speech on human values and ethics

Speech About Values [1-3 Minutes]

Values are positive good qualities present in an individual or company. These values are responsible for each action performed by an individual. They also help others to figure out the nature of a person or a group of people living together or working together.

Core values represent an individual’s or organisation’s priorities. In this article, we shared some examples of speech about values having a time duration of 1, 2 and 3 minutes. This will help you prepare for a speech presentation.

1 Minute Speech about Values

Good morning and welcome all of you gathered here. I am here to present a speech on values and their importance.

The real value of a person is determined by the values imbibed in him. These are sometimes called core values. Core values are profound essential values that are grounds for who we are as a person. They tell us what we really believe about ourselves.

Core values decide the behaviour, the thinking pattern, and the actions that someone will execute. The same applies to an organisation. If we talk about some of these values. They can be; confidence , humbleness, doing the right things, accountability, helping first, integrity, sharing etc.

In short, Values are important that drive an individual or a business to behave ethically. Thank you!

2-Minute Speech About Values

Welcome honourable principal, respected teacher, loved parents and dear friends. Today, we are gathered here for this special occasion of… I am here to speak a few words about the importance of values.

Values or sometimes called core values or moral values are the invention of humans. These values distinguish humans from animals. These values are important for an individual, a society, an organisation, a business and a country because values have the purpose of driving you to act and behave ethically.

Your values indicate what is important to you and what are your priorities. If you have good values, everyone will like you and you will develop a mutual emotional connection with others. This way you will behave very well with others. Hence, values shape your personality and behaviour .

The values inside you help you make the right decision. They help you distinguish between right and wrong. When you make the right decisions, you prosper on the path of progress. This improves your confidence. Therefore, we can say that values help you grow.

Values can build character. Good values can help you build a strong character and bad values can help you build a loose character. Now, a question arises in the mind; what are good values? There are a lot of values considered as good.

Some of these can be compassion, loyalty, discipline, accountability, confidence, gratitude, sharing, caring, and doing the right things. There is a quote that can help you understand the importance of values in a few words.

Treat people the way you want yourself to be treated. Talk to the people the way you want yourself to be talked to. Respect is earned, not given.

To sum it up, your values can decide the experiences you are going to encounter. So, imbibe good values in you and enjoy the world. Thank you!

3 Minute Speech On The Importance Of values

First of all, good morning to the honourable principal, respected teachers and loving friends and all of you present here today. In your special presence, I would like to say a few words about core values.

We develop a wonderful connection with some people while we fail to do the same with others. This is because of the values they imbibe in them. If we find a person with the same interest and values as us, we like them and vice versa.

Let’s talk about some good values that an individual must have.

1. Kindness

Kindness is the best value of all. Every living being understands the language of kindness. Kind nature can calm even the most ferocious animal. Being kind often requires courage and strength, as it involves the willingness to celebrate and give attention to someone else.

“ Honesty is the best policy “. You must have listened to this line one day or another. It is one of the most basic core values. Honesty is the equilibrium of what we say and what we do. It also encourages one to always tell the truth and avoid cheating.

3. Doing the Right Thing

Doing the right is a tough commitment because it will please some people and fury others. But wait… Give it a think before doing anything if this act is actually right. Here right means which is right for all, not for one perspective. Hence, doing the right thing requires a great deal of wisdom.

Apart from these, there are many values we can count such as;

Spirituality
Selflessness
Determination
Trustworthiness
Appreciation
Self-Reliance
Attentiveness

To sum it up, in order to prosper in each aspect of life, one needs to incorporate good values.

Thank you very much for listening to my speech. I hope you liked it.

Other Speeches

Importance of time management speech [1,2,3 minutes], speech on ethics and etiquette [1,2,3 minutes], speech about mahatma gandhi jayanti 2023.

1 Minute Speech On Health Is Wealth
2 Minute Speech On Child Labour
1 Minute Speech On Child Labour
Speech On Nature [ 1-2 minutes ]
2 Minute Speech on Importance Of Education
1 Minute Speech on Pollution
2 Minute Speech on Population Explosion

2 Ethics and Public Speaking

Anthony Naaeke, Ph.D. and Eva Kolbusz-Kijne, Ph.D.

Learning Objectives

Explore the meaning of ethics.
Distinguish between absolute and relativist perspectives on ethics.
Identify and apply the code of ethics for ethical public speaking established by the National Communication Association
Distinguish between ethical and unethical speech.

“I regret it now because the information was wrong.”

— Colin Powell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d93_u1HHgM4

The above quotation from former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell directly applies to the discussion we are about to have in this chapter, namely, ethics in public speaking. In this television interview on the Larry King Live CNN program first aired in 2011, former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, expressed regret for a speech he delivered before Congress in which he provided what he believed was justifiable reasons for the United States to go to war against Iraq following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States. Although Powell believed at the time of his speech to the United Nations that the information and evidence he provided in the speech were accurate, ostensibly because he trusted the officials who vetted the accuracy of the information, he later realized that the speech was based on misinformation and inaccurate evidence. By expressing regret for delivering a speech filled with inaccuracies, Colin Powell basically acknowledged that his speech was unethical. However, by publicly expressing regret for an unethical speech that he delivered, he fulfilled the ninth ethical principle of the National Communication Association’s code for ethical speaking that states, “We accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences for our own communication and expect the same of others.” This principle calls for ethical speakers to take responsibility for mistakes and errors made in communication whether in the short or long term when they become aware of the errors and inaccuracies they expressed.

In this chapter we will explore the meaning of ethics, ethical perspectives, the Code of Ethics of the National Communication Association and distinguish between ethical and unethical speeches.

Ethics has to do with social norms regarding right and wrong. It is a branch of philosophy that deals with right and wrong. Because different cultures have different norms about right and wrong, ethics is a very contested zone in all aspects of human encounters. One culture may consider something to be right while another may consider the same thing to be wrong. Hence, the contested nature of ethics. However, for effective communication, especially communication that is intended to move an audience to make choices or decisions, some basic agreement on what is right and wrong is necessary.

In De Oratore (Institutes of Oratory), the Roman rhetorician Quintilian wrote that the perfect orator is first “a good man speaking well.” This simple statement establishes a fundamental expectation for ethical public speaking, namely, that great oratory should entail both an ethical character of the speaker as well as delivery that embodies confidence, competence, dynamism, and good will (addresses the needs of an audience).

For Quintilian and other rhetoricians such as Cicero and St. Augustine, rhetoric or oratory should be grounded in truth and not deception. According to these rhetoricians, the communication of truth distinguishes ethical rhetoric from sophistic rhetoric which uses any means, including deceptive ways, untruths, and outright lies, to persuade an audience.

Ethical Perspectives

There are different perspectives on ethics, but this section will concentrate on two of them, namely, the absolute values perspective and the relativist perspective.

The absolute values perspective on ethics holds that irrespective of person, place, or time, right is right and wrong is wrong. In other words, there are universal ethical values that apply to all people and cultures. For example, it is wrong to kill or to tell a lie or to steal or to defraud. This means that irrespective of person or culture or situation, a person who tells a lie or kills or defrauds others has done an unethical act.

https://www.giffordlectures.org/books/moral-values-and-idea-god/6-relative-and-absolute-value

Ethical relativism on the other hand is the philosophical position that the sense of right and wrong is always relative to the individual and not universal to all people and situations. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines ethical relativism as “the doctrine that there are no absolute truths in ethics and that what is morally right or wrong varies from person to person or from society to society.” The arguments for ethical relativism are mainly two-fold. The Encyclopedia observes that an argument, based on the Greek Philosopher Herodotus (5t Century BC), claims that every culture has its customs and norms and no culture’s values, norms and customs are better than another. A second argument in favor of ethical relativism, according to the Encyclopedia, is based on the 18th century philosopher David Hume who expressed the idea that moral values are grounded in emotion and not reason and can, therefore, not be universalized.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethical-relativism

Implications of Ethical Perspectives for Public Speaking

When applied to public speaking, the absolute values perspective on ethics implies that there are or should be rigorous principles that guide how to teach public speaking, how to write a speech, how to deliver a speech, how to reference sources, what is considered appropriate vocal projection, eye contact, posture, vocabulary, etc. This approach to public speaking can be regarded by minority groups based on race, culture, or nationality, as oppressive in the context of culturally sustaining pedagogies and the ongoing efforts to engage pedagogies that are inclusive, diverse, and equity minded.

On the other hand, a fundamental implication of ethical relativism for public speaking is that there are no universal norms or ethical codes that govern what and how to make public presentations. This means that depending on the speaker, context, audience or purpose, a public speaker decides what and how to make the presentation without following a predetermined style. This also means that the principle of ethical relativism is more respectful of diverse cultural values, culturally relevant speech patterns, thought processes, and language use. In the context of culturally sustaining pedagogies, the relativist ethical perspective would allow more flexibility in how public speaking is taught and how students, depending on their various backgrounds, prepare and deliver speeches.

Despite the implications of the two ethical perspectives on ethics discussed above, the National Communication Association (NCA) has established a Credo for Ethical Communication to guide the practice of the discipline.

NCA Credo for Ethical Communication

The NCA believes ethical communication is “fundamental to responsible thinking, decision making, and the development of relationships and communities within and across contexts, cultures, channels, and media.” Conversely, the NCA believes that unethical communication threatens the well-being of individuals and society. Consequently, the NCA has established a Credo for Ethical Communication referenced in the link below.

https://edge.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/ethics_section_03_module01_0.pdf

The NCA Credo for Ethical Communication is extensive, but for the purpose of this chapter which addresses ethics in public speaking, it is important to outline and focus on the following nine principles of the code:

We advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason as essential to the integrity of communication.
We endorse freedom of expression, diversity of perspective, and tolerance of dissent to achieve the informed and responsible decision making fundamental to a civil society.
We strive to understand and respect other communicators before evaluating and responding to their messages.
We promote access to communication resources and opportunities as necessary to fulfill human potential and contribute to the well-being of individuals, families, communities, and society.
We promote communication climates of caring and mutual understanding that respect the unique needs and characteristics of individual communicators.
We condemn communication that degrades individuals and humanity through distortion, intimidation, coercion, and violence, and through the expression of intolerance and hatred.
We are committed to the courageous expression of personal convictions in pursuit of fairness and justice.
We advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings when facing significant choices while also respecting privacy and confidentiality.
We accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences for our own communication and expect the same of others.

In essence, the principles outlined in the code emphasize the importance of communication that is grounded in truth, honesty, accuracy, and respect for the audience as an ethical responsibility of a speaker.

Distinguishing Between Ethical and Unethical Speeches

Based on the exploration of ethics, perspectives on ethics, and the NCA Credo for ethical communication, it is appropriate to observe that irrespective of cultural background or values, some general principles should guide what is ethical or unethical in public speaking.

Purpose of the Speech

Effective communication must be purpose-driven. The purpose of a speech is important because it lets the speaker and audience know the ultimate outcome of the speech. The purpose of the speech should seek to accomplish something good. If the purpose of a speech is unethical it means that it seeks to accomplish something bad. Let us explore some examples to illustrate. In the speech by former Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations that we referenced in the introduction of this chapter, his purpose was to persuade the International Community that Saddam Hussien, then President of Iraq, had weapons of mass destruction which posed serious security problems to the world and that the United States would have to go to war against Iraq in order to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction against the International Community. The purpose of the speech was ethical in as far as it sought to protect the common good of the International Community by preventing a nation and its leader from doing harm to people. On the other hand, a speech whose purpose is to arouse anger and resentment against specific groups of people, such as immigrants, would be unethical because such a speech aims to do harm to a group of people by appealing to the emotion of anger in its audience who would then act violently or discriminate against immigrants as evidenced by a speech by former President Donald Trump in which he called Mexicans murderers and rapists. See reference to the speech in the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaz1J0s-cL4

Credibility of evidence

Another element of an ethical speech is that the information given should be based on facts and not opinion,, information that is accurate and reliable. Facts can be demonstrated or proven, while opinions are the personal views of a person that may or may not be factual. The evidence should also be accurate in the sense that it should fully and properly represent the ideas or statements of others within the context in which such ideas or statements are made. Evidence that is not accurate distorts the original message of the source of information and misleads an audience. The credibility of evidence is not only about what is stated but also about who says it. To be ethical, a public speaker must verify that the source of information they use as evidence to support claims is reliable or can be trustedtrustworthy. For example, the statements of a racist bigot in defense of racism cannot be considered reliable because of the personal disposition of the source.

Another important consideration about the credibility of evidence is crediting the sources of the information used. An ethical speaker must let the audience know the source of the information or data or statistics or images such as paintings, pictures, and drawings if the information was taken from another person’s work. Failing to credit the sources of information constitutes plagiarism.

Plagiarism is using another person’s ideas or work without crediting the source. There are three types of plagiarism: global, patchwork and incremental.

Global plagiarism is taking the entire work of another person and not crediting the source. For example, if you take a speech that was written by someone else and deliver it to an audience without letting the audience know who the original writer of the speech is, that would constitute global plagiarism.

Patchwork plagiarism on the other hand takes substantive parts, such as a paragraph, from different sources and puts them together without crediting the sources. Patchwork plagiarism is easy to commit when you highlight, copy, and paste information from different sources without crediting the sources.

The third type of plagiarism, incremental plagiarism, happens when you take a phrase or sentence from various sources and fail to credit the sources. Ethical speakers always credit their sources.

Arrangement of Ideas

One other way to be an ethical speaker is to arrange your ideas in a way that makes it easy for the audience to follow the logical flow of the message. An ethical speaker should facilitate the understanding of the message and not confuse the audience with disorderly placement of ideas. In an orderly arrangement of ideas, the audience can easily follow how one idea moves to another or relates to another, whereas in a confusing arrangement of ideas, the audience struggles to see how one point relates to another or flows into another.

An ethical speaker should always be mindful that the language used is familiar to the audience and inclusive, . Language should not toonot be too technical or abstract,; not racist, sexist, or abusive and is inclusive. Using familiar language makes it easy for the audience to understand a message being communicated, while technical or abstract language may be appropriate for a specific audience especially based on profession and level of education. Racist, sexist, and abusive language looks down on a group of people while extolling the perceived superiority of the speaker over the audience.

Respect for the audience

In addition to the above guidelines for ethical speaking, a speaker should show respect to an audience by being on time to the event and respect the time allotted for the speech. The speaker also shows respect to an audience by dressing appropriately and listening to the feedback from the audience and responding to questions from the audience honestly.

Finally, an ethical speaker should know what they are talking about, be well prepared, dress appropriately, speak clearly, engage the audience through direct eye contact and body movements that show physical/mindful presence and attention to the audience.

Other guiding principles for ethical public speaking

Many scholars of ethical communication agree that an ethical speaker should have integrity, competence, responsibility, respect, and concern (Plante, 2004). Integrity means being an honest, fair and a just person. Competence is a quality of someone who is knowledgeable and skilled in some job or task whilst r. Responsibility has to do with keeping promises and being attentive to one’s obligations. An ethical speaker should be respectful of others in terms of paying attention to their rights, needs, dignity and be concerned about the needs of others.

In this chapter, we explored the meaning of ethics, different perspectives on ethics, and distinguished between ethical and unethical speeches. We also outlined the Credo for Ethical Communication by the National Communication Association and provided practical guidelines for ethical public speaking. In the context of higher education that emphasizes the need for culturally sustaining pedagogies, an ethical speaker must be respectful of diverse audiences they address. Ethical speakers should use evidence that is based on reliable facts while considering the lived experiences and needs of the audience.

Review Questions

What is your understanding of ethics and why is it important for speaking speakers?
Identify nine principles of ethical communication outlined by the National Communication Association.

Class Exercises

Show a speech to the class and put students in small groups to discuss and explain why the speech is ethical or unethical.
Put students in small groups and ask them to make a list of things they consider ethical or unethical in a speech.

Works Cited

Encyclopedia Britannica. Ethical Relativism. https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethical-relativism . Accessed 6/5/21.

Plante, Thomas. Do the Right Thing: Living Ethically in an Unethical World . Oakland, CA. New Harbinger Publications, 2004, p. 49-145.

Powell, Colin. Interview on Larry King Live. CNN . 2011. YouTube Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d93_u1HHgM4 . Accessed 6/5/21.

The Gifford Lectures. Relative and Absolute Value. https://www.giffordlectures.org/books/moral-values-and-idea-god/6-relative-and-absolute-value . Accessed 6/5/21.

Trump, Donald. Interview on MSNBC. YouTube Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaz1J0s-cL4 . Accessed 6/5/21.

Ethics and Public Speaking Copyright © by Anthony Naaeke, Ph.D. and Eva Kolbusz-Kijne, Ph.D. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Ethics and Morality

Morality, Ethics, Evil, Greed

Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff

To put it simply, ethics represents the moral code that guides a person’s choices and behaviors throughout their life. The idea of a moral code extends beyond the individual to include what is determined to be right, and wrong, for a community or society at large.

Ethics is concerned with rights, responsibilities, use of language, what it means to live an ethical life, and how people make moral decisions. We may think of moralizing as an intellectual exercise, but more frequently it's an attempt to make sense of our gut instincts and reactions. It's a subjective concept, and many people have strong and stubborn beliefs about what's right and wrong that can place them in direct contrast to the moral beliefs of others. Yet even though morals may vary from person to person, religion to religion, and culture to culture, many have been found to be universal, stemming from basic human emotions.

The Science of Being Virtuous
Understanding Amorality
The Stages of Moral Development

Those who are considered morally good are said to be virtuous, holding themselves to high ethical standards, while those viewed as morally bad are thought of as wicked, sinful, or even criminal. Morality was a key concern of Aristotle, who first studied questions such as “What is moral responsibility?” and “What does it take for a human being to be virtuous?”

We used to think that people are born with a blank slate, but research has shown that people have an innate sense of morality . Of course, parents and the greater society can certainly nurture and develop morality and ethics in children.

Humans are ethical and moral regardless of religion and God. People are not fundamentally good nor are they fundamentally evil. However, a Pew study found that atheists are much less likely than theists to believe that there are "absolute standards of right and wrong." In effect, atheism does not undermine morality, but the atheist’s conception of morality may depart from that of the traditional theist.

Animals are like humans—and humans are animals, after all. Many studies have been conducted across animal species, and more than 90 percent of their behavior is what can be identified as “prosocial” or positive. Plus, you won’t find mass warfare in animals as you do in humans. Hence, in a way, you can say that animals are more moral than humans.

The examination of moral psychology involves the study of moral philosophy but the field is more concerned with how a person comes to make a right or wrong decision, rather than what sort of decisions he or she should have made. Character, reasoning, responsibility, and altruism , among other areas, also come into play, as does the development of morality.

The seven deadly sins were first enumerated in the sixth century by Pope Gregory I, and represent the sweep of immoral behavior. Also known as the cardinal sins or seven deadly vices, they are vanity, jealousy , anger , laziness, greed, gluttony, and lust. People who demonstrate these immoral behaviors are often said to be flawed in character. Some modern thinkers suggest that virtue often disguises a hidden vice; it just depends on where we tip the scale .

An amoral person has no sense of, or care for, what is right or wrong. There is no regard for either morality or immorality. Conversely, an immoral person knows the difference, yet he does the wrong thing, regardless. The amoral politician, for example, has no conscience and makes choices based on his own personal needs; he is oblivious to whether his actions are right or wrong.

One could argue that the actions of Wells Fargo, for example, were amoral if the bank had no sense of right or wrong. In the 2016 fraud scandal, the bank created fraudulent savings and checking accounts for millions of clients, unbeknownst to them. Of course, if the bank knew what it was doing all along, then the scandal would be labeled immoral.

Everyone tells white lies to a degree, and often the lie is done for the greater good. But the idea that a small percentage of people tell the lion’s share of lies is the Pareto principle, the law of the vital few. It is 20 percent of the population that accounts for 80 percent of a behavior.

We do know what is right from wrong . If you harm and injure another person, that is wrong. However, what is right for one person, may well be wrong for another. A good example of this dichotomy is the religious conservative who thinks that a woman’s right to her body is morally wrong. In this case, one’s ethics are based on one’s values; and the moral divide between values can be vast.

Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg established his stages of moral development in 1958. This framework has led to current research into moral psychology. Kohlberg's work addresses the process of how we think of right and wrong and is based on Jean Piaget's theory of moral judgment for children. His stages include pre-conventional, conventional, post-conventional, and what we learn in one stage is integrated into the subsequent stages.

The pre-conventional stage is driven by obedience and punishment . This is a child's view of what is right or wrong. Examples of this thinking: “I hit my brother and I received a time-out.” “How can I avoid punishment?” “What's in it for me?”

The conventional stage is when we accept societal views on rights and wrongs. In this stage people follow rules with a good boy and nice girl orientation. An example of this thinking: “Do it for me.” This stage also includes law-and-order morality: “Do your duty.”

The post-conventional stage is more abstract: “Your right and wrong is not my right and wrong.” This stage goes beyond social norms and an individual develops his own moral compass, sticking to personal principles of what is ethical or not.

Eyewitness memory is visual, but the images involved must be conveyed verbally. This transition can result in significant errors in investigation and court.

Do you believe that people ultimately get what they deserve? While this belief likely increases your happiness, it may cost you your compassion.

Is life moving beyond the human scale? Consider Georg Simmel's famous answer.

Can laughter heal? Therapy and humor can be powerful tools for healing, but they can be tricky. Learn the benefits and risks for therapists.

What is “medical certainty?” And how did it lead to the criminal conviction and 30-year prison sentence of stay-at-home mom Moira Akers?

Exceptionally good people often carry a dark side, using their goodness to inflict pain onto others.

The wellness industry is rife with practices that lack evidence or are even known to be harmful. Here's why it's important to make science-informed decisions about your mental health.

You’re testifying in court about a client’s mental health. Most of your information is based on hearsay. Is it appropriate to share secondhand information about the client?

Abigail Shrier’s new book, "Bad Therapy," criticizes therapeutic education but without helping us to see why educators and parents might find it convincing, even inspiring.

Future machines will be smarter than us and may revolutionize mental healthcare. Is this an “Oppenheimer moment”?

Find a Therapist
Find a Treatment Center
Find a Psychiatrist
Find a Support Group
Find Online Therapy
United States
Brooklyn, NY
Chicago, IL
Houston, TX
Los Angeles, CA
New York, NY
Portland, OR
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC
Asperger's
Bipolar Disorder
Chronic Pain
Eating Disorders
Passive Aggression
Personality
Goal Setting
Positive Psychology
Stopping Smoking
Low Sexual Desire
Relationships
Child Development
Self Tests NEW
Therapy Center
Diagnosis Dictionary
Types of Therapy

Sticking up for yourself is no easy task. But there are concrete skills you can use to hone your assertiveness and advocate for yourself.

Emotional Intelligence
Gaslighting
Affective Forecasting
Neuroscience

University Center for Human Values

Fostering ongoing inquiry into important ethical issues in private and public life and supporting teaching, research, and discussion of ethics and human values throughout the curriculum and across the disciplines at Princeton University. Learn more >

Appiah is widely known as the Ethicist at the New York Times. He is now an honorary member of the Royal…

Former Human Values Forum President Ethan Magistro was recently featured in the University homepage's…

Flying a flag is an expression of free speech protected by the First Amendment. But is unfettered free speech a right that every public servant should exercise?

Jan-Werner Müller, the Roger Williams Straus Professor of Social Sciences and professor of politics, was named a 2024-25 Old Dominion Research Professor by the University…

Taylor began his lecture by elucidating the context in which the term anti-racism was popularized: the 2020 racial reckoning that followed the murders of George Floyd and…

Self-Growth Journey
Free Newsletter

How Our Beliefs and Values Shape Our Behavior: A Beginner’s Guide

Personal Development

H ave you ever wondered what fuels your motivations and drives your attitudes and behavior ? You’d like to think it’s all a conscious decision and the result of in-depth rationalization on your part. There’s truth to that, but there are many other levers inside of you that act subconsciously. Among those, two fundamental concepts live at the root of everything. If you understand what these are, you can not only understand yourself and what is holding you back in life but even scratch the surface of understanding the world and its behavior, at least since the rise of consciousness. So, what drives our attitude and behavior at the most basic level? It’s our beliefs and values .

Our Beliefs

We also develop beliefs resulting from personal experiences and the feelings that we associate with them in those moments. More so, we develop beliefs through our repeated actions. If you are consistently late, you start to believe that you are terrible at time management when, in fact, a better alarm clock and sleep habits could change that label. In time, beliefs shape our identity, and we become them to some extent.

Some examples of beliefs that you might recognize are: God has created the world; if a black cat crosses in front of you, something horrific will happen; man has evolved from primates. As you may notice, some of these beliefs have science behind them, while others clearly do not. Scientific research has constantly changed people’s opinions over time by providing proof to the contrary. Think about ideas such as the Earth being flat and the Sun revolving around the Earth. At some point, people believed that. Later on, science proved that they were not true, and (most people) stopped believing them.

Regardless of the level of scientific or empirical proof, most people have difficulty justifying their beliefs, and frankly, most of us don’t even like to. As a matter of fact, we all would be a lot happier if everyone else around us had the same beliefs as we do, or at least, that they would not challenge us on them. Of course, that is impossible, and this is precisely what fuels most of the world’s conflicts.

There are three main types of beliefs that all of us as humans have. Let’s look at each one.

Beliefs About Ourselves

Beliefs about ourselves grow in us from childhood, and they are very much related to the environment in which we grew up. Individuals who grew up in a close, supportive family who regularly encouraged them will probably grow with a sense of self-confidence , although that is not a rule.

The way that different people absorb these environment-driven beliefs, or reject them, depends, too, on their personalities. People who have a naturally questioning mind and curiosity about the world will not accept the beliefs of those around them blindly. Similarly, people with a strong sense of self will not simply take on what they are told about themselves. Instead, they will develop their own self-image by analyzing their own strengths and weaknesses .

What we believe to be true about us is, in fact, our self-image . These are the stories we tell ourselves , and, over time, we become those stories. The beliefs are ingrained into our character, and we begin to filter everything through them. Our speech, body language, and showing of emotion are all driven one way or another by those beliefs.

“I’m a procrastinator.” “I’m just a bad speller.”

You see, in time, beliefs become labels . We plaster them on our foreheads and use them to justify our action or inaction. They serve as a mental pacifier to allow us to keep the status quo. Instead of learning how to spell, it’s much easier to label yourself as a lousy speller. Instead of learning how to manage time, saying you are a procrastinator gives you a convenient carte blanche to maintain your existing behavior.

Interestingly enough, an objectively true fact might turn into a positive or negative belief depending on the person. For instance, you might be the shortest kid in your class—that would be a fact—but you can think of that as an advantage or a disadvantage. That belief will then drive how you behave as you interpret it as being damning or empowering.

Beliefs About Others

You don’t have to look far to see the effects our beliefs about others have upon the world. Think about politics and religion, where the polarization of ideas generates powerful opinions about the “other” side. More often than not, those ideas morph into actions, oftentimes aggressive.

Of course, the assumptions about others are also a result and a projection of our beliefs about ourselves. If you think of yourself as unlucky because you haven’t had success in your career, you might conclude that anyone else who is successful is, in fact, lucky. Replace “lucky” with any other adjective, and you can see how easy you might morph the thing that you believe you don’t have into an opinion about those who “have” it. Action, then, is only a few steps behind.

Beliefs About Life And The World

People in high socio-economic environments might think that people in low socio-economic backgrounds do not work hard enough. The latter group might think that the former had everything handed to them on a platter. Although there is a possibility for these thoughts to be objectively true, they are mostly not. We develop these biases toward the world because of an innate need to justify our place in it .

While beliefs about others and the world generate our stereotypes and can lead to xenophobia, racism, and sexism, or the literal opposite of all of those, beliefs about ourselves drive our self-image. Together, they set the boundaries of what and with whom we feel comfortable to speak, act, help, or ask for help. The gap between our beliefs about others and ourselves creates our attitude and, eventually, shapes our belief about our world in general.

Think: I am always unlucky, but everyone else around me is always lucky. I am a decent person; however, I am surrounded by people with hidden agendas. You can see how those thoughts combined might shape different types of attitudes in our minds. These thoughts could lead to cynicism and misanthropy or kindness and charity. It all depends on the direction in which those beliefs take you.

And here comes the kicker: you can decide the direction you take. Your beliefs do not control you , so long as you become self-aware and take the helm of your life.

Some very root-level values are easy to understand by their name—honesty, health, and curiosity. Although different people might define them differently, those definitions will be somewhat close. Other values are more difficult to define objectively because they mean vastly different things to different people. For instance, think about the value of Success.

In fact, an entire system of values is like a living organism, and the importance you place on each of them affects the others around you. For instance, a person who values honesty and success might not sacrifice honesty for success if they hold honesty higher in their hierarchy. But what if things were reversed? At which point would the value of success push you to override the value of honesty? Look into politics and business, and you’ll find an answer.

Similarly, if you hold the value of fitness higher than the value of health, you might do things toward your fitness that could damage your health. For that, see professional athletes who sacrifice their health for accolades.

In any country’s political system, you can see the set of values at play in the candidates’ platforms. An individual who values equality and human rights will have a different platform than a person who values a social hierarchy based exclusively on financial meritocracy.

Note that values don’t always have to be positive. In fact, many of them are clearly negative, but you need self-awareness to realize whether you live by them. Think of anger , blame, and dishonesty, just to name a few. For example, Hitler and Stalin had values, but the application of their value system resulted in genocide.

If values are our personal compass, then morals are the positive compass of society . This means that if you strip away the negative values and only keep the positive ones, and a group of people ratifies them, you get moral values or the values of a society.

Unlike morals created by groups of people to maintain the sanctity of society, ethics take it one step further. Ethics are rules or norms that must be established to expressly state what a person must abide by if they want to be accepted. Codes of ethics are the best examples of these rules. Professions, companies, and countries create these ethical codes to maintain minimum standards that apply to everyone.

These are explicit rules that let us know what is good and what is bad. Moreover, ethical standards may result in punishments when they are disregarded.

If you see a sign that says, “Do not litter,” that is an ethical rule. To behave ethically, you would not throw your garbage on the ground. If you do, you might be fined.

On the other hand, if you pass by the trashcan and see a candy wrapper that somebody else has thrown on the ground, you have no ethical obligation to pick it up. However, you do have a moral obligation to do so. If your own set of values aligns with your society’s moral values, you will pick up that wrapper and throw it in the garbage.

Defining Your Belief and Value Systems

So, herein lies the persistent conflict of our society: Our beliefs and values drive our personal attitude and behavior toward the world, yet society’s moral values and the ethical rules in place limit our actions accordingly. We decide to behave according to the morals and ethics of the society in which we live. Even if our personal values clash with those of the community, we might still abide by societal rules because we are afraid of repercussions.

Although most people in the world do not murder other people, a big part of that is because if they were, police would catch them, and they might go to jail for life. Of course, there’s a subset of people who would never murder anyone no matter what, but the number of those who’d kill would definitely not be zero, hence the need for laws and a justice system.

Your values and beliefs are not fixed

Here is the great news about beliefs and values: They are not inscribed into your DNA . They are learned and have developed and grown in you since your birth. They bubbled to where they are today because of your environment, experiences, events, and decisions in your life. Today, with elevated self-awareness, you can decide to change those beliefs and values and replace them with a new system that empowers and supports your goals and vision for life and for who you want to be .

Your beliefs are ideas that you hold to be true . Many of these beliefs and your life circumstances define your values or what is important to you in life. Your values and beliefs will determine your attitude , meaning how you treat others and yourself and how you approach any situation. Lastly, all three determine your behavior or how you act.

Your Attitudes and Behaviors

Therefore, in the end, your beliefs and values directly influence your attitudes and behaviors. By digging deep into your character and understanding these concepts, you can determine why you act a certain way. And the best part is, you can go the other way as well. If you don’t like how you act in a specific context, you can identify the root beliefs and values and shift them to allow for different actions.

This means that you must first decide what you want to do, which implies creating a vision for yourself or setting up goals to achieve in the future. Then, break those goals into their constituent parts and identify if your current set of values and beliefs is supportive of them. If they aren’t, you simply cannot achieve them. That’s because your decisions and attitudes will not drive the right behavior that would lead to those goals’ accomplishments. Only when your beliefs and values are aligned with your goals can you be successful.

As I emphasized above, beliefs and values are learned ; they are not hard-coded into our bodies in any way. We learn to love or hate others. We learn to love or hate ourselves. All are driven by our life experiences and by merely being human. You’ve lived some of these for so long, and you’ve practiced them, perhaps unconsciously, so much that some of them have formed into habits and drive your rituals . When you take a more thoughtful approach to decide what your beliefs and values should be, based on your life vision, things change—your attitude shifts, and with it, your behavior, and, ultimately, your outcome.

Your Self-Awareness

This is powerful stuff because it’s an actual lever we have at our disposal for changing our lives . The problem is, both beliefs and values have strong momentum and seem glued to our character. We almost feel as if they make us who we are. But once you realize that this idea is simply not true, you can begin the process of changing them . Soon, you will realize that shifting those massive internal frameworks is a long and painful process. But it’s not impossible. You have to accept the truth about your ability to change and embrace the pain of going through the process.

To begin, ask yourself:

What do I believe about myself?
How has that prevented me from taking action in the past?
What do I want to become, and what do I want to accomplish in the future?
To get there, how do I have to change my beliefs?
What is important to me?
Have I created a vision for myself? What is my biggest vision for life?
What must be important to me so that I can get there?

By doing this exercise, you can begin to change your beliefs and values and shift them to a new system that supports your goals and vision.

Good luck on your journey. It’s a heavy road, riddled with hurdles, but at the end of the path awaits a better version of you. Go and find that you , or, even better, go and create that you .

Other Values and Beliefs Resources

James Clear’s Core Values List
Scott Jeffrey’s The Ultimate List of Core Values
Personal Values: A Guide to Figuring Out Who You Are
Personal Values and Beliefs
Values vs. Beliefs
Defining Your List of Values and Beliefs (with 102 examples)

Now, before you go, I have…

3 Questions For You

Have you ever analyzed your own values, and if so, what are your top three?
Have you identified any limiting beliefs?
What are some situations in which your limiting beliefs curbed your progress in life?

Please share your answers in the comments below. Sharing knowledge helps us all improve and get better!

Hi there! I’m Iulian, and I want to thank you for reading my article. There’s a lot more if you stick around. I write about personal development, productivity, fiction writing, and more. Also, I’ve created Self-Growth Journey , a free program that helps you get unstuck and create the beautiful life you deserve. Enjoy!

beliefs, highlight, mindset, values

An excellent article. You write simply and powerfully. Congratulations. I hope you do not mind me making reference to some of these ideas ( acknowledging you ) in a hand book for young persons I am working on. I am from Kenya

Iulian, what an amazingly written piece! You explained this so well. Thank you very much! I’ll bookmark this to come back to.

Belief and Faith in God are important in understanding our Behaviour.

“How Our Beliefs and Values Shape Our Behavior: ”

But, before we get to the above part of living, we have to wonder about this: The most important thing that shapes your life, your birth, before you even get here is; you cannot pick, your parents, your race/ethnicity, or your country.

Thank you! You are absolutely right. Those will powerfully influence who you become. Later in life, you gain the ability to make choices about how and where you live and who you allow in your life. But your point is great… The starting point is always a gamble and the trick is to switch to defining your own values and beliefs as quickly as possible.

I wish tonight that I weren’t so tired as I love stuff like this.

Session expired

Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.

Art of Living Part 1
Sahaj Samadhi Meditation
Art of Living Premium
Sri Sri Yoga Foundation
Art of Living Part 2
Chakra Kriya
Volunteer Training
Teacher Training
All Courses
Help me choose
Art of Living Boone Retreat
Local Centers
Meditations
Art of Living
Service Projects
Press & Media
Testimonials
Talk to a Certified Teacher Call (855) 202-4400
Find Your Local Center

International

What are you looking for?

Find Courses

US City Centers
Search Website

Change Country Site

Change Country Website
Retreat Centers
Global Website

Search Courses By Name

Search courses by location, select a retreat center.

Canada - Montreal
Germany - Bad Antogast
India - Bangalore
USA - Boone, NC

Find a meetup

--> --> -->