In a previous article, I shared a philosophy that is fundamental to my personality and understanding of psychology: always give unconditional respect. I believe respect is desired by most individuals and we seek it from the people present in our lives.
Respect is mostly universal and it is desired by most people who want to be the hero, the villain, or a regular everyday citizen. Respect is a form of understanding and a form of support. Support empowers people to become the best version of what they want to become. In theory, most of us want respect. Respect for how people treat you, respect for our valuables, respect for our time, respect for our boundaries, etc. The basic human right most people desire is respect. This is why I wrote in a previous article that unconditional respect is important. Looking back at it today, I thought the theory needed to be refined.
Before explaining the refinement of the "unconditional respect" theory. I just want to share that there are three ways psychology has taught me that people can be motivated. One is through positive reinforcement: appraisal or rewards. The other is negative reinforcement: nagging or trying to verbally challenge someone to be better. The last is ignoring someone and, as a result, they always seek to impress or get the attention of a person.
I used to ask, "what if people do not deserve my respect?" Well, one can either give respect or risk unleashing a horrible monster into the world. However, this is not always the case. Respect should be given at all times to people nobody knows well. In the case of learning tools, disrespect can lead to learned respect within the individuals who are capable of conceptualizing it and see the same individual on a day-to-day basis. Disrespect as a form of conditioning could be utilized by a caregiver or certified professional. For instance, a person might want to prove the person who disrespected them wrong and actually disrespect is functioning as a motivator. Therefore, disrespect is a negative reinforcement that people want to reduce to get people off their case. We also have to be reminded that there are individuals who have limitations or children who have not gained the ability to conceptualize it. These people who lack the ability to conceptualize respect deserve to be respected at all times so that we can support them. On the other hand, disrespect is so sensitive though that it can lead to a decline in one's mental health or provoke violent behaviors, which makes it a difficult strategy to use.
There are also people that are exceptions to the rule of always wanting respect. There are criminals who have no remorse for their crimes. Instead of seeking respect, they want to dissociate from everyone else. Why might this occur though? They do not care for the respect people have for them. Perhaps they see no point in living and want to receive the death penalty. This is an unusual behavior that intrigues me, but perhaps the person's source of no remorse might come from a lack of willingness to live. Another possible reason might be that there is not be much introspection of their own mind and people willing to understand why their mind thinks the way it does. Perhaps learning from the criminal minds, instead of resorting to the death penalty unless people's safety is a huge concern, can lead us to appropriately and humanely study the mind in ways that we can prevent violence in the future.
Overall, I seek to learn more and explore the consciousness of the mind.
