Values Analysis
By: Erin Schrammy
How do our perceptions of what’s important change over time?
The Experiment
Hypothesis
If we gauge where other people’s values are, then they will all be very similar because, for the most part, we all value similar things such as: life, love, honesty, etc.
Hypothesis support
I think this is what’s going to happen because…
Most people are raised in an environment where they learn to treat others well, care for freedom and justice, and generally experience the same opinions.
Variables that may affect the outcome...
Procedure
Results
88 Students completed the Values survey
Students were asked to select at least 10 of the Top Values from a list of 300 choices.
On average students selected about 50 values, the fewest was 6 and the most was 194!
Below is a chart of the responses to show how spread out they were.
How do these values differ from when you were younger?�
On a scale from 1 to 10, the average was 6.3.
1
2
3
9
4
5
6
7
8
10
4
8
12
16
20
Least Selected Values
Most Selected Values
In their own words...
Yes. Of all the things on here, I value respect, rationality, and common sense the most. Also, a lot of these are things I value differently depending on the context. For example, I value self-reliance and self-motivation A LOT when it comes to myself, but I don't really care for those at all when it applies to other people. I don't value things like cordiality, comfort, and wonder as much, but they are nice to have.
I definitely do. I find things like self-awareness and adventure more important that other things. They’re just more prevalent and meaningful than others.
Yes, there are some things like truth and trust that I value almost more than anything.
The biggest things for me are honesty, knowledge, and a sense of humor. Everything I marked is important, but I find it hard to respect someone if they don't have these traits, even if they only have a little of each.
Do you hold any hierarchies in your values?
I would say that I do hold hierarchies in my values. While I would say that at least a majority of the values listed were desirable traits, I believe that a smaller amount of them are fundamental for the others. For example, the ability to grow as a person and better yourself is a very fundamental trait, in my opinion, and if a person doesn't have the maturity to grow as a person, they lose the ability to gain any one of these other characteristics beyond what they have. Beyond that, I just value certain things more than others, like anybody. For example, I wouldn't say that I value faith to any degree at all, but for many people faith is a central theme of their lives, whether it be to a religion, a belief, or whatever else people have faith in.
Conclusion
What I have found is that people’s values are very similar, but more different than I had originally guessed. There are certain hierarchies that are present in everyone’s values, however, everyone has their own unique experience so there is a huge spectrum. I expected this to happen when I included such a wide variety, but had no idea just how different it really is. I deem my findings to be contrary to my hypothesis. This will definitely require more research.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wFlO7mXWRjkRPZGNeyGQ8617q1do7RclvZY485oDrJE/edit?usp=sharing