GENERAL CONCEPTS OF CHARACTER

 The term was derived from the Greek word “charassein,” referring to an
engraving instrument; originally used of a mark impressed upon a coin or
the mark cut by it.
 Then it was applied to a distinctive mark of the personality; and gradually,
to the sum total of such marks, each individual one is being called
characteristics (Bartemeier, 2009).
 It is the trademark of being a person.
 Character as defined by the American Psychiatric Association, signifies the
relatively fixed or continuing group of an individual personality attributes of
a person or the characteristic pattern of behaviour of an individual.
 The social, emotional and intellectual manifestations of a character are
called personality, and character is roughly equivalent to personality.
 Harbans (2011) noted that character is the index of the state of mind of a
person, it may differ as an individual differs but one thing is certain the
special characteristics form the solid basis of his stability in the society of
which he is a part. Character, thus is an index of a person’s standing in the
society.

WHAT IS CHARACTER FORMATION?

 Character formation as defined by Donald(2006), is the process by which

the individual, through interaction of biologically transmitted predispositions
with the environment, develops stable pattern of functioning, thinking
and feeling.
 It is also known as, Character Building. It is that deeply internalized
patterns of values and attitudes and the consequent actions that are often
established in precognitive times of life through the natural and normal
educational patterns that are appropriate for young children.
 Example of character formation ;
  Character traits are usually formed through the identification with parents
and other important adults in the child’s environment.
 Everyone is partly responsible for one’s character. Aristotle noted that
character develops over time as one acquires habits from parents and the
environment
either through reward and punishment. Developing a good character is
much learning to play a musical instrument. Initially, an individual may be
under some pressure to practice, but eventually, enjoys playing with skill
and understanding (Hartman, 2013).

• Nursing, weaning, toilet training, birth of siblings and the early

relationship to the parents (especially to the mother)

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS FOR CHARACTER FORMATION

1. Parental Influence
2. Home Environment
3. School Environment
4. Culture

PARENTAL ENVIRONMENT
 Parental influence is the most important of all the factors responsible for
personality development. The way parents behave with the child, how
much he is allowed to socialize, the kind of culture he is subjected to by
them, and the emotional make-up of his parents, all these have a great
bearing on the child’s mental growth. In early stage of their human
existence, children adapt their parent’s mannerisms. Thus, parents should
be careful in their ways for they establish a great influence to their
children’s character.
HOME ENVIRONMENT
 Home as cradle of human character and personality largely contribute to
the character formation of a child. It is said that the parents are the first
educators of the children. It is their parental guidance and discipline that
creates the kind of character, personality and attitude the child has.
 Parents should make sure that the child incorporates the positive
emotions in his personality and stays away from the negative ones. A child
needs both his parents, to develop his personality. An absentee father can
be a negative influence on the child. To make a child a confident, positive
person, parents should avoid being too authoritative, trying to discipline
excessively.

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
 To perfect the total development of a child’s character and attitude,
besides the home environment, a child’s school environment too plays a
major role in shaping a child’s personality. Once a child starts going to
school, he learns how to interact and deal with his peers. He comes to
know how to engage in “playing” according to the rules and regulations. He
gets educated, learns how to read, write and communicate effectively. A
child’s personality is greatly influenced by the way he is treated at school,
both by his teachers as well as his peers. The school reinforce the
education that the child needs that home fails to provide.

CULTURE
 Everyone has different character and values because of the different
cultures where everyone is exposed. Sociologists found out that different
cultures have different values and a child grows up with them, sub-
consciously absorbing the same. Influence of culture in personality and
social development cannot be ignored. Those who were born and grown
up in western countries are influenced to be individualistic and competitive,
while those children brought up in Asian, African and South American
countries are taught to be cooperative.
 Infancy, toddler-hood, preschool and school age are the various phases
that a child passes through and each of these stages has its own share of
 problems and challenges, which a child has to overcome, with his parent’s
assistance, to turn out to be a well-developed personality.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE FILIPINO CHARACTER

FORMATION
Sen. Leticia Ramos Shahani

 Home environment
 Social environment
 Culture and language
 History
 Educational system
 Religion
 Economic environment
 Political environment
 Mass media
 Leadership and role model

DETERMINING CHARACTER OR PERSONALITY TYPES

Five (5) Factors that Determine Character or Personality Traits.
 Openness: appreciation for a variety of experiences.
 Conscientiousness: planning ahead rather than being spontaneous.
 Extraversion: being sociable, energetic and talkative.
 Agreeableness: being kind, sympathetic and happy to help.
 Neuroticism: inclined to worry or be vulnerable or temperamental.
 GENERAL TYPES OF CHARACTERS
1 .Positive Character / Good Character / Positive Trait
 These are attributes such as integrity, honesty, courage, loyalty, fortitude,
and other important virtues that promote good behaviour and habits.
 Further, it is said that:
 Being honest and taking responsibility for your actions are
admirable qualities.
 Adaptability and compatibility are great traits that can help you
get along with others
 Drive and determination will help you keep going no matter
what.
 Compassion and understanding mean you relate well to
others.
 Patience is a virtue and also a good personality trait.
 Courage will help you do what’s right in tough situations.
 Loyalty is a good quality to possess, making others trust you.

2. Negative Character / Negative Character / Negative Trait

 A person’s predisposition to commit evil acts.
 A propensity for lying, in order to avoid responsibility for our
actions, is a deplorable quality.
 Being rigid and selfish, unyielding to the needs of others are
not endearing qualities.
 Being full of laziness and excuses is sure to drive others
away, too.
 A hot temper and an inability to empathize with others will also
alienate us from others.
 Being quick to anger will turn people away.
  Being disloyal, quick to talk about others behind their backs or,
worse, stab them in the back for personal gain also falls high
on the scale of negative personality traits.

3. Neutral Character / Neutral Trait

 Commonly used to describe a person who doesn’t pick sides in disputes;
neutral also pegs anything that refuses to be bold
 Judges, for example, must remain totally neutral when hearing
a case.
 Manners mavens say that it’s best to remain neutral when
topics like politics and religion come up during a party.
 Boxers can look to the neutral corners in the ring to escape a
punch.

TYPES OF CHARACTERS

 Self-realized Character
 Covetous Character
 Superstitious Character
 Egoistic /Overbearing / Bossy / Tall-Talker
 Anti-social Character
 Insincere Character
 Complacent Character
 Self-realized Character
 A person with this type of character is ever enthusiastic for he
knows his potentialities and limitations. This sort of a character is an
asset not only to the family but also the society in which person
lives.

 Covetous Character
 This refers to a jealous or acquisitive character. It is held that,
persons with greed will endeavour to go all out in collecting worldly
possessions and fulfilling his personal petty ambitions by adopting
any means open to him even crossing all the limits of moral and
ethical limits.
 In effect the person will become most arrogant, repulsive, slanderer
and fully bereft of any moral feelings for the humans. He is the
burden not only on the family but also the society in which he lives.

 Superstitious Character
 In a way all are superstitious but when we’re over superstitious then
problem starts. It is not merely bad for the individual concerned but
also for those who come in contact with this unpredictable person,
who may change his tag any moment thus leaving everybody
around in the lurch. Too much reliance on superstitions also robs us
of scientific temper and forward looking approach in our life. But we
should not compare superstitious and traditionalists.

 Egoistic /Overbearing / Bossy / Tall-Talker

 The person who thinks that world runs due to him and everything
and everybody should respect him as such. His overbearing and
bossy disposition puts him in the category of hard-to-please
(fastidious). This person learns his lesson after sometimes. This
fellow with ‘I-DAMN-CARE- ATTITUDE’ hardly cares for others. This
 sort of egocentric character is the bane of any society, irrespective of
their status in the society.

 Anti-social Character
 A person who neither cares for the norms set by the society nor
cares for the moral or ethical values is an anti-social character. This
character is both a sinner and a criminal. He could also be termed
as an offensive character. This like character resorts to offense
besides being abusive on even a pettiest pretext. This anti-social
behaviour cuts him off from the community in which he is living and
has to fend for himself ultimately for his acts of omissions and
commissions.

 Insincere Character
 When a person does something good for us, we express our sincere
thanks and go extra mile in being sincere to that person in
whatever way it is possible for us. Contrarily, a person who thinks
others is there for serving him and is without any warmth in the
feeling for others. This like person is not only a insincere to his own
family, society and even to the Creator who had created him!

 Complacent Character
 We all should have confidence on ourselves. It is good for day to
day functioning of our society. But when we cross the threshold of
confidence and step into the realm of complacency then problem
starts. A person who imbibes this trait finally faces ignoble defeat for
being so and learns a lesson.

THE SIX (6) PILLARS OF GOOD CHARACTER

(Josephson Institute -charactercounts.org)
1. TRUSTWORTHINESS
• This is the pillar of good character that is considered the most complicated
of the six core ethical values and concerns a variety of qualities like
honesty, integrity, reliability and loyalty.
• HONESTY
 THREE DIMENSIONS OF HONESTY
 Truthfulness
 Sincerity
 Candor
 Integrity
 Reliability
 CONSIDERATIONS TO MAINTAIN RELIABILITY

 When a person is trusted he is given a greater leeway and no need to be

monitored just to assure that they meet their obligations. When they are
trusted, we develop in them higher esteem which may be satisfying to
them. They must constantly live up to the expectations of others and
refrain from even small lies or self-serving behaviour that can quickly
destroy relationship.

A. Honesty
• There is no more fundamental ethical value than honesty. Honesty is
associated with honor. Thus, a person of honesty is a person of honor and
he is admired and trusted because of his being straightforward.
• A person of good character must be a person of honesty in both
communications and conduct.. Honesty in communications is
expressing the truth as best we know it and not conveying it in a way likely
to mislead or deceive.

 Truthfulness
• Presenting the facts to the best of our knowledge. Take note that, intent is
the crucial distinction between truthfulness and truth itself. Being wrong is
not the same thing as lying, although honest mistakes can still damage
trust insofar as they may show sloppy judgment.

 Sincerity
• One must observe genuineness, being without trickery or duplicity for it
precludes all acts, including half-truths, out-of-context statements, and
even silence, that are intended to create beliefs or leave impressions that
are untrue or misleading.

 Candor
• In relationships involving legitimate expectations of trust, honesty may also
require candour, forthrightness and frankness, imposing the obligation to
volunteer information that another person needs to know.

 Integrity
• Persons of integrity are those who acts according to his beliefs, not
according to expediency. He is also consistent. There is no difference in
the way he makes decisions from situation to situation; his principles don’t
vary at work or at home, in public or alone.

• The person of integrity takes time for self-reflection, so that the events,
crises and seeming necessities of the day do not determine the course of
his moral life. He stays in control. He may be courteous, even charming,
but he is never duplicitous or unfaithful. He never demeans himself with
obsequious behaviour toward those he thinks might do him some good. He
is trusted because you know who he is: What You See Is What You Get.
People without integrity are called “hypocrites” or “two-faced.”

 Reliability
 • (Promise-Keeping). Reliable persons are those who keep their promises
for he believe that doing so create legitimate basis for another person to
rely on him, and that he undertake special moral duties. They accept the
responsibility of making all reasonable efforts to fulfil their commitments.
Because promise-keeping is such an important aspect of trustworthiness.

1. Avoid Bad-Faith Excuses

 Interpret your promises fairly and honestly. Don’t try to rationalize non-
compliance.
2. Avoid Unwise Commitments
 Before making a promise consider carefully whether you are willing and
likely to keep it. Think about unknown or future events that could make it
difficult, undesirable or impossible. Sometimes, all we can promise is to do
our best.
3. Avoid Unclear Commitments
 Be sure that when you make a promise, the other person understands
what you are committing to do.

B. LOYALTY
 To be trusted one must be loyal to his or husband or wife, friends,
employer , employee, organization, citizen, and country.

• Our relationships with other people creates an expectation of allegiance,

fidelity and devotion. Hence, loyalty is a responsibility that each one should
develop and maintain to promote the interests of certain people,
organizations or affiliations. This duty goes beyond the normal obligation
we all share to care for others.
• However, one should not sacrifice ethical principles when giving
allegiance, fidelity and devotion to the other people to preserve his or her
integrity. He should prefer not to be loyal than lose his credibility, integrity,
and dignity. We are only demanded to go with what is right and legal. We
should rather choose to lose our relationship with others than our
legitimacy.
• So many individuals and groups make loyalty claims on us that we must
rank our loyalty obligations in some rational fashion. For example, it’s
perfectly reasonable, and ethical, to look out for the interests of our
children, parents and spouses even if we have to subordinate our
obligations to other children, neighbours or co-workers in doing so. To be
loyal we must develop the ability of safeguarding confidential
information.
• However, when keeping a secret breaks the law, threatens or jeopardize
others, it is more important to “blow the whistle.” Employees and public
servants have a duty to make all professional decisions on merit,
unimpeded by conflicting personal interests. They owe ultimate loyalty to
the public.

CHAPTER I
FILIPINO INFLUENCES TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS

 The Philippines is a meeting point for cultures from all over Asia and the
Pacific because it has been a crossroads between east and west and the
merging of cultures reflects the country’s culture and its people.
 It comes from various ethno-linguistic groups that are native to the islands
or migrants from various Asia- Pacific regions, Filipinos are the people who
are naturally born to or recognized with the Philippine country.
 China, the United States, and Spain mainly influence the modern Filipino
identity
 it is believed by the Filipinos that the country have the best values in the
world
 Though it has experienced colonization by several countries, but the core
values it has gained from the Filipino ancestors remained intactand are
still honoured today like the bayanihan or spirit of kinship and camaraderie
 implanted by Malay ancestors and close family ties inherited by the
Chinese ascendants.

THE MOST WELL - KNOWN TRAITS AND

ATTITUDES OF THE FILIPINO
POSITIVE TRAITS

1. Hospitality
 Hospitality is a trait displayed by every Filipino, characterized by heart-
warming generosity and friendliness exhibited to foreigners and locals
alike.

2. Respect
 This is often observed—not just by younger people—but also by people of
all ages. In the Philippines, respect for one’s elders is a tradition.

3. Strong Family Ties and Religions

 Filipinos value their families so much that they tend to keep families intact
through the generations

4. Generosity and Helpfulness

 Aside from being hospitable, Filipinos are also well-known for being
generous. They share what they have to the people around them even
when they only have little.

5. Strong Work Ethics

 Another good thing most Filipinos have is being hardworking people.
6. Loving and Caring
 Because of their generosity, hospitality and religiosity, Filipinos are found
to be the sweetest and most loving people in the world.

Hospitality
• Filipinos are well-known for being hospitable. This is one of the most
popular qualities of Filipinos. Most foreigners who have gone to the
Philippines fell in love with the warm hospitality they have experienced
while staying in the country. This is a kind of value system which has
existed in the country thousands of years ago. Good thing is that the
hospitality of the Filipinos is not only shown to the foreigners but to its
fellow Filipino as well.
• Hospitality of Filipinos is shown in the following sample situations:
• When a person visits a friend’s house, the host greets him or her with a
very warm welcome. The host will immediately let their visitor sit down and
will prepare a meal or a snack plus drinks for the visitor. The host will insist
that the friend not leave the house with an empty stomach. A host will
always make sure you had a great time visiting them.
• People offer their guest room to visitors if they’re going to spend the night.
• Meals offered to guests are very special. A host always finds a way to
prepare great tasting food that her visitor wants to eat.

Respect
• Po and Opo – These words are spoken by the Filipinos when talking to
elders, or in order to show respect to persons in authority. These Filipino
words mean “yes,” when answering or talking to the elders.
• Pagmamano - Another way of showing respect to the elders when greeting
them. This is done by putting their elders’ hands on their foreheads
• Filipinos also show respect at work by making a bow to their employers.

Strong Family Ties and Religions

 • Filipinos value their families so much that they tend to keep families intact
through the generations. Families go to church and pray together because
their religion is important and creates a strong bond, marking God as the
center of their lives. Filipinos believe in only one God and majority of the
population are Catholics. It is a value system of the Filipinos to pray
before eating, going to bed, before the start of the meeting, conferences of
program, gathering, etc.
• On weekends, most Filipino families make sure to have quality time
together by watching television or eating a family meal, watch movies or
going to beach resorts.

Generosity and Helpfulness

• These could be felt during birthdays, weddings or fiesta (party). When
visitors came to celebrate great tasting special foods are specially
prepared for everyone. It is shared by friends, families or even strangers.
• When you will be in trouble, Filipinos cannot refuse to help you. They are
always willing to assist you or lend a hand.

Strong Work Ethics

• Another good thing most Filipinos have is being hardworking people. They
are always willing to work almost the whole day to provide the needs of
their families. Filipino farmers though earning so little but they work harder
with not much compensation.
• Aside from their regular work, Filipinos always find creative ways to look
for other sources of income like creating a small business from their home
where they sell foods and other items for the convenience of their
neighbors.

Loving and Caring

• It is expressed by both foreigners and Filipino women that most Filipino
men are so sweet and romantic when it comes to love. They will send their
beloved flowers, bring her to a very romantic place, text her sweet quotes
and tell often how special she is to them. Filipino women are also
romantic and very caring, which often makes some foreigners want to
 marry them. Women tend to prepare dinner before their husband comes
home. They love, and value the relationship, always staying faithful to their
husbands. They love deeply and sincerely.

NEGATIVE TRAITS OF FILIPINOS

1. Fatalism (“Bahala Na” or “Come What May” Attitude)
2. Mañana Habit (Procrastination)
3. Crab Mentality
4. Hypocrisy
5. Ningas Cogon
6. Tardiness (Filipino time)
7. Gossiping
8. Blaming
9. Selfishness (being insensitive of others)
10. Disobedience to Simple Rules and Instructions
11. Attention Taker
12. Being onion-skinned or too sensitive
13. Living beyond their means (social climbing)
14. Passivity (lack of leadership)
15. Other Negative Traits

 Fatalism (“Bahala Na” or “Come What May” Attitude)

• When Filipinos are facing difficulties and shortcomings they have this
attitude of leaving it up to God to sort things out. An attitude of “What
Goes Around Comes Around.” Filipinos have a tendency to surrender the
future to luck. They have that strong confidence that everything will work
out in his interest without doing anything. Filipinos often accepts bad news
or circumstances without trying to stop or change them. This can
sometimes be helpful in adversity, but it can also keep us from finding
 ways out of situations. Also, constantly expecting the worst can get pretty
depressing.

 Mañana Habit (Procrastination)

• True blooded Filipinos have the attitude of causing delays in accomplishing
things or making transactions. When not interested or not in the mood,
they wait or reserve until tomorrow or the next day to finish what they are
doing or meeting their transactions. However, there are some Filipinos
nowadays who take their time in doing things or in making decisions
promptly. There are some who are habitually late or not showing up at all.
There are few Filipinos who are punctual for social meetings. In fact, it is
not expected of them to arrive exactly on time especially at a party.
• The “bahala na” attitude is the outcome of the “mañana habit” when the
tasks are left undone. This is usually shown and even expressed by people
who do not care much of what lies ahead and just leave everything in fate.

 Crab Mentality
• This is an attitude of some Filipinos where they tend to push each other
down to clear the way for their own gain. Filipino people with this kind of
mentality or attitude try their best to ruin each other, either by making
issues against the other for him to turn out bad to the public or to the
company or organization so that people will gradually put distance and loss
their confidence and trust that eventually result to their replacement.

 Hypocrisy
• This is a trait of the Filipino where criticisms to others’ failure to live with
the moral standards of the society are inevitable. In the Philippines morality
is highly valued, most of us try to live up to the standards set by the
traditional society. However, as no one is perfect, many of us are not
actually able to sustain these standards.
• The fear of being an outcast has forced a lot of people to live a double
standard life. To hide our failure in following a norm, we tend to be
condemning those who are caught red handed. A perfect example could
be the criticisms faced by those who become pregnant outside marriage.
 The sad fact behind this scenario is that some of these critics could have
actually engaged in premarital sex too—only that no proof is visible.

 Ningas Cogon
• Most Filipinos are very good at the start when doing something.
Nevertheless, after a few hours or days, that excitement to do or
accomplish something is lost we and become too lazy to finish what were
have started.

 Tardiness (Filipino time)

• Only in the Philippines that we have the so-called “Filipino time” but not
exactly referring to the Philippine standard time, but then again we use it to
refer to the “tardiness” of the persons that we are waiting or who keeps on
coming late to the set time schedule of events. Instead of being something
to be proud of, ‘Filipino time’ brings a negative impression to our people.
When the invitation says the program will start at 7pm, it is expected to
begin at 9pm. This has not only caused conflicts in relationships, it also
discourages others including foreigners from getting involved in
supposedly productive activities as too much time can be wasted on
waiting.

 Gossiping
• Filipinos are fond of talking about others’ business. It is not true that only
women are into gossiping. Even men can also be nosy on other people’s
lives. Secrets are brought out; failures and flaws are emphasized; and
relationships are destroyed. Worse, as gossips are passed around, they
tend to be twisted until the final story becomes too far from the original—
thus, causing more damage.

 Blaming
• Filipinos can sometimes be too self-righteous. When mistakes happen, we
do not want to take the blame, we lack humility to accept our failures, and
 instead we point at others. This shows how irresponsible we are on our
actions. This attitude destroys team work, and reliability becomes an issue.

 Selfishness (being insensitive of others)

• Most Filipinos are insensitive to the needs and situations of others. This
could be an outcome of having too many problems that Filipinos are facing
and the tendency is to focus on their own needs first before others.

 Disobedience to Simple Rules and Instructions

• Some Filipinos, despite of the understanding of the purpose of laws and
ordinances have inability to observe and follow them. Consequently,
crime victimization and accident rate in the Philippines are constantly
rising, poverty is getting more rampant and lifestyle development is
relaxed.

 Attention Taker
• Filipinos are fun and people loving race. Thus, attracting attention is
natural for them. Nevertheless, it is a different thing to be an “epal” or
“kapalmuks - simply, being an attention grabber.
• Sometimes, in our desperate need to be the center of attention, we do
things that are already embarrassing like butting in conversations as a
know-it-all or by being scandalous. This habit is also common to our
politicians. Instead of prioritizing their duty to give the best service to the
people, they rather prioritize their thick faces to grab attention that will
bring them more chance of winning in the next election. But thanks to our
vigilant netizens, this kind of politicians earns more shame than fame.

 Being onion-skinned or too sensitive

• Another habit or attitude that we need to change is our being too proud
which usually results to being oversensitive. If we think highly of
 ourselves, then we have the tendency to put a wall around us and that
a signboard on our forehead saying, “I must be respected.” Therefore,
when someone makes a joke or a not so positive comment about us, we
feel like we are not respected and we get offended. If all people in the
country do not know how to accept constructive criticism, then we can
never expect unity.

Living beyond their means (social climbing)

• One of the reasons why a lot of Filipinos live in poverty is because of
overspending. Since most people want to live an elite lifestyle, many resort
to social climbing or living beyond their means. Sometimes, some of us
think that as long as we wear designer clothes and shoes, and we send
our children to the most expensive schools, it is alright to be swimming in
credits and loans.

 Passivity (lack of leadership)

• Filipinos’ lack of initiative for change is also one reason why our country
does not progress. We keep on complaining against the government and
other societal issues. However, we do not do anything about them. One of
our excuses is the lack of faith that our small actions can bring change.
However, the worse reason for this could be our lack of care for what is
happening around us. Common Filipinos also lack courage and
confidence. If you can notice it, in classrooms, churches, or conference
rooms, most of us don’t like to sit in the front seat.

 Other Negative Traits

• Some Filipino women give birth at an early age 16 (Teenage Pregnancy).
Some just don’t mind their own business. Some have many bad habits, like
drinking, smoking, etc. Some poor teenagers engage in prostitution.
There are many broken families. A lot of bad words to choose from
which Filipinos just can’t avoid saying those. Most Filipinos tend to be with
friends most of the time than to be with their parents.
 FILIPINO CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY
THREE MAIN TRAITS UNDERSCORING
FILIPINO VALUES
(Excerpted from the Philippines Australia Business Council)

1. Personalism
• Filipinos valued interpersonal relationship. It is firmly believed that
harmonious personal relationship is the key to successful endeavors.
Amicable settlement of dispute is the primary means of restoring broken
relationships and face-to-face open forum is considered once conflict is
recognized in an organization or the community.

2. Familialism
• Filipinos are family-oriented. Development programs and projects in the
community are concentrated on the family. Decision on matters is centered
on the welfare and best interest of the family rather than on the betterment
and interest of some individuals. The mistakes committed by a family
member affects the credibility and of the immediate members of the family
and relatives.

3. Particularism
• Displayed behaviour by the individuals may it be good or bad is blamed
against the family. It is based on the principle that home is the cradle of
human personality and character that is, the product of goodness is always
good and those who are moulded in wickedness, will always show-off
badness. Individuals strive to promote their own and their family’s interests
over community interests.

 On the other hand, knowing how to entertain people (marunong

umasikaso ng kapwa) is important.
 Conformity to proper codes of conduct reaps the rewards of cooperation
and assistance; non-conformity is punished by withdrawal of support.
 FILIPINO VALUES ORIENTATION
Values Orientation - Is the approach that may influence work or social
relationships by persons relating to objects, events and ideas.

THREE MAIN OBLIGATIONS UNDERLYING FILIPINO VALUE ORIENTATION

 The relational or face-to-face interactions and their resulting
responsibilities are called interpersonal obligations. This is in relation
to the value in Filipino cultural orientation, the personalism.
Pakikiramay, pakikisama, bayanihan, and galang are the nature of
interpersonal relationships that are inherent to the pure-blooded
Filipino people.

• Pakikiramay
• It is in the Filipino value of going out of the way to help, without being
asked, i.e., unsolicited help.

• Pakikisama (Smooth Interpersonal Relations)

• Regardless whether someone’s views are agreeable or not, Filipinos are
capable of getting along with it. Camaraderie, trust, confidence, and loyalty
are enhanced and developed by this Filipino value.

• Bayanihan
• As mentioned in the preceding topics, Filipinos are able to render services
and generous enough to extend help without compensation. –Somebody
can request help in time of need from those to whom it is extended.
• Galang (Respect)
• Filipinos are basically oriented to revere to the opinions of elders, peers, or
those in authority, during important discussions during social encounters.
Verbal clash or any sign of extreme familiarity in public meetings is a sign
of disrespect to elders or persons in authority.