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Beliefs about people

Explanations > Beliefs > Beliefs about people

Intent | Capability | Rights | Difference | So what?

We have beliefs about many things. Here are a number of the spectra along which we range.

What I believe about people will drive how I behave towards them. This applies to myself too, of course, and I can range from self-loathing to a rabid narcissist.

Intent: concerned for others vs. concerned for self

This is the belief about how selfish people are. A balance between these two concerns leads to the Care-Behavior Matrix.

Concern for others

I can believe that people are basically good and kind and have a natural tendency to help others. People who believe this way are likely to be trusting and trustworthy. They may also be naive and open to unprincipled persuasion.

Concern for self

I can believe that we are all basically selfish, and all actions are self-motivated. People who see the world in this Machiavellian way will not trust others and will manipulate the world for their own ends. They may even interpret prosocial, helpful actions as for the purpose of making me feel good.

Capability: natural talent vs. ability to learn

This is the nature vs. nurture debate.

Natural talent

This is also called Trait Theory. It assumes that people are born with particular talents and abilities and that there is no point trying to change these.

This was popular in the early years of psychological theories and then was scotched when the complexity of people, the (particularly Freudian) effects of early development and their ability to learn was considered. More lately, it has return in the guise of Behavioral Genetics.

If people in organizations believe more in natural talent, this increases significantly the importance of recruitment and decrease the importance of training and development.

Ability to learn

I can believe that, by and large, we all have similar talent, and that the question is more about our ability to learn. All people are seen as 'learning machines' and the focus is more often rather on whether we can learn but our preferred learning style.

If people in organizations believe more in our capability to learn, this increases significantly the importance of training and development and decrease the importance of recruitment.

Rights: For care or independence

This is the communist vs. capitalist debate.

Rights for care

If I believe in a right for care, then I assume that anyone who is in need can turn to someone else and ask for help, and the other person has a duty of care to

The question that goes with this who has the duty of care. Depending on the person and the situation, this may be:

Government - social security, health, etc.
Employer - employment, benefits
Friends - support
Family - close support

Governments who believe in the right of care will provide that care through social services, hospitals, and so on, funding this from taxation.

Organizations who believe in a rights of care will be loyal to their employees and will try not to fire them except under exceptional circumstances (and then will wring their hands about it).

People who belief that others have a right of care will actively or reactively give help to them.

No rights for care

If I believe that nobody has a right of care then I will tend towards a more anarchic disposition, believing and acting that it is 'every person for himself or herself'.

Governments that have less concern about care will have low taxation and very limited laws about care.

Organizations who believe they have no duty of care will hire and fire at will and provide the minimum possible benefits and environment to keep the people they need.

People who believe that people have no right of care will ignore the plight of others.

Difference: Self vs. other people

Beliefs about people include beliefs about people in general and people in particular. Although we may believe that people in general are rather nice, we can believe that a particular person is not very nice. That person may be ourselves, too.

I look at you and I look at me. And before either of us has opened our mouths or acted, there is already a gap, which will drive how I behave towards you (and me).

When my beliefs about myself are different from my beliefs about other people, then psychological problems are likely, ranging from low self-esteem to megalomania.

Difference beliefs also lead to bias of many kinds, including racial and gender biases.

So what?

Seek to understand how the other person believes and hence perceives other people. And then either play to those beliefs or work to change them.

Note that is is quite common to hold conflicting beliefs. Thus I can believe that all people are selfish, yet believe that I am not selfish. The impact on how I behave of this can be significant (and may be predictably dysfunctional).