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Psychology and Communication | 141

many angles, you continue to believe that it remains a table and that its shape
does not change.
Your belief that things remain the same in the physical world and in
your social world is extremely important in the development of a sense of
self-constancy. If such beliefs are disrupted, you begin to question the validity
of your own senses, your competence to deal with reality, and sometimes
your sanity. Because so much would be called into question, disruption of
primitive beliefs is extremely upsetting and seldom occurs. Primitive beliefs
are the most central, important, and clung-to beliefs of all. They are very
resistant to change. They include things that your parents taught you and
that have been reinforced by teachers, the media, peers, and your own expe-
riences. For instance, day of the week and time of day are verifiable beliefs on
which you base much of your day-to-day personal activity

Primitive Beliefs: Zero Consensus
Some primitive beliefs are not shared by others, and do not depend on social
consensus, but arise from deep personal experiences. Because those need not
be shared by others, in order to be maintained, they are usually quiet resis-
tant to change. Many of these unshakable beliefs are about yourself. Some
are positive (what you are capable of) while some are negative (what you
fear). These beliefs are held on pure faith. For example, you may have always
thought that you were totally inept in mathematics, no matter what other
people have told you about your mathematical ability. You kept your belief
in spite of other evidence. Perhaps you feel you live in a very hostile world;
no matter what others tell you, your belief stays unshaken. As a matter of
fact, even when you want to change these beliefs about yourself because you
are intellectually convinced that they are unfounded, they are still extremely
resistant to change. It often takes the help of a therapist, a counselor, or some
other professional to really modify these deep-seated beliefs.

Authority Beliefs
When you were a child all your beliefs were of a primitive nature. At the time
you assumed that they were shared by the rest of the world. A 3-year-old may
not only believe in Santa Claus, but also believe that everyone else holds the
same belief. At some point, however, the realization comes that not all beliefs
are shared. At that time, the child usually turns to authorities to figure out
the issue. As you mature, you wrestle with the question of which authorities
to trust and which ones not to trust, which reference group to identify with.
You generally worry over the question of how to evaluate information about
your world. Naturally, in the beginning, your family serves as reference

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