Beliefs vs. Values
April 3, 2008 - 4:18am — Russell.Cook
I was wondering, how exactly does ACT define the difference between 'values' and 'beliefs'?
I have found the concepts of connection with the moment and mindfulness extremely helpful in dealing with anxiety, but find the idea of 'values' a little troubling. In Russ Harris' 'The Happiness Trap' he writes, "if you reflect on your own experience, you'll recognise that your beliefs change over time; that is, the beliefs you once held tightly, you may now find laughable".
For me, this could equally apply to 'values'.
Can anyone help to clarify the difference for me?
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value vs belief
for me a value is something that is a desired quality of ONGOING action. A belief can change and be moulded with time. Eg: I value my family. I believe my child is perfect. My value will not change but when my child turns 2 my belief might.
Hope this helps.
Ask this on the Yahoo Groups list instead?
Haven't seen "The Happiness Trap" so can't comment on what is said in it.
However, a suggestion: the forums on this site are underused - mostly because folks are more used to exchanging info via mailing lists on Yahoo Groups. I would recommend joining the Yahoo list specifically for members of the public interested in ACT and posting your question there. The URL for the group is:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACT_for_the_Public/
Also, while "The Happiness Trap" has gotten a lot of rave reviews, you might also want to check out the other ACT workbook, "Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life." That has a lot to say about values too, so you could compare & contrast and get some ideas that way.
Very briefly I will say that from my point of view as a layperson, "beliefs" in ACT tend to refer to very rigid ideas we have held about ourselves & how we should behave that aren't helping us, while "values" tends to refer to what we are drawn to in life - people & pursuits & gut-level rather than outwardly imposed ideals; the things that promise engagement rather than avoidance in life, even in the presence of pain.
Values are stated in words, and summon up thoughts & emotions, just as beliefs do, but they feel different: willingly embraced rather than imposed, alive rather than dead, open rather than closed. The trick with elucidating values is, you need to defuse first. A book that really does a great job of talking about defusion as a precursor to values exploration is "Learning ACT" - it's ostensibly for therapists but has some terrific ideas & exercises & explanations that many regular folks can benefit from once they learn the basic practices of mindfulness & defusion.
Some examples would make all this abstract talk clearer - but I rarely visit these forums anymore, and I'm not sure how much comment you will get from other folks here either. So again, I would really suggest joining the Yahoo list - this has been a much-discussed topic there & in addition to posting your question you can also search the archives for past exchanges. Russ Harris sometimes drops by the list, too, so you might even get some feedback from him.
Value vs. belief distinction
Sometimes there is a difference, and sometimes there isn't. Sometimes the difference is only semantic. If you spend a lot of energy on discerning between the two, does this behavior represent a value or a belief? What is this value or belief?
Example:
You may believe that Americans have the right to own and bear firearms (or not).
Now imagine that at a family gathering, an uncle strongly disagrees with your position. The question then becomes, what do you do in response? If you choose to remain silent, you may be choosing this freely to act in the service of family relations. Or you may be choosing to act in the service of not rocking the boat, perhaps avoiding some confrontation. Either way, you may choose silence as a way to respond behaviorally. If you are busy thinking about how to respond, and this grows in to more silence, is this good or bad? Is thinking about whether it's good or bad or value-consistent preventing you from being present at the family gathering?