Week 3.1 Flashcards
Model
- Philosophy - worldview
- Cognitions/thoughts
- Behaviour
- Interaction with others
- Understanding & Empathy
[consistence and effectiveness - Behaviour should be consistent with philosophical worldview]
(see screenshot)
Define worldview
- an overall view of the world.
- Is not aphysicalview of the world, but aphilosophicalview
- a personal view of reality.
- an all-encompassing perspective on everything that exists
What does your world view represent?
Your worldview represents:
- your fundamental beliefs and assumptions about the universe
- how you answer all the “big questions” of human existence: For example, is human behaviour determined by nature or nurture or a complex interaction of both?
- the answers to these questions determine how you will live your personal life and conduct your professional interactions with people
Your worldview has…
Your worldview has an indispensable impact on your everyday thoughts
But your worldview remains…
But:
- Remains in the background [at the preconscious level]
- Remains abstract while you deal with the concrete issues in both personal and professional life
What does your worldview do…
- Your worldview shapes and informs your experiences of the world around you.
- Because it is not conscious and central to thinking, humans may not consistently [logically and rationally] apply their worldview to everyday life
Examples of worldviews (3)
- Worldviews determine people’s opinions on matters of ethics, politics and psychotherapy
- What you think about abortion, euthanasia, same-sex relationships, public education, the use of military force, environmentalism, animal rights and all other major issues of the day depends on your underlying worldview more than anything else
- Professionally, what you think about
- developmental psychology [raising children],
- organizational psychology [worker involvement in organizational decisions] and
- forensic psychology [punishment versus rehabilitation for offenders] depends on your worldview
etc
What do worldviews do? (5)
- play a central and defining role in our lives.
- shape what we believe and what we’re willing to believe,
- how we interpret our experiences,
- how we behave in response to those experiences
- how we relate to others
In real life, what is there a real need for? (4)
Thus, in real life there is a need for each professional person [in this case, psychologist] to systematically:
- Identify the major [philosophical] issues in present day society [what are they?]
- Research psychology’s contribution to these issues [what is the current evidence?]
- Arrive at a conclusion on each of these issues [Are these conclusions internally consistent?]
- Ensure there is a consistency between all these issues [both in all personal and professional areas]
Children are born… (Example of worldview #1)
- Neither bad nor good, but without moral values, and with parents who should direct them
- Inherently good, children attempt to be positive and try to do the right thing, but must change and adjust to society
- Inherently bad, the parents’ role is to instruct, punish and correct children who are born to be mischievous
Modern day workers… (Example of worldview #2)
- are responsive to good industrial management, techniques and should be provided with strong…
- are industrious and creative, working for the good of themselves and the company
- are inherently lazy, they need continuous supervision, should not be totally trusted
Prisoners in jail… (Example of worldview #3)
- rehabilitate prisoners, provide them with social and work skills so they will be able to positively contribute to society
- change societal values on poverty and discrimination so that people do not turn to crime because of want and alienation
- increase penalties so all offenders spend longer in jail and potential offenders will be deterred from committing crimes
How many people’s responses were consistent across the 3 scenarios
- only 38.1% of respondents were consistent
- most consistent was all neither good nor bad (~30%), then all good was also consistent (~8%) and no one was consistent for all bad
Importance of worldview awareness (3)
1) Worldviews serve as the necessary foundation and framework for our thoughts and actions
2) Our worldviews are the single greatest influence on the way we interpret our experiences and respond to those experiences
3) To successfully engage with diversity [gender, developmental age, culture, etc] is to think of them in terms of the worldviews they reflect
Worldviews serve as the necessary foundation and framework for our thoughts and actions
World views needs foundational assumptions and a framework of guiding principles to provide your thinking with a basic stability, shape, and structure.
