Vested Interest
Vested Interest
Vested interest means; A personal stake or involvement in an undertaking or state of affairs, esp. one with an expectation of financial gain.
William D Crano says,
Vested interest has always been defined in terms of perceived personal consequence.
“A factor shown to strongly influence attitude-behavior consistency is self-interest, or a more constrained variant of this concept,…..vested interest, which is concerned with the hedonic relevance of an attitude object. An object of great perceived personal consequence is defined as vested. Attitudes toward highly vested objects have been hypothesized to be functionally related to behavior, and research has produced results consistent with this expectation”
“….Vested interest appears to affect people's tendency to overestimate the extent to which others agree with their beliefs, a bias known variously as the false-consensus or assumed-consensus effect. Marks and Miller (1987) hypothesized that people are motivated to overestimate the number of others who share their beliefs, so as to bolster their attitudes. Vested interest holds that this tendency will be exacerbated in situations involving personally consequential beliefs, and research has supported this expectation (Crano, 1983). Vested interest appears to have significant implications for related cognitive functions and, equally important, for behavior.”
“If we can look at the problems with clarity and honesty of purpose, then we can solve the problems easily. But that is very difficult because most of us are so corrupt in our thinking, because we have so many vested interests - economic, religious, and psychological. It is difficult for most of us to think apart from these backgrounds. If I may suggest, that is the only approach for solving any of the innumerable problems awaiting solution; you as an individual and I as an individual are resolving our problems in our little world of relationship.”
“if you would find truth and love, there must be singleness of purpose, complete abandonment of all vested interests, which means you must be inwardly empty, poor, not seeking, not acquiring positions of authority as displayers or bringers of messages from the Masters. You must be completely naked. Since you do not wish that, naturally, you acquire labels, beliefs, and various forms of security. Sirs, do not reject; find out whether you are really, as you say, fundamentally seeking truth.” ---------(J.K)
Osho
“So called wise people, ………….. ,their power depends on the boredom of man, his loveless life, his meaningless life, his anguish, because these are the things which bring people to their feet -- to the churches, to the temples, to the synagogues. They may say great things, but basically they don't want these things to disappear. If these things completely disappeared, churches would be empty and nobody would go to the synagogue -- there is no reason to go. ...you go to the physician because you are sick.”
Story
I have heard of a young man who had just come home from medical college. His father was not feeling well. He said, "I would like to rest for a few days. And now you are back fully qualified... I am proud of you, that you topped the university -- now you take care of the dispensary."
After three days the son came and told the father, "You must be proud of me! That old woman -- the richest in the city, whom you have been treating for thirty years -- I have treated her in three days. Now she is perfectly okay."
The father said "My God! She is the woman who has paid all your fees and all your expenses at medical college. She is also paying the expenses of your younger brother in college. You have destroyed half of my business!
"You idiot, don't you know that when a poor man comes you should cure him immediately, because he is going to be an unnecessary harassment. When a rich man comes, take time -- there is no hurry. If one illness disappears, let another appear. A really rich man should be a lifelong patient. This is a basic rule of the profession. You have learned medicine, but you have not learned the ……………. profession."
Reference:
1. Sociology: A Systematic Introduction By Harry M. Johnson.
2. http://www.oshoworld.com/osho_talk/talks/keywords.asp
3. Osho : Light on the path talks in the Himalayas, chapter 23.
4. http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/krishnamurti-teachings/index.php
5. Vested Interest, Symbolic Politics, and Attitude-Behavior Consistency by
William D. Crano University of Arizona
1. Sociology: A Systematic Introduction By Harry M. Johnson.
2. http://www.oshoworld.com/osho_talk/talks/keywords.asp
3. Osho : Light on the path talks in the Himalayas, chapter 23.
4. http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/krishnamurti-teachings/index.php
5. Vested Interest, Symbolic Politics, and Attitude-Behavior Consistency by
William D. Crano University of Arizona