thus linked to our motives.
However, society in general has values, as do the groups to which a person belongs. This there may be DISSONANCE between our own beliefs/values and those of the society/group. To some degree this is over- come by presenting oneself to the group in such a way as is acceptable to them, and thus one is accepted by them. However, too much dissonance will result in pressure. Refusal to present oneself in an acceptable man- ner may maintain integrity but create the anxiety of rejection. The more important the acceptance of others is to us, the" more pressure we feel to conform.
SUMMARY 2
Our interrelated beliefs, which affect so many aspects of ourselves, help to give us orientation, identity, purpose, cohesiveness, a sense of se- curity and understanding. New information is slotted into our schemes and/or our schemes may be changed to accommodate new information. Core beliefs, closely related to our integrated sense of self, may be diffi- cult to change, such change making us feel threatened and vulnerable. We often validate our beliefs by comparing ourselves with others, some of whom may exert considerable pressure on us to modify or maintain existing beliefs, and the values linked with them, in order to maintain their acceptance of us and the coherence and identity of the group.
Because our beliefs are so intimately connected to our emotions, beha- viours, motives, expectations, integrity, identity and belonging, we are NOT LOGICAL BEINGS, because all the above factors intrude on our logic.
Typical examples of non-logical thinking include magical or mythical thinking. Thus for example we may interpret events occurring closely in time as causal, e.g. 'I was just thinking about Joe and the 'phone rings and it's Joe on the line… ' We may infer that our thought somehow in- duced him to ring. So we may consider that there are special powers or an interconnectedness that we cannot explain. Thus, autistic people have no sense of the fact that other people have intentions, or are capable of deceit by saying one thing and meaning another. One autistic person on seeing the ability of someone to infer another person's thoughts by their body-language, ascribed this to special powers. Our use of magical thinking is affected by context. Though amazed by an illusionist's tricks at a magic show, we ascribe it to sleight of hand. The same trick carried out a fortune-teller, or prophet, or person claiming special powers, may induce magical thinking.
Mythical thinking occurs at a different level. It is more concerned with grand schemes, issues of destiny, salvation of mankind and so on. It is an attempt to answer these grand questions and may involve fundamentalist religion, New Age beliefs, cults and so on. These ideas usually involve gods, spirits, saviours, heroes, fate, destiny, grand purposes of the universe, the battle between good and evil and such like.
Magical and mythical thinking are regressive forms of belief that offer us a return to child-like security and comfort in the face of a harsh exist- ential reality. In this case, the feelings of comfort and safety offered by such beliefs, together with a sense of belonging when such ideas are shared in a like-minded group, override considerations of truth and logic.
1996