Goal - the presence of a goal raises his strength of mind, gives certainty in what to strive for.
Attitude is defined as a reaction to certain people, to certain situations. Knowledge about oneself and the
world around, experience and values of the person himself participate in its formation. The film clearly shows
Chris's attitude to certain areas of his life. For example:
•
To family (loving, sincere, trying to support, caring and willing to give them a better life, etc.);
•
To work (he is very hardworking, honest, persistent and knows how to take risks for himself (using his
previous experience in communicating with other clients, he starts calling the top companies on the list. After
a number of failures, he gains additional experience and still attracts several investors), etc.);
•
To life (optimistic, has great fortitude and endurance, purposeful, does not give up no matter what, and so
on) (Sagiv, Roccas, Cieciuch, & Schwartz, 2017).
He has
Divergent type of thinking . This can be seen in the way Chris Gardner solves problems. He knows
how to solve problems, understands which one is better to start with, can find effective solutions, is creative in
ways to solve a problem. An example would be a scene where they imagine that they are transported to the past
and will be hiding from dinosaurs in a cave. Here we see an original approach to the problem, which helps from
several points of the situation at once: the game calms the child, and also removes the tension caused by the
uncertainty of the future and the loss of a place of residence (motel) and allows you to calmly arrange a night
in the toilet without the child's protests.
We can also see the influence of the experience of selling unnecessary medical equipment on the ability
to persuade, as well as the influence of difficult life situations on the efficiency and speed of decision-making
process.
Basically, Chris Gardner's
motivation is external. That is, he wants to get the position of a broker, as this
will improve the living conditions of him and his son. It is the main one, since needs such as regular and good
food and sleep, a roof over their heads, a permanent place of residence and, as a consequence, a feeling of
stability and security not only for him, but also for his son, are of higher priority. You can also notice that part
of his motivation is internal, as he believed that this would make him happier.