Let’s do a quick thought experiment - reflect on the following:
Putting aside price, where would you rather live - in the countryside, in a suburb, or in a city? Why?
How do you feel when you see a lot of homeless people asking you for money?
You learn that someone you work with is in the country illegally. What is your first reaction?
I doubt this thought experiment went well in your head :) but it was a not-so-subtle way of trying to get at first how you process a situation, and then more deeply to your beliefs and values (at least at first glance). Some people value tradition and safety, while others value curiosity and novelty, and yet others egalitarianism. And by the way, we might value all of these, but some are more important than others.
I am NOT going into morality on this post and nor should waste your time arguing why some value is better than another - but I DO think we should all be more clear on the values we do have. These values end up shaping the purpose we seek in life, how we spend our money and time, and the types of relationships develop - so ultimately, your own happiness and well-being. And at the group level, values are an area that creates strong cultures and on the other hand, conflict.
In this post, we’ll discuss:
What exactly are values? How are values different than let’s say…beliefs, morals, principles, or virtues?
What does research say about how we usually develop our values and whether we live out our values?
How might we go about developing our values? And once we have, what do we do with them?
This post is part of a multi-part series on life design discussing how to live intentionally, and a life aligned with what you really want. Click here to read the first post on “purpose”.
What are values?
One of the most prominent researchers in this area is Shalom H. Schwartz of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He says: “Values refer to abstract beliefs which serve as guidelines in peoples’ life and affect the way people and events are evaluated.”
He goes on to share defining attributes of values:
Attribute | Example |
| Those who value independence become aroused if it is threatened, despair when they are helpless to protect it, and are happy when they can enjoy it. |
2. “Values refer to desirable goals that motivate action.” | Those who value novelty will seek new experiences often. |
3. “Values transcend specific actions and situations.” | Honesty as a value is relevant in the workplace or school, in business or politics, with friends or strangers. |
4. “Values serve as standards or criteria. Values guide the selection or evaluation of actions, policies, people, and events. People decide what is good or bad, justified or illegitimate, worth doing or avoiding, based on possible consequences for their cherished values.” | Some people will view polyamorous relationships (either multiple lovers or sexual partners) as a threat to traditional marriage and family, others will see it as a freedom, and yet others will appreciate that we all have different needs and value all types of love. |
5. “Values are ordered by importance relative to one another, and the relative importance of multiple values guides action.” | Attending church might express and promote tradition and conformity values at the expense of hedonism and stimulation values. |
6. “Values enter awareness when the actions or judgments one is considering have conflicting implications for different values one cherishes.” | In education, a contentious issue has been the use of honors classes, which has us questioning our values - do we uphold the individual student's right to get the best education they can, or do we push to keep classes heterogenous to boost learning for all students? |
Distinguishing Values from Other Frames:
Below is a quick set of clarifications that set values apart:
Virtues - virtues are values in action and lived out. Sometimes virtues are also framed as something assumed to be universally morally good.
Morals/Ethics - this describes for you what is right and wrong. These also flow from beliefs and values, and likely are slightly more context-dependent.
Character - this pertains to a personal quality someone displays and usually flows from values and beliefs (similar to virtues)
Principles - principles flow from beliefs and values and are heuristics (shortcuts) to making decisions in everyday life.
Attitudes - attitudes are situation-dependent and describe your ideas or way of relating to that situation
Norms - similar to attitudes, norms are often context-dependent, such as a specific team or during an event. Norms also refer to behavior instead of ideas.
Remember that values are generally abstract ideas that can guide you in all parts of your life, and broadly speaking, are not context or situation-dependent.
What research exists on values?
Biology does matter.
Let’s start with the brain. There is some evidence of genes directly influencing values. Kanai et al. (2011) found that conservatism was associated with greater gray matter volume in the amygdala, and suggested that this finding may be associated with the emotional and cognitive differences across political orientations, particularly those associated with 'managing fear and uncertainty’.
In another study, Peter Hatemi, a genetic epidemiologist at the University of Sydney, agreed to say, “We inherit some part of how we process information, how we see the world and how we perceive threats—and these are expressed in a modern society as political attitudes.”
What about the influence of our experiences?
John Sapolsky of “Behave” agrees but clarifies experience is likely more important, “The brain is heavily influenced by genes. But from birth through young adulthood, the part of the human brain that most defines us (frontal cortex) is less a product of the genes with which you started life than of what life has thrown at you. Because it is the last to mature, by definition the frontal cortex is the brain region least constrained by genes and most sculpted by experience.”
This means that for something like values that takes a lot of subjective judgment, our values are more of a product of our environment and experiences, including influence from family, friends and authority figures.
In a more expansive theory, a group of researchers (Hibbing, et al.) proposed a “model that moves through six stages with environmental factors influencing five of these stage: (1) genetics, (2) biological systems, (3) cognition/emotion information processing biases, (4) personality and values, (5) ideology, and (6) attitudes on specific political issues.” these stages.
I always say that we all think that we are rational, we have the "right" values, we are doing what we know is "right". I share this research so that we understand that everyone starts with different genes, and moves through life with different experiences, influencing our values. Just appreciate the diversity!
Is there a universal way of defining values?
From what I reviewed, there is no set of all-encompassing values, but there are some that can be compared across cultures. A prevailing theory has studied findings from 82 countries, based on these and other methods, to provide evidence for the validity of this specific framework. Below is the list of values, and to the right, how they relate to each other.
Value | Description |
Self-Direction | Defining goal: independent thought and action--choosing, creating, exploring. Self-direction derives from organismic needs for control and mastery |
Stimulation | Defining goal: excitement, novelty, and challenge in life. Stimulation values derive from the organismic need for variety and stimulation in order to maintain an optimal, positive, rather than threatening, level of activation |
Hedonism | Defining goal: pleasure or sensuous gratification for oneself. Hedonism values derive from organismic needs and the pleasure associated with satisfying them. |
Achievement | Defining goal: personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards. |
Power | Defining goal: social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources. The functioning of social institutions apparently requires some degree of status differentiation |
Security | Defining goal: safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self. Security values derive from basic individual and group requirements |
Conformity | Defining goal: restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms. |
Tradition | Defining goal: respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that one's culture or religion provides. |
Benevolence | Defining goal: preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is in frequent personal contact (the ‘in-group’). |
Universalism | Defining goal: understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature. |
When reviewing the diagram, “the circular arrangement of the values represents a motivational
continuum. The closer any two values in either direction around the circle, the more similar their underlying motivations; the more distant, the more antagonistic their motivations.” In other words, it is likely social and political divides might fall on opposite sides of the spectrum.
If you are someone who is unsure of your values, think about which of these resonate most, or perhaps values that you are against.
A Quick Reflection on Your Own Cognition
First, take a second to appreciate that when you are frustrated by people who are very different from you, whether that’s in their life priorities, differences in politics, or their personality - just know that everyone is coming from their lens. And it’s really hard to separate yourself from the lens of your own brain and experience.
Exercise 1 - Empathy: Think of someone in your life who you have a hard time respecting or getting along with. What is it about this person that is difficult for you to respect or like? Now, picture yourself stepping into their shoes, and seeing the world from their eyes. How does this person think? What does this person value? Why might this person say or do the things they do that bother you?
Building this muscle of empathy and understanding will help us heal these seemingly intractable divides along deeply held values - even if we still disagree.
Exercise 2 - Your Beliefs: For yourself, be conscious of the lenses by which you see the world. What are your beliefs and assumptions about life, humans, and society? What people and experiences have been really influential on you? Appreciate that most people probably do not share your same lens!
We often don’t live our values
Uh oh - humans are complicated, so of course our actions don’t always align with our values (shocker!). Imagine you were hungry and more impatient, so guess what? Research shows you likely displayed higher social conservatism at that moment. Or perhaps it was raining outside, so instead of supporting protesters like you usually do, you were annoyed and honked.
In other words, humans are very inconsistent with our behavior and respond to even the most subtle cues. Two surprising findings - first, when we are forced to make a snap judgment on something, like jumping in a pool to save someone drowning, we mostly behave consistent with the values we learned and are part of our intuition. But when we have time to think, we tend to weigh the pros and cons of an action (incentives), which ironically can often lead to actions inconsistent with our values. Leave it to our brains to rationalize whatever we do!
Gotta love the human brain. This does not mean that we should have values and risk hypocrisy - it just means we should do our best to follow our values, and give ourselves permission that we are…humans. Wonderfully flawed.
Why are values important?
“A highly developed values system is like a compass. It serves as a guide to point you in the right direction when you are lost.” ― Idowu Koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability
Your values are a part of your “How” to live life - they ensure you are setting the right goals for your life, and achieving them through the right means. Values force tough choices because the incentives for your behavior do not always align with your values.
Our Values Put to Work
Many of us as we work think about whether our job and our company, are "good for the world". Whether it's Meta or McDonald's, Lockheed Martin, or Zara, most companies have some dirty laundry and we have to be clear if we're okay with that - that's our values at work.
One of the areas I'm personally struggling with is eating sustainably and reducing my carbon footprint. I grew up with meat, enjoy the taste of it, and also think it's easier and more convenient to prepare as I think about how I want to spend my time. So in a first step toward aligning with my values, my decision at the moment is to eliminate beef and learn to cook some vegetarian recipes - little by little!
Clearer values have helped me create guardrails for how to approach food a bit more sustainably - a check on both what I want (goals), and the means by which I achieve those goals. I also loved the process of defining my values because they provided clarity on my time, my money and my relationships. I can also easily see which values are engrained and habit, versus those that are still aspirational. Sustainability is still quite an aspiration!
Ways to define our values
Let me work backward and share with you the values that I got, and what these mean to me:
Love - Yourself, connect with others, love life, do what's right, spirituality
Vivacity - Energy, activeness, passion, abundance, do your best
Legacy - Enable growth and prosperity; make an impact on people and causes that matter
Beauty - Create, express, and appreciate; play and compedy; strive toward sustainability
Wonder - Growth, curiosity, gratefulness, marvel
These values have been instrumental in determining what I do with my life, and how I live my life. And not to mention, they dovetail nicely with my "why" in the area of maximizing human potential.
How did I get these? Here’s is a non-linear process I followed (a lot of the sources I listed in this article confirm very similar exercises):
1. Reflect on: with
What are the happiest moments in your life? What about those moments made you happy?
How do you spend most of your time? Why do you choose to spend your time that way?
What brings a smile to your face?
What gets you angry? Why do those things make you angry?
Who are people you admire, and what qualities about them or what about their life do you admire?
If you had the means to live anywhere, where would you live? Why?
If you suddenly came into a lot of money, what would you do with it? What is behind those decisions?
2. Look for patterns in your responses, write about 10-15 ideas, not necessarily in values just yet. They can be anything, character traits, causes, places, etc. - just ideas.
[click here to see more of my thinking at the bottom of the post]
3. See if you could create 3-5 buckets that encompass as many of the ideas. Decide if any of your ideas that you can’t bucket are important enough to be on their own.
4. Do a gut check – do these values resonate and inspire you?
5. Write down what each core value means to you, and behaviors that encompass that value.
6. Take some time to test these values out.
When you’re ready…
7. Give these values some life symbolically – put them up on your walls, choose a symbol to represent them, write a poem, tattoo them, whatever! Make them a special part of you.
8. Share them! It’s good when people you interface with a lot understand your values. I can say that there are people in my life with whom I have deep disagreements with, but at least they know what I stand for, and I understand them.
Using your values
Without going into specifics, your values can influence:
Your purpose
Your goals, both career and personal
Your principles
Your identity
How you spend your time and money
Who you develop relationships with, and how those relationships look
Where you live and your lifestyle
If these values are important to you, decide how you want them to show up in your life. Use them as a reflection tool, a measuring stick, and a decision-maker.
Using myself as an example:
Question | Alignment | Decision |
Is my career aligned with my values? | Love - No Vivacity - Yes Legacy - No Beauty - No Wonder - Yes | Potencia, my business, will be my way of aligning my career with my values of love (relationships), beauty (expression, creativity), and legacy (impact), in a way that is more authentic to me. |
How aligned was my lifestyle to my values in NYC this past year? | Love - No Vivacity - No Legacy - No Beauty - Yes Wonder - Yes | To bring more love and vivacity into my life in NYC, I will spend more time building a friend group here, going on more dates, and getting involved with hobbies like Salsa and sports! |
Conclusion
Values are an important puzzle piece to your life.
If you are really happy in your life, or perhaps the opposite, it’s likely directly related to how well your life is in line with your values. The trick is to be honest about what you really value, and then align the parts of your life accordingly.
If you need someone to help you reflect on your values, don’t hesitate to reach out.
With Learning and Love,
CC
Research:
Website: Values Institute - A History of Research Into Core Values
Website: DiscoveryYourValues.com - Summary of Schwartz’s Research
Website: BetterUp - 20 personal values examples to help you find your own
Website: Mark Manson - Personal Values: How to Know Who You Really Are
Website: Tony Robbins - Values vs. Beliefs
Website: Berkeley Well-Being Institute - Your Personal Values
Article: Medium, Jack Krupansky - Relationship between values and virtues
Article: Scientific American - The Genes of the Left and Right
Article: International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology - An Overview of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Values
Article: Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Journal - Conservatism and the neural circuitry of threat: economic conservatism predicts greater amygdala–BNST connectivity during periods of threat vs safety
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