The 10 types of beliefs (and how they talk about us)

In many ways, we are what we do and what we think. The beliefs that we internalize and through which we live define who we are and, for example, they focus us towards some moral values ​​or others, they make us have certain types of priorities, etc.

In this article we will see a classification about the main types of beliefs and the way in which they affect us on a day-to-day basis.

• Related article: "The 10 types of values: principles that govern our lives"

The types of beliefs and their characteristics

Beliefs are fundamentally memorized ideas about what the world is like and how we should act. Specifically, they are cognitive schemas, that is, systems of relationships between concepts that figure in our memory.

For example, for some people the term "anti-system" has connotations associated with terrorism and insecurity, so as you enter this topic, your thoughts will move through the semantic field of vandalism and vandalism. violence; but for others, it has positive connotations associated with participatory democracy and collaboration, which is why this scheme will lead to very different conclusions.

Having said that, let's see what are the types of beliefs.

Depending on whether they are normative or not

Beliefs can be descriptive or, on the contrary, indicate a direction in which our actions should go. That is why we distinguish between descriptive beliefs and moral beliefs.

1. Descriptive beliefs

These beliefs are assumed as a simple (imperfect) carbon copy of reality: show what's in the present, whether we want it or not. For example, there are people who believe that the evolution of species follows a logic by which individuals must fight each other. yes to survive, while others believe that evolution also creates frameworks in which those who survive the most are those who collaborate.

2. Moral or normative beliefs

These types of beliefs are what tell us what is right and what is wrong. For example, believing that inequality is something that must be fought.

According to its connection with religion

Historically, religions have had a very important weight both in the lives of individuals and in political and social events. That is why it is convenient to distinguish between religious beliefs and secular beliefs.

3. Religious beliefs

Religious beliefs, as the name suggests, are linked to a religion, regardless of its extent and popularity. That means they adhere to dogmatic ideas that should not be questioned, to certain rituals, and principles based on the supernatural.

• Related article: "Types of religion (and their differences in beliefs and ideas)"

4. Secular beliefs

Secular beliefs are not tied to religion, at least directly. Therefore, they are all those that cannot be included in the previous category.

According to the degree of consciousness

In many respects, there are beliefs so implanted in our way of thinking that they are unconscious, automatic. This distinction is confusing because it is not easy to know to what extent an idea is unconscious or not, or if an apparent belief Unconscious only arises in moments of intense emotionality or under certain circumstances, or if on the contrary it is always there, latent and hidden.

5. Conscious beliefs

This type of belief is part of our daily discourse, the way in which we make our convictions explicit, either in a spoken or written way, referring to our opinions.

6. Unconscious beliefs

Unconscious beliefs are expressed through biases, involuntary acts and thought experiments. For example, a person who claims that lying is always wrong may find that she does not really think that if she is presented with a situation in which not lying has catastrophic situations.

According to its usefulness

Beliefs also have an impact on one's quality of life. That is why we distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive beliefs.

7. Adaptive beliefs

They are those that allow us to adjust to our day to day without causing suffering to others or ourselves. Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy, for example, is based on making our core beliefs adaptive.

• You may be interested: "Aaron Beck's Cognitive Therapy"

8. Maladaptive beliefs

As their name indicates, they are the ones that do not allow us to adapt to our life in a correct way, since they generate stridency and conflicts both intrapersonal and interpersonal.

For example, believing that weighing less than 40 kilos is the right thing to do is a maladaptive belief related to extreme thinness, and the same goes for the belief that homosexuality it's unnatural or that there are inferior races. In the first case, this idea causes pain mainly to oneself, while the others cause suffering to others.

• You may be interested: "Thoughts that sabotage us: this is how they act in our mind"

Depending on whether they are internal or external

Beliefs can be directed towards oneself or towards others

9. Beliefs about your own identity

They are closely related to self-esteem, self-concept Y the expectations we place on ourselves.

10. Beliefs about the environment

These can be beliefs about the society you live in, friends and acquaintances, etc. It is very important in the so-called attribution styles, through which we attribute the causes of what we experience to others, to luck or to ourselves.