FAH 0033

THINKING SKILLS

13. HABITS THAT HINDER THINKING

HABITS THAT HINDER THINKING

1. The Mine-Is-Better Habit
2. Face Saving
3.

Resistance To Change

4. Conformity
5. Stereotyping
6. Self-Deception

1. The Mine-Is-Better Habit

Examples:
My bike is better than your bike.
My hi-fi is sportier.
My Mom cooks better than your aunt
I have produced the best assignment for this
project.
Imymine.
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The Mine-Is-Better Habit

Very individualistic attitude
Self-centered
Closed-up in making sweeping assumptions
This habit actually destroys objectivity,
prompts us to prefer self-flattering errors to
unpleasant realities.

The Mine-Is-Better Habit

The best solution for such a habit:
Keep your ego from interfering with your search
for the truth.
Discussion question:
-

If you have this habit, how do you change it?

If you are confronted with a person in your

organization with this habit, how are you
going to handle it?
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2. Face Saving
A natural tendency arising from our ego
To avoid undue embarrassment, we refuse to
admit our own mistake
Could be due to the position we hold
Occurs after we have said or done something
that threatens to disturb our self-image or the
image that others have of us

Face Saving
A defense mechanism a strategy we use to
protect our image
Example:
-

It wasnt my fault he made me do it.

It wasnt my fault I had no alternative.

The virtue is in acknowledging that something

wrong or undesirable has occurred. The
dishonesty lies in pointing the finger away
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from ourselves.

Face Saving
We deserve the image we create for
ourselves.
He who makes a mistake and refuses to
admit it is thereby making another mistake.

3. Resistance to Change
Tendency to reject new ideas and new ways
of seeing or doing things without examining
them fairly.
Attitude:
-

The old ways are always the best. There

is no need for a change.

Resistance to Change
Reasons for resisting change:
-

Simple laziness (comfort zone)

Excessive regard for tradition

- Insecurity. E.g.: technological

advancement has forced society to change

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Resistance to Change
If we are resistant to change, we are resistant
to discovery, invention, creativity, progress.
We must not embrace every new idea
uncritically but be open to any useful idea,
and be willing to suspend judgment.
Take enough time to test the new idea, and
be ready to accept it regardless of how
strange it seems if it proves itself.

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4. Conformity
Harmful conformity is what we do instead of
thinking, in order to belong to a group or to
avoid the risk of being different.
Joining the bandwagon.
It would be a mistake to fight conformity by
refusing to do as others do, to be different for
the sake of being different.
Not all forms of conformity is bad/undesirable.
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5. Stereotyping
A stereotype is a fixed, unbending
generalization, irrationally maintained
Based on race, religion etc.
It is an extreme form of generalizing. E.g.:
-

Most basketball players are tall

Most engineers are men

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Stereotyping
Overgeneralizations. E.g.:
- City residents are less friendly than
people in the countryside.
- Students who drink dont do well in their
studies
-

Rural students do badly in Mathematics

Stereotyping is a deeper and more serious

problem than overgeneralization
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6. Self-deception
E.g. Students who get low grades because of
missing class, failing to hand in assignments, or
refusing to prepare for examinations, accuse
their lecturers of favoritism and prejudice.
Many people deceive themselves about their
competence. They have acquired the habit of
pretending they are knowledgeable, and in time
come to believe the pretense themselves.

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Self-deception
If you deceive yourself about your knowledge,
you will not be able to decide accurately what
information you need to solve a problem. And
if you are in a habit of judging dishonestly,
you can never hope to judge well.

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COMPULSORY READING
Ruggiero, V. R. (1984). The Art of Thinking: A
Guide To Critical and Creative Thought. New
York: Harper & Row Publishers.

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