Theory of basic human values

Schwartz identifies ten basic human values, distinguished by their underlying motivation or goals, and explains how people in all cultures recognize them.

The first dimension, openness to change versus conservation, contrasts values of independence with those centered on obedience.

The second dimension, self-enhancement versus self-transcendence, contrasts self-focused interests with values oriented toward the welfare of others.

The structure of Schwartz's 10-value type model (see graph above) has been supported across over 80 countries,[1][6][7] gender,[8] various methods such as importance ratings of values (using the surveys listed below), direct similarity judgment tasks, pile sorting, and spatial arrangement,[9] and even for how the values of other people, such as family members, are perceived.

The importance of each of value item is measured on a non-symmetrical scale in order to encourage the respondents to think about each of the questions.

[15] Furthermore, many respondents have a tendency to give the majority of the values a high score, resulting in a skewed responses to the upper end.

[16] However, this issue can be mitigated by providing respondents with an additional filter to evaluate the items they marked with high scores.

This is shown to be especially true when taken in conjunction with studies that prove moral values to be one of the most powerful explanations of consumer behaviour.

[20] Understanding the different values and underlying, defining goals can also help organizations to better motivate staff in an rapidly changing work environment and create an effective organizational structure.

This has significant implications to economic growth and might help explain why some countries are lagging behind others when labor, natural resources, and governing institutions are equal.

This is a relatively new field of study in economics; however the recent empirical results suggest that culture plays a significant role in the success of entrepreneurial efforts across countries—even ones with largely similar governmental structures.

Francisco Liñán and José Fernandez-Serrano found that these cultural attributes accounted for 60% of the difference in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) variance per capita in countries within the European Union (EU).