Values.

 

Is death sentence wrong? Should our beauty products be tested on animals first? If a person likes power, is that good or bad? Some might believe that the sentence of death is is appropriate for the crimes committed whilst others believe no government has the right to claim someones life. Values represent basic convictions that “a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence.” They contain a judgemental element in that they carry an individual’s ideas as to what is right, good or desirable. Sounds fuzzy? We all have a basic understanding of what values are but let us try and break it down.

 

Values have both content and intensity attributes. The content attribute says a mode of conduct or end-state of existence is important. The intensity attribute specifies how important it is. When we rank an individual's values in terms of their intensity, we obtain that person’s value system. All of us have this hierarchy of values that form our systems.

 

Are our values fluid and flexible then? Generally speaking, no. We tend to stick with our values and endure the arguments with others’. Most of our values comes from early years by teachers, parents, friends and others. We are taught in early years, for example, that is wrong to steal or hit another person, or that we should be honest and not lie.

 

The Importance of Values

Values lay the foundation for our understanding of people’s attitudes and motivation and influence our perceptions. We enter an organization with preconceived notions of what “ought” and “ought not” to be. These notions are not value free; on the contrary, they contain our interpretations of right and wrong. Furthermore, they imply we prefer certain behaviours or outcomes over others. As a result, values clid objectivity and rationality; they influence attitudes and behavior. Here is an example on how values can play crucial role for you in the organization. Say that you value pay on the basis of performance and not on seniority (time in company). The organization operates according to the latter. Will you then still work just as hard or will you work less because “it will not be rewarded anyway”?

 

Terminal Versus Instrumental Values

Is it possible to classify values? Yes, and here is one way to do it followed by a video of another.

 

Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)

Created by Milton Rokeach and consists of two sets of values, each containing 18 individual value items. One set is called terminal values and refers to desirable end-states. These are the goals a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. The other set is called instrumental values and refers to modes of behavior or means of achieving the terminal values. People in the same occupations or categories (corporate managers, union members, parents, students) tend to hold similar values. Think of it this way, activists may rank “equality” as their most important terminal value whilst managers most likely holds “economic success” high. 

 

Chapter

Concept