Belief

Belief simply means that the stronger a person’s belief in conventional morality, the more likely they are to conform to social norms. Likewise to other parts of Hirschi’s theory, bribery would seem opposite of conventional morality, while in India it is not seen as wrong for the most part because of its widespread nature and place in the function of things. (Orcutt)

Michael viewed the system itself as depending on bribery and observed that most civil servants were underpaid and had to be bribed to get a fair wage, saying "If you don't pay a person his value, he is going to take it one way or another" (Interview 33:13) In this way, he found that to not bribe someone would be the immoral act as people depended on bribes for their livelihood. In an Indian context, this is the conventional morality and Michael would be conforming. He went on to compare the system of bribery in India to the more understated system of corruption in America, favoring the Indian system because at least there the motive is survival while in America it is only greed. 

Jean, while having participated in bribery, believed differently. Contrary to the conventional Indian viewpoint, she deviated from normal beliefs, viewing bribery not as something essential to the system but tolerated by it. Because of this difference in views, she was more hesitant to engage in bribery and likely would have been exposed to far fewer acts of bribery if not for experiences with her husband. Ironically, Jean’s view on bribery would be conventional in an American setting, but given her Indian surroundings, her actions and beliefs were deviant.