Values
Using Self-Affirmation to Battle Stereotype Threat
Friday, July 10, 2015
1) When you think of the times in your life where you’ve been the happiest, the proudest, or the most satisfied, which of the following values come to mind?
Adventure, autonomy, challenge, competence, creativity, credibility, freedom, helping others, honesty, independence, integrity, justice, knowledge, loyalty, meaningful work, privacy, self-reliance, truth, will-power, wisdom
2) In general, I try to live up to these values:
Disagree 1 ----- 2 ----- 3 ----- 4 ----- 5 Agree
| Value | Score |
| Adventure | 3 |
| Autonomy | 4 |
| Challenge | 3 |
| Competence | 5 |
| Creativity | 3 |
| Credibility | 5 |
| Freedom | 4 |
| Helping Others | 4 |
| Honesty | 5 |
| Independence | 4 |
| Integrity | 5 |
| Justice | 5 |
| Knowledge | 5 |
| Loyalty | 5 |
| Meaningful Work | 4 |
| Privacy | 4 |
| Self-Reliance | 4 |
| Truth | 5 |
| Will-Power | 3 |
| Wisdom | 4 |
3) Pick one value and write a couple of sentences about why the value you chose is important to you.
Honesty: I value honesty for I believe it be be a cornerstone to developing many of the other values. Without honesty, and its companion truth, the validity of so many other elements in life come into question. If you can't trust the people you are working with, it becomes impossible to form meaningful relationships that yield quality work.
4) What was the last topic that someone asked for your advice on? Did it relate to any of the values you found important?
The clear choice here is "helping others" as by giving advice when asked, that is hopefully what is being done. While I take it as a compliment when I am asked for advice, I often worry about the quality of my advice and how much it will actually help the asker, if at all.
5) How do you feel when you think about your values? Do you think it can help you mediate stereotype threat if you recognize you feel it?
Thinking about these values seems to be a bit of a double-edged sword. In some senses it affirms what I hold important and my ability to live in a way that keeps to those values. On the other hand, it also calls up times when I might not have stuck to the values that I count as important, or failed to do all that I could to live up to them. Despite this, I can see how focusing on the values that are both important to you and that you feel you do a good job of living up to could help mediate stereotype threat by giving a better overall sense of self-worth.