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The Refined Theory of Basic Values

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Values and Behavior

Abstract

This chapter presents the refined theory of basic values that provides greater heuristic and predictive power than the original theory. It partitions the circular value continuum into 19 values based on analyses of (a) the multifaceted definitions of some original values, (b) spaces in past MDS projections of items in samples from 83 countries, and (c) confirmatory factor analyses. This chapter explains the rationales for splitting seven of the original values and adding the new values of humility and face. It then describes the PVQ-RR, a new instrument for measuring the 19 values, which yields more reliable measures of the ten basic values and four higher orders in the same or less time than alternative methods. This chapter presents empirical evidence that individuals across cultures distinguish all 19 values. It then describes cross-cultural studies that illustrate the distinctive relations of the 19 values to socio-demographic, attitude, and behavior variables. The refined theory provides insights obscured by focusing only on the ten original values.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Figure 2 in Cieciuch et al. (2014) shows conformity with an unexpected secondary loading on self-transcendence in addition to its primary loading on conservation. Conformity-interpersonal accounts for this. If it is allowed to have a secondary loading on self-transcendence, conformity loads only on conservation.

  2. 2.

    I thank Sonia Roccas for this suggestion.

  3. 3.

    Lebedeva et al. (submitted) combined humility and tradition values. I separated them and reran the analyses.

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Acknowledgements

This chapter was prepared within the framework of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) and supported within the framework of a subsidy granted to the HSE by the Government of the Russian Federation for the implementation of the Global Competitiveness Program.

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Correspondence to Shalom H. Schwartz .

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Schwartz, S.H. (2017). The Refined Theory of Basic Values. In: Roccas, S., Sagiv, L. (eds) Values and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56352-7_3

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