Values and Their Role in Decision Making

Values are what define people. Whether you know it or not, everyone has values that affect them every second of every day. Values affect your decision-making process and even how you interact with people. Everyone has a different journey through life and because of that we all have different values; we all have a different decision-making process. This difference in values leads to a difference in political belief as well. Differences in political beliefs, while important, can often lead to arguments about why a certain issue is important and how it can be resolved. Examining your own personal values and why you have those specific values is critical for people to do.

Growing up in such a tight-knit family has shaped me into the person I am today. It was the main factor in developing the majority, in not all, of my values. My most important value, human relationships, was developed mainly because of my family, but it has also been nurtured by many other environments. Every day I utilized and developed this value in church, school, and work. This value is very important to me because my family and friends are the most important thing in the world to me, and I would do anything for them. Another value that was developed entirely in my childhood is my faith. I grew up in a very religious household that went to church every Sunday and mid-week youth groups every Wednesday. This value also affects how I address numerous different situations. This value has been perhaps the hardest to maintain. It is challenged every day. However, these challenges have made my faith stronger. Going to church helped solidify the value that my mother and grandparents instilled in me as a young child. Spending at least two days a week at my church and helping out with every vacation bible school and activity I could, definitely impacted my life in a great way.

My grandfather is the most influential person in my life, he is the main reason why I have the values of happiness and respect. He is one of the happiest people I know. Even when times are rough, he always has a smile on his face and that has always been a comforting thing for me and my siblings. Seeing how something as simple as just smiling has had such an impact on everyone around him, that has inspired me to do the same thing. Another thing he has taught me, is the value of respect. He was a small business owner, and I was able to sit in occasionally and see how he interacted with his customers. He talked to them with respect and dignity and they reciprocated it. My grandfather taught me that to get respect, you have to give it as well, and that has been one of the most important lessons I’ve ever been taught.

My final, most important values is curiosity. I have always exhibited this value, even as a child. Playing with Legos and building blocks was my favorite thing. I would sit for hours building bigger and bigger buildings. Now, as I don’t spend my time building with Legos, I find this value showing up in my studying. I am always interested in knowing more and more.

Everyone has values of their own just like the ones I just discussed before. These values affect everyone’s decision making just as much as it affects how they interact with people. More often than not, people with the same values align in the same political party. I, personally, have had a hard time aligning with one of the two main political parties in the United States, as I lie in between the both of them. However, after spending a lot of time researching the two parties, I decided to align with the Republican Party. The issues that are affecting the United States and its people are almost never ending. With that in mind, the issues that are the most important to me are: abortion, immigration, and doctor assisted suicide.

Personally, I do not thing abortion is morally acceptable. The argument that “the woman should get to decide what she does with her body,” is completely acceptable. She can do what she wants with her body. However, that child is not her body. He/she is his/her own person and should be treated as such. Every human has the right to live and no one should be able to take that away. My view on this issue are supported strongly with the party that I aligned with. The Republican Party often leads rallies against Roe v. Wade which granted the ability to legally obtain an abortion. This is why I mainly chose to support the Republican Party.

The other issue that affects our world every day is immigration. This issue is one where I do not stand with either party. I believe that everyone has the right to come to the USA. The US is a country of immigrants, and who are we to stop that now. However, I do respect our constitution and the laws in it, and I think that immigrants looking to come to our country need to as well. There are legal routes to get into this country, and while they may be more difficult and take a longer amount of time, I do believe that they need to be respected. The stance I have on this does not follow any one political party. The Democratic party tends to be more open borders, open to all, while the Republican Party tends to want to close down the borders and make it harder for immigrants to come into this country.

Finally comes the issue of doctor assisted suicide. As a Biological Sciences Major looking to become a doctor, this is an issue that has a real-life impact on me. I do not this that this should be allowed. I understand that these people are in pain, but I still consider it to be murder. Before someone is able to practice medicine, they take the Hippocratic Oath. It says: “I will keep the sick from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.” By agreeing to assist a suicide, the doctor is going against the oath he made, and as someone pursuing a medical career, I would never be able to break that oath.

Each of these three stances relate to my values. My values of human relationships, faith, respect, happiness, and curiosity have made me able to make my own decisions and stand up for what I believe in. I see my values of faith and human relationships being the most prevalent in the three stances I made. My faith values being the most influential in my decisions in the stance against abortion and doctor assisted suicide. As a Christian, I believe one of the worst things anyone can do is to take the life of another. I believe that God has a plan for everyone and we are in no position to meddle in that plan. Also, my human relationships value influences my position on immigration. Whenever I see or hear someone against immigration entirely, I think about the parents that are just trying to do what they can for their children, which makes me empathetic towards them.

Going through this process of actually taking the time to write out my values, examine them, and write about them, I have learned a lot about myself. For instance, my grandfather was far more influential in my life than I originally thought. In looking further into the political spectrum of many different controversial issues, I discovered that these topics are not as black and white as they may seem, and anyone who sees these issues as that is severely ill-informed. Values are an integral part to everyone, and everyone should have the chance to fully evaluate and discuss their values and how they relate to the world they live in.