What are Values?

What are Values?

Human values are those principles related to the right or wrong.

Human Values:

• They are broad preferences which direct a person's course of action and the outcomes of a person's actions.

• Values reflect the sense of right or wrong.

• They direct the human behavior and help solve many day to day problems.

Examples of Values:

• Not all values apply to all people.

• Some values are accepted in certain cultures because of social structure there while others are unacceptable.

• Values like: bliss, appreciation, awareness, and many others.

Who helps a child acquire values?

• The basis of any human value starts at home.

• Parents direct children to acquire those values through teaching them the right and wrong.

• It starts with what parents teach, then molded by outside factors which include the surrounding environment, like friends, teachers.

• School is another major factor that helps in shaping the values of a child.

• Religion instills the needed awareness upon which a child's behavior depends.

Theories about the acquisition of values:

• Dr. Morris Massey whose a great schiologist in the field of Human relations defined the development of values in 3 stages.

Stage 1: The Imprint Period:

• Between the ages of 0-7, a child is just like a sponge; he blindly accepts all what goes around as a true fact.

Stage 2: The Modeling Period:

• Between the ages of 8-13, the child imitates the elderly.

• He copies parents and other persons such as teachers.

• The child moves from accepting things blindly to the stage where he tries new things.

Stage 3: The Socialization Period:

• Between the age 13-21.

• Peers play an extremely important role in this stage.

• A child grows to form his own identity and discover who he really is.