“What do you think about X” is re-interpreted and answered as though you had said “What do good, high-status groups (that you can plausibly be a part of) think about X?”
I don’t think that’s a good model. From my own work with changing beliefs I have the impression that many people have a hard time changing foundational beliefs that they learned before the age of 6 even when all the good high-status people with whom they want to associate don’t value that belief.
What if everybody in their social circle (family, church members, etc) leaves? It’s my impression most such beliefs are social in that they depend on the group for maintenance.
If your whole family leaves a church, and so do all your church friends and the pastor, there’s a very good chance you’ll leave, too. If 20 people from a similar church leave, it has little effect on you, the difference being your social relationship with the first group.
Most people change religions when they identify themselves with a new peer group and start to conform to their new peer group’s norms, it seems to me.
So, yes, people have trouble changing beliefs they get before 6, but I think that’s mediated by the social effects in question. Control for those, and those beliefs can be changed quite easily
In addition to what I wrote about beliefs it’s worth noting that the centrality of social judgements is what happens in Kegan’s stage 3. Social judgements matter a lot for how people choose which beliefs to hold at that stage but the stage isn’t universal.
It’s possible to change religions without changing much about the fundamental beliefs. A Christian who exchanges the Bible as the holy book for the Koran or even for our sequences as the holy book still has the same belief structure.
I was personally surprised what happened when I eliminated a deep “Don’t talk to strangers” belief. No one who’s opinion I value would endorse that belief but it was still back in my head and had an effect that resulted in me interacting less openly with strangers.
Other beliefs such as that a person is worthless or unlovable are also hard to change even if the person spends time with people who believe that they have inherent worth and are lovable.
I don’t think that’s a good model. From my own work with changing beliefs I have the impression that many people have a hard time changing foundational beliefs that they learned before the age of 6 even when all the good high-status people with whom they want to associate don’t value that belief.
What if everybody in their social circle (family, church members, etc) leaves? It’s my impression most such beliefs are social in that they depend on the group for maintenance.
If your whole family leaves a church, and so do all your church friends and the pastor, there’s a very good chance you’ll leave, too. If 20 people from a similar church leave, it has little effect on you, the difference being your social relationship with the first group.
Most people change religions when they identify themselves with a new peer group and start to conform to their new peer group’s norms, it seems to me.
So, yes, people have trouble changing beliefs they get before 6, but I think that’s mediated by the social effects in question. Control for those, and those beliefs can be changed quite easily
In addition to what I wrote about beliefs it’s worth noting that the centrality of social judgements is what happens in Kegan’s stage 3. Social judgements matter a lot for how people choose which beliefs to hold at that stage but the stage isn’t universal.
It’s possible to change religions without changing much about the fundamental beliefs. A Christian who exchanges the Bible as the holy book for the Koran or even for our sequences as the holy book still has the same belief structure.
I was personally surprised what happened when I eliminated a deep “Don’t talk to strangers” belief. No one who’s opinion I value would endorse that belief but it was still back in my head and had an effect that resulted in me interacting less openly with strangers.
Other beliefs such as that a person is worthless or unlovable are also hard to change even if the person spends time with people who believe that they have inherent worth and are lovable.