beliefs

Meaning: A belief is a mental acceptance that a claim is true, such as "regular exercise improves health." Beliefs are cognitions, so they supply the cognitive component in the ABC model of attitudes (affect, behavior, cognition). A belief states what is taken to be true; an attitude adds an evaluation, a like or dislike. In sociology, shared beliefs are part of a culture's ideas, alongside values (what a group holds good) and norms (expected behavior).

On the MCAT: Passages describe people who keep a belief after its supporting evidence is discredited (belief perseverance), who favor information that agrees with what they already believe (confirmation bias), or who judge an argument by how believable its conclusion is rather than by its logic (belief bias). In cognitive dissonance items, a conflict between behavior and belief can be resolved by changing the belief, changing the behavior, or adding a new belief that justifies the conflict.

Common confusion: Students treat belief and attitude as identical, or assume a strongly held belief is true. Conviction measures how firmly something is held, not whether it is accurate. A belief is also not a value: "vaccines work" is a belief, while "health matters" is a value.