Interpreting Events and Experiences
Chapter Overview
1. Interpreting Events and Experiences
2. Building a Positive Attitude
3. Overcoming Challenging Experiences
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Lesson Overview
•
•
•
•
What does it mean to interpret events and
experiences?
What is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
Why is a positive outlook on life important?
How does perspective mold your
understanding of life?
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Lesson Overview
• How does perspective mold your purposes,
passions, and practices?
• What are ways of cultivating a healthy
perspective?
• How does personality shape your perspective
and motivation?
• How do your actions reveal your attitudes?
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Quick Write
As a young person, you face tough decisions every
day. School, grades, friends, family, money,
rules, work, having fun—all these things present
you with a range of choices.
Think about a hard decision you had to make
recently—one that you couldn’t make quickly.
What was your thought process before you made
that decision?
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Quick Write
Write down five words that describe what you
thought about. Now think about how you made
that tough decision. Write down five words to
describe what helped you decide.
In a small group of classmates, share your lists
and discuss how they are different. Does
decision making get easier with practice and
experience? Why?
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Interpreting Events and Experiences
• It’s a big part of growing up
• Potential is your promise—what you are
capable of doing or becoming
• Attaining maturity means becoming more
aware of
– your abilities
– your goals
– your place in the world
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Interpreting Events and Experiences
• Maturity also means understanding how your
attitudes and behaviors influence others
• This lesson will help you become more aware
of how your attitudes and behaviors make you
who you are and who you are becoming as a
result of your experience
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Physical/Physiological
Needs
Safety and Security
Needs
Belonging Needs
Esteem Needs
Food, water, shelter
Personal and
community security
Family, community,
group acceptance
Friendship and love
Self-actualization Needs Attainment of potential
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Why is a Positive Outlook
on Life Important?
• Your attitude determines your outlook on
and approach to life
– Made up of your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs
– Your attitude is a compass
• Attitude follows your behavior
• If you do positive things, you’ll develop a
more positive attitude
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
I’m OK, You’re OK
• In 1969 psychologist Thomas Anthony Harris
wrote a book called I'm OK, You're OK
• Harris summarized personality as one of four
life positions or attitudes:
–
–
–
–
I’m not OK, you’re OK
I’m not OK, you’re not OK
I’m OK, you’re not OK
I’m OK, you’re OK
Graphic courtesy of Clipart.com
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Value of a Positive Attitude
• A positive attitude increases the chances
that others will like you
• People tend to avoid individuals with
ongoing negative attitudes
• The term toxic personalities refers to
people who never have a nice thing to say
• A toxic attitude can rub off on others
without their even being aware of it
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Value of a Positive Attitude
• A good attitude is essential for leaders
• It’s essential to gaining respect and
encouraging others to follow them
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Photo courtesy of Creatas Images
Perspective
•
Perspective is your way of seeing the world
•
It’s your “take” on the world—your
worldview
•
Your perspective drives the way you interpret
your life experiences. It:
–
–
Helps form your attitudes and personality
Guides your behaviors
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Perspective
•
A healthy, well-rounded, fair-minded
perspective can guide you in your:
–
–
–
–
–
studies
job
friendships
family relationships
future
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Photo courtesy of Banana stock images
Affiliation Need
• People want to belong to a group or an organization;
they want to have friends
• This is called an affiliation need—a desire to be
and feel a part of a group
• Sometimes an affiliation need leads to peer pressure
to do the wrong, unwise, or inappropriate thing
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Cultivating a Healthy
Perspective
• Developing a healthy perspective requires:
– Keeping an open mind
– Seeing things for what they really are
• It also involves recognizing effects of
mistakes or poor choices
• Everyone makes mistakes—the trick is to
learn from them
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Your Personality
• Your personality has a big influence on your
perspective and motivation
• Personality influences what you think is
important and unimportant
• It is not surprising that people are driven by
different things
• These things are their purposes or goals
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Cycle of Goal-Directed Activity
•
•
•
Your motive helps you form a goal
↓
You then choose a behavior that is
directed toward that goal
↓
If it all works, you meet your goal
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Motivation
• Intrinsic motivation is a drive people feel
that is based on internal factors, such as
need for affiliation, achievement, power,
wisdom, and security
• Extrinsic motivation is a force that drives
people to act that is based on factors
outside the individual
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Actions Reveal Attitudes
• If you’re like most people, you want your
actions to be in harmony with your attitudes
• You’d seem hypocritical or two-faced if you
expressed one attitude or belief and then did
something completely contrary
• Actions speak louder those words. In the end,
it’s what you do, not what you say, that counts
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Actions Reveal Attitudes
See if you can tell what each of the following actions might
say about the person’s attitude:
–
Chewing and snapping gum during a lecture
–
Conversing above a whisper during a movie
–
Failing to use “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Ms.,” “Sir,” or “Ma’am” in
talking with adults
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Avoiding eye contact with others
–
Putting your feet up on furniture
–
Losing something that you’ve borrowed from a friend
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Actions Reveal Attitudes
• Fostering an achievement-focused attitude
leads to better results
• The more you achieve, the more you’re
likely to achieve
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
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Review
• Your experience and how you interpret that
experience have an enormous influence on your daily
life and your future
• Potential is your promise—what you are capable of
doing or becoming
• Motivation is the inner force that drives people to act
• Psychologist Abraham Maslow came up with a
hierarchy of needs to describe people’s motivations
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Review
• Your attitude is a compass
• If you do positive things, you’ll develop a more
positive attitude
• Bad habits, poor behaviors, and negative attitudes
are contagious—so pick your friends wisely
• Perspective is your way of seeing the world. It’s
your “take” on the world or worldview
• Perspective helps form your attitudes and your
personality; it guides your behaviors
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Review
• Perspective molds your purposes, passions, and
practices
• Affiliation need is a desire to be and feel part of a
group
• Developing a healthy perspective requires keeping an
open mind and seeing things for what they really are
• Everyone makes mistakes—the trick is to learn from
them
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Review
• Your personality shapes your perspective and
motivation
• Your motive helps you form a goal. You then choose
a behavior directed toward that goal and hope that
you’ll meet it
• There are two kinds of motivation: intrinsic and
extrinsic
• Your actions—for better or worse—reveal your
attitudes
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Summary
• What does it mean to interpret events and
experiences?
• What is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
• Why is a positive outlook on life important?
• How does perspective mold your
understanding of life?
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Summary
• How does perspective mold your
purposes, passions, and practices?
• What are ways of cultivating a healthy
perspective?
• How does personality shape your
perspective and motivation?
• How do your actions reveal your
attitudes?
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Next
• Done—interpreting events
and experiences
• Next—building a positive
attitude
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
Photo courtesy of Clipart.com