Making Sense of Beliefs and Values: Theory, Research, and Practice

Psychologists have studied beliefs and values, and related constructs such as "attitudes" and "prejudice" for decades. But as this innovative and interdisciplinary book convincingly demonstrates, the scientific examination of beliefs and values now influences research and practice across a range of disciplines. Specifically, this edited volume explores the many cutting edge implications and applications of Equilintegration or EI Theory and the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory (BEVI), both developed by Dr. Craig N. Shealy. EI Theory seeks to explain the processes by which beliefs, values, and worldviews are acquired and maintained, why their alteration is resisted, and under what circumstances they are modified. Based upon EI Theory, the BEVI is a comprehensive analytic tool that examines how and why we come to see ourselves, others, and the larger world as we do, as well as the influence of such processes on multiple aspects of human functioning. The book features contributions from leading American and international scholars who address the many implications and applications of this cutting edge approach for research and practice.