Explain your belief and consider it from a sociological perspective:

How did you come to have this belief? Who were the "agents of socialization" (parents, peers, teachers, coworkers) that taught you about these beliefs?

How did your belief evolve or even change (if it did), over time? Did you evolve or change as a result of your belief? (Remember, our personalities change and grow over time, as do our beliefs). 

Are your beliefs in line with societally accepted values, or does your belief challenge them? How so?

You're essentially placing your belief in the greater sociological context, understanding where it came from and how societal forces helped shape it. 

Underline and Bold at least 3 sociological concepts you've included in your assignment that we spoke about in our discussion on socialization (or even previous lectures). Make sure to DEFINE the concept when you use it, and then apply it to your paper. 

 

Beliefs from a Sociological Perspective

Time after time the phrase "patience is a virtue," has been used to shape every step made in my life. This is a concept that I have come to learn which led to the development of my personal belief; Good things take time. It did not only come from the fact that my agents of socialization instilled this belief in me, it came about because it is something that I have experienced first-hand; experimented and confirmed that good things take time. A belief is described as something or an opinion that an individual holds to be true, and personally, this is my truth.

This belief came to fruition when I grew up and started to learn about how society works. My parents most of the time did not have everything I wanted at the time, so they taught me to be patient and the results were even better than the initial want. I build up this belief as I continued to grow and look at society and how other people have benefitted from taking time to get the best. In the Bible it is clear that Jacob waited & toiled for 14 years to be with Rachel, why can I not practice the same? As religion also played an important part in my life I continued to hold this belief with high regard.

In regards to social stratification, access to income and wealth greatly influence access to opportunities and resources. For that reason, various individuals have taken shortcuts to have wealth, and others have worked for years to build their wealth. Wealth acquired under shady circumstances always ends up with a tragedy. Therefore, I continue to believe that good things, in particular, wealth will grow with time, because good things take time.

How My Belief evolved over time

An individual grows and changes over time because a person who does not grow is as good as dead. As I grew to become older and wiser, I expanded the boundaries of my belief. Before, I understood that "good things take time," meant being patient and waiting for things to happen. But after some time that was not the case, maximum effort was required to get to the said good things. As mentioned before, I was not spoiled or had everything I wanted, I was not born into generational wealth so everything we have as a family required hard work. As I grew up I got obsessed with social mobility, I wanted my family and me to move to the highest socioeconomic level of occupation, which is the "good thing," in this context. For this to be achieved, it had to take time and hard work is required equally. In this context, it is clear that my belief required the development of patience but at the same time, hard work and that is how it has evolved.

Belief in line with societally accepted values

Our society has accepted norms and values, which are the conventional ways in which individuals are expected to conduct themselves. My belief is in line with socially accepted values because it harbors honesty, hard work, patience, and integrity which are some of the beliefs that different societal institutions promote. Every individual, especially public figures wants to be associated with the mentioned values even though their actions contradict them. Therefore, my belief is in line with socially accepted values. But in retrospect, this belief has been developed over time and even if it did not coincide with society's expectations it would still be my philosophy. It is personal because it serves me as an individual and not as how society would dictate.