Are personal beliefs right and wrong?
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Workplace learning with coaching and mentoringCopyright free image IconWorkplace learning with coaching and mentoring Show BSc (Honours) Sport, Fitness and CoachingBSc (Honours) Sport, Fitness and Coaching BA/BSc (Honours) Open degreeCreative commons image IconBA/BSc (Honours) Open degree Download this course Download this course for use offline or for other devices Create your free OpenLearn profile Anyone can learn for free on OpenLearn, but signing-up will give you access to your personal learning profile and record of achievements that you earn while you study. Course content A question of ethics: right or wrong?A question of ethics: right or wrong? Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available. Create account / Sign in More free courses 1 Defining ethics Since sport and recreation is largely about people enthusiastically pursuing an activity that really motivates them, often in hazardous environments and involving relationships that require rapport and trust, it sometimes throws up some tricky dilemmas. Loubert (1999) defines ethics as ‘the study of rules, standards and principles that dictate right conduct among members of a society. Such rules, standards and principles are based on moral values which serve as a basis for what is considered right’ (p. 162). In a sport and fitness context the coach or instructor should adhere to ethical standards set by organisations, such as REPs or governing bodies, to act in a way that is considered ‘right’. Ethics is underpinned by morals and values, therefore it is important that we also pin down the difference between morals and values (see Box 1). Box 1 Definitions Values – the beliefs and attitudes that provide direction to everyday living. Values are personal beliefs and attitudes that guide action. Morals – Morality is concerned with perspectives of right and proper and involves an evaluation of actions based on some broader cultural context or religious standard. The following activity asks you to apply these definitions of values and morals to a real-life situation. Activity 1 Morals and values Timing:Allow about 15 minutes Consider this statement from a semi-professional footballer and separate the morals and values illustrated here: 'I think it is important that as a footballer I am employed to help my team to win every match. Whilst some of my on-field behaviour may not be morally acceptable I can always justify my actions to myself.' Personal Values are “broad desirable goals that motivate people’s actions and serve as guiding principles in their lives".[1] Examples of personal values include donating to charity or spending time with family. [2] Everyone has values, but each person has a different value set. These differences are affected by an individual's culture, personal upbringing, life experiences, and a range of other influences.[3] Personal values are desirable to an individual and represent what is important to someone. The same value in different people can elicit different behaviours, eg if someone values success one person may work very hard to gain success in their career whereas someone else may take advantage of others to climb the career ladder. A person can have many values with an individual assigning more importance to some values over others. It has been shown that the values that are most important to you often guide your decision making in all aspects of your life such as career, religion, social circles, self-identity etc[1][4]. A personal value is a broad concept and one particular value can be applied to various situations [1]. For example, if an important value to you is loyalty this could be applied to your family, friends or work environment. Schwartz in 1992 presented 10 motivationally distinct types of values as listed below[1]. These values have been researched in many countries and have been found to be universal in cross-cultural applications. [5][6] Schwartz Theory of Basic Values
Lists of personal values can be indefinite but research has shown a value will generally fit into one of those 10 types. There is no set of ideal values and everyone will have their own list of values with unique importance assigned to each one.[5] [7] Personal values may and may not correlate with a person’s behaviour. Some values may be practised by an individual and executed in daily life. A personal value may be important to someone, but they are not implementing it in their daily life, and they would like to implement it. And an individual may have a set of personal values that is not in line with their behaviour. [8] “Core beliefs are defined as fundamental, inflexible, absolute, and generalised beliefs that people hold about themselves, others, the world, and/or the future”[9]. When one has a belief they are accepting that their theory or proposition is true. Beliefs have a degree of uncertainty because many beliefs cannot be observed directly.[10] We use beliefs to help us understand the world around us. A person’s beliefs will guide them in their decision making and response to situations. Beliefs are usually formed in childhood or any other significant formative experience.[11].
Types of Beliefs – Enabling and Limiting[edit | edit source]Beliefs can be seen as enabling (positive) or limiting (negative). Enabling beliefs are ones that are optimistic and show good self-efficacy or the belief in yourself that you can achieve something. Examples of enabling/ positive beliefs
Negative beliefs are thought as limiting and they often hold one back in life. Limiting beliefs are often seen in absolutes and are often inaccurate and unhelpful. People with limiting beliefs can often be judgmental of oneself or of others. [11] Examples of limiting/ negative beliefs
Beliefs, positive or negative, are not always true and this can lead a person to make poor decisions based on inaccurate beliefs. Research shows that people with inaccurate negative beliefs about themselves can present with symptoms of anxiety and depression[12]. Beliefs can be categorised into beliefs about one’s self, about others, about the world and the future. These beliefs can either be positive (enabling) or negative (limiting).
It is not always an easy task to identify one’s core beliefs. It can require a great amount of introspection and some people may need the facilitation from a therapist to unlock their core beliefs.[11] Once limiting beliefs have been identified modification of these beliefs will help to reframe them into enabling beliefs. Reframing beliefs is not a simple task as negative beliefs are often deeply rooted. Again, the need for psychological therapy may be necessary for deeply ingrained beliefs. Wenzel, 2012 [11] describes various strategies that can be applied to modify core beliefs. Are ones personal beliefs about right and wrong?Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.
Can a belief be right or wrong?While it is uncertain whether beliefs can be morally wrong, they can certainly be wrong from what philosophers call the “epistemic” perspective.
Are beliefs and rules starting what is right and what is wrong?ethics are beliefs and ruling stating what is right and what is wrong.
What personal beliefs mean?A belief is an idea that a person holds as being true. A person can base a belief upon certainties (e.g. mathematical principles), probabilities or matters of faith. A belief can come from different sources, including: a person's own experiences or experiments.
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