Influence Of Values In Society

920 Words2 Pages

Values influence how we view the world. They are what help us make decisions and what generally shapes our behavior. Our values have a powerful influence on our personality and how we judge people and our surroundings. They are what we see as important in life, as well as knowing the good from the bad and right from wrong. Google defines values as “the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something,” and “a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life.” Many people have the same values but in a different priority. But, many people just simply have different values all around. Whether good or bad, to one’s standards, everyone has values. But where do we learn these principles and standards? Where do our values come from? What really shapes them? How can these values be tainted? Can these values change? This research will be focused on the influences of family and society as factors of how we learn values, how values can be tainted, and how values can change. Since values are one’s judgment of what is important in life, one can conclude that these values first generate in the home. Parents, or caregivers, teach their kids what was taught to them. When we are born, we are not instantly instilled with a pack of values ready for download. They are taught to us, showed to us by example, and reiterated to us over a long period of our lives. There are two ways children learn values: they are taught directly and see it by example indirectly. One direct approach is in the fact that many families are grounded in some kind of faith or philosophy, and teach it to their children. Another direct way many parents directly teach their children values are in t... ... middle of paper ... ... against what they were once taught. Family and the society we live in are two of the most influential forces that drive the growth and practice of our values and beliefs. As we see, values can easily change if not firmly grounded. In children, the growth and practice of said values and beliefs start in the home with family. Family is the root of where values begin. If the parents are unsure of their values, most likely their children will be too; therefore, this will make their kids more susceptible to the negative ways of thinking and confusion of their personality; this is possible. When they become teenagers, the values they thought they were strong in, could easily change or become tainted if tested or put under pressure. Jon Stewart said it best when he said, “'If you don't stick to your values when they're being tested, they're not values: they're hobbies.”

Open Document