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:Assume good faith - Misplaced Pages

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“ Civility, Maturity, Responsibility ”
Blue tickThis page documents an English Misplaced Pages behavioral guideline.
Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page.		Shortcuts
This page in a nutshell:
  • Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it.
  • If criticism is needed, discuss editors' actions, but avoid accusing others of harmful motives without particularly strong evidence.
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Assuming good faith is a fundamental principle on Misplaced Pages. Most people try to help the project, not hurt it. If this were false, a project like Misplaced Pages would be doomed from the beginning.

When disagreement occurs, explain yourself using talk pages, and give others the opportunity to do the same. Consider whether a dispute stems from different perspectives and look for ways to reach consensus.

When others cast doubt on their own good faith, try to continue to assume good faith as far as you can, and attempt to presume the best possible interpretation, for instance, if someone is pushing a point of view, presume they strongly believe in it, not that they are part of a concerted attack by a vast conspiracy attempting to get that view into Misplaced Pages. Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence. Be civil and follow dispute resolution processes, rather than edit warring or attacking editors.

About good faith

Everyone makes mistakes, both behavioral (like personal attacks) and content-based (like adding original research), and we can correct them with reminders most of the time. However, there will be disagreements on Misplaced Pages for which no policy or guideline has an easy answer. When disagreements happen, it may not be that someone has ill intent. Keep a cool head, and consider dispute resolution if disagreements seem intractable; many of them are not.

This guideline does not require that editors continue to assume good faith in the presence of contrary evidence. Assuming good faith does not prohibit discussion and criticism, but instead editors should not attribute the actions being criticised to malice unless there is specific evidence of malice.

Violation of some policies, such as engaging in sock-puppetry, violating consensus, and so on, may be perpetrated in either good or bad faith. There are processes for dealing with all of these, and sanctions for repeated violation of policy apply regardless of whether bad faith was involved.

Good faith and newcomers

Main page: Misplaced Pages:Please do not bite the newcomers

Newcomers unaware of Misplaced Pages's culture and the mechanics of Misplaced Pages editing make mistakes. Some newcomers advocate changing an unfamiliar policy to match their experience elsewhere. Some newcomers bring experience or expertise for which they expect immediate respect. Behaviors arising from these perspectives may not be malicious. Please just be respectful and make your best effort to help.

Demonstrate good faith

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In addition to assuming good faith on the part of others, it can improve community spirit to assist others in assuming good faith on your part by demonstrating your own good faith. You can demonstrate good faith by articulating the honest motives behind actions, and by making statements and taking actions that show willingness to compromise, sincere interest in improving Misplaced Pages and following policies and guidelines, belief that material you add to articles and talk pages is accurate, avoidance of gaming the system, and other good-faith behavior. Demonstrating good faith is not required by this guideline, it is simply recommended as an aid to smooth and successful interaction with other editors.

Dealing with bad faith

Even if bad faith is evident, do not act uncivilly yourself in return, attack others, or lose your cool over it. It is ultimately much easier for others to resolve a dispute and see who is breaching policies, if one side is clearly editing appropriately throughout.

Misplaced Pages administrators and other experienced editors involved in dispute resolution will usually be glad to help, and are very capable of identifying policy-breaching conduct if their attention is drawn to clear and specific evidence.

Accusing others of bad faith

Making accusations of bad faith can be inflammatory and hence these accusations may be unhelpful in a dispute. It can be seen as a personal attack if bad faith motives are alleged without clear evidence that others' editing is actually in bad faith. The result is often accusations of bad faith on your part, which tends to create a nasty cycle.

See also

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