Personal Values

Identifying your values is essential because it provides a foundation for decision making and helps guide your actions in alignment with what truly matters to you. It increases self-awareness by offering insight into your core beliefs, motivations, and priorities, enabling you to live a more authentic and fulfilling life. In the workplace, knowing your values enhances your ability to navigate challenges, maintain integrity, and build stronger relationships with colleagues.

Identifying Personal Values

Basic Values

Basic Values: The Shwartz Theory of Basic Values identifies 10 universal values grouped into four higher-order categories. Here’s a brief overview of the 10 values and their categories:

Openness to Change

Self-Direction: Independent thought and action.

Stimulation: Excitement and novelty.

Self-Enhancement

Hedonism: Pleasure and sensuous gratification.

Achievement: Success through personal competence.

Power: Social status and control over people/resources.

Conservation

Security: Safety and stability of society, relationships, and self.

Conformity: Restraint from actions that upset others or violate social norms.

Tradition: Respect for customs and traditional practices.

Self-Transcendence

Benevolence: Caring for the welfare of close others.

Universalism: Understanding, tolerance, and concern for all people and nature.

Select Your Personal Values

Review a list of human values (including but not limited to the ones listed above) and choose the ones that resonate most with you. It might help to select between 5 and 10 values that you feel define your core beliefs, guiding principles, and actions.

Think about times in your life when you felt most fulfilled or proud—these moments often reveal your core values.

Write down the values you identify, and ensure they reflect your true self rather than societal or external expectations.

Value	Definition	Value	Definition
Accepting my position in life	Submitting to life’s circumstances	Forgiving	Willing to pardon others
Ambition	Hard working, aspiring	Freedom	Freedom of action and thought
Authority	The right to lead or command	Health	Not being sick physically or mentally
Beautiful world	Beauty of nature and the arts	Helpfulness	Working for the welfare of others
Broadmindedness	Tolerant of different ideas and beliefs	Honesty	Genuine, sincere
Capable	Competent, effective, efficient	Honouring of parents and elders	Showing respect
Choosing own goals	Selecting own purposes	Humble	Modest, self-effacing
Cleanliness	Neat, tidy	Independence	Self-reliant, self-sufficient
Creativity	Uniqueness, imagination	Influence	Having an impact on people and events
Value	Definition	Value	Definition
Curiosity	Interested in everything, exploring	Inner harmony	At peace with myself
Daring	Seeking adventure, risk	Intelligence	Logical, thinking
Detachment	From worldly concerns	Loyalty	Faithful to my friends, group
Devout	Holding to religious faith and belief	Mature love	Deep emotional and spiritual intimacy
Enjoying life	Enjoying food, sex, leisure, etc.	Meaning in life	A purpose in life
Equality	Equal opportunity for all	Moderation	Avoiding extremes of feeling and action
Exciting life	Stimulating experiences	National security	Protection of my nation from enemies
Family security	Safety for loved ones	Obedience	Dutiful, meeting obligations
Peaceful world	Free of war and conflict	Sense of belonging	Feeling that others care about me
Value	Definition	Value	Definition
Pleasure	Gratification of desires	Social justice	Correcting injustice, care for the weak
Politeness	Courtesy, good manners	Social order	Stability of society
Preserving my public image	Protecting my ‘face’	Social power	Control over others, dominance
Privacy	The right to have a private sphere	Social recognition	Respect, approval by others
Protecting the environment	Preserving nature	Spiritual life	Emphasis on spiritual not material matters
Reciprocation of favours	Avoidance of indebtedness	Success	Achieving goals
Respect for tradition	Preservation of time-honoured customs	True friendship	Close, supportive friends
Responsibility	Dependable, reliable	Unity with nature	Fitting into nature
Self-discipline	Self-restraint, resistance to temptation	Varied life	Filled with challenge, novelty and change
Self-indulgence	Doing pleasant things	Wealth	Material possessions, money
Self-respect	Belief in one’s own worth	Wisdom	A mature understanding of life

Organise your values into categories

Once you have your list, try to align each value with one of Schwartz’s 10 universal values. Some of your personal values may align directly, while others may be more nuanced, but try to categorise them as best as possible.

Example:
- Value: Creativity → Category: Self-Direction (Openness to Change)

Understanding your personal values helps guide decision-making and actions, ensuring you align with what matters most to you both at work and at home. It creates consistency, integrity, and authenticity, enhancing relationships. By staying true to your core principles, you can navigate challenges more confidently and maintain a sense of fulfilment.

Workplace Wellbeing