REMEDIATION PLAN ACTIVITY

Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person

Module 1: Doing Philosophy

Read the following Directions:

1. Control
The most dominant self-belief is our assessment of the degree of control
we have over our own destiny. Control beliefs dictate whether pursue
goals and task for reasons external to the psychic self or to satisfy the
inner psychological strivings of the core self. People with an external
focus feel that their destiny is not within their direct control. Diminished
control beliefs result in ascribing life events and accomplishments to fate,
luck or circumstances the individual cannot or will not influence, such as
what happens when a person believes they are stuck in a tedious job
because of poor market conditions. Frequently individuals with an
external perspective will not seek challenges and will avoid setting stretch
goals, settling instead for the status quo. Conversely, people with strong
control beliefs feel in command of their perceptual world. They believe
they can orchestrate their career, social relationships and lifestyle. The
internal focus acts as a catalyst for personal growth and development
because the individual takes responsibility and is accountable for their
own success or failures.

2. Competency
Competency beliefs are also highly influential for motivated behavior.
Competency beliefs include assessments of our overall ability to achieve
desired outcomes but can also reflect micro-level assessments of the
perceived skills and abilities needed to complete a task, such as writing
an article or installing computer software.

The sources of competency appraisals are varied; some are based on past
performance, while others focus on current challenges or on the
anticipation of gaining desirable outcomes. Individuals will tend to
appraise their degree of competence not entirely upon actual ability and
knowledge but upon presumed competency beliefs, including the
perception of the individual by others.

Competency assessments can influence perceptions of overall self-worth

and can be the deciding factor in determining whether a person will
engage in a task or elect to defer, withdraw or completely avoid a
challenge. Task avoidance is motivated by fear of failure based on a
perceived likelihood of undesirable evaluations from others, or because of
the dismal prospect of generating negative emotions such as doubt, guilt,
or humiliation that often accompany task failure.

and honest behavior may be one of the key reasons accounting for the
frequency of what is described as moral disengagement, a practice
whereby individuals and corporations are willing to engage in
questionable business practices, lack of environmental concern, or
deliberate law-breaking under the auspices of weak moral convictions.

4. Goal orientation
A fourth and highly influential self-belief relates to the reasons we pursue
goals. Goal orientation represents the alleged purpose for engaging in
learning or the reasons a particular performance target is chosen.
Typically situated as an explanation of academic behavior, individuals
may elect to pursue academic knowledge and personal development for
either normative and appearance reasons or for the inherent satisfaction of
mastering a skill or ability.

When goal pursuit is based upon an appearance belief, the individual is

focused on looking good in the eyes of peers or avoiding the public
humiliation that may accompany goal failure. This approach employs a
social comparison motive because the individual is less concerned about
results but more focused on the assessment of capability from others.
Conversely, mastery-oriented individuals typically show greater interest
in the accumulation of knowledge, unlike the cosmetic intentions of
relative expertise endemic to the normative performer. The impact of
orientation is highly instrumental in the strategies that individuals will
use to reach their goals. Mastery performers are more inclined to seek
help when needed, are better at monitoring their task progress, and are
more willing to try new or alternative strategies to reach their desired
outcomes than their egotistical peers.

5. Epistemology
Fifth, people have beliefs about the nature of knowledge acquisition and
intelligence in general. While many different types of views may be
espoused concerning “epistemology,” people fall into one of three
categories when it comes to how knowledge is acquired and advanced:
  Individuals may believe that knowledge is fixed, meaning there is
one way, and only one way, to approach a problem or opportunity.
People embracing this absolutist philosophy will adhere to dogmas,
believing, for example, that the best jobs are only landed as a result
of strong social connections and not through skill development.

 Other individuals may assume a more flexible approach to thinking

and believe that different opinions may be justified; they are
willing to consider alternative perspectives (although usually
deferring to their desired position).

 Others will assess all views as equally warranted but believe that
one position is clearly justified based on statutory, ethical or
humanistic considerations, such as when people are motivated to
devote time and resources to charitable causes because of it’s the
“right” thing to do.

Closely related to epistemology beliefs are conceptions concerning

general intelligence. Polarized views of intelligence suggest that
individuals believe that intelligence is either subject to modification
based upon the acquisition of new knowledge, representing
an incremental view, or that intelligence, like flat feet or bushy eyebrows,
is a reality that must be accepted, thus adopting an entity intelligence
view. Assessment of the malleability of epistemological and intelligence
views can prove quite useful because each view provides revealing clues
as to the behavior individuals will exhibit regarding persuasion,
negotiation and sales efforts during many facets of their lives.

While the list of beliefs here is not inclusive, it is based on the confluence
of evidence from educational, social and developmental psychology. Self-
beliefs abound and clearly can be traced to many of the behaviors people
exhibit in organizations, relationships and during the very basic
transactions of human existence. While the science of behavioral
prediction is indeed a slippery slope, traction can be gained by moving
beyond the symptomatic evaluation of demonstrated behavior to a focus
on which self-beliefs are most instrumental for motivated action.

The next article in this series will focus on how self-beliefs develop, with
a particular focus on self-beliefs that affect learning and performance.