Human Value Structure and Emotions

Abstract

In this dissertation Shalom Schwartz’ theory of the structure of basic human values is developed. A partially new structure is proposed consisting of pairs of contrastive values (Security – Courage, Manage by yourself – Get help, Adaptation – Own will, and Prioritize yourself – Prioritize others) and non-contrastive values (Happiness, Meaningfulness, Love, Enjoyment, Respect, Deeper understanding of the world, Achievement, and Health). It was hypothesized that the contrastive values form a circumplex structure and that the non-contrastive values are positioned in the middle of this structure. The circumplex structure can be understood in terms of four overlapping dimensions (Independence – Dependence, Person focus – Social focus, Self preservation – Self transcendence, and Comfort – Challenge Different kinds of value salience (Access, Importance, Positive – Negative evaluation, Ability, and Access) were used to measure the values. It was also assumed that high access to contrastive values leads to specific positive and negative emotions. The positive emotions are experienced as a result of increasing access to the values, and the negative emotions are experienced because the opposite values are losing access. In line with this assumption, it was hypothesized that less negative emotions would be experienced in relation to a given value if its opposite is less salient. Non-contrastive values were supposed to lead to more positive and less negative emotions than the contrastive values. Study I was a first attempt of constructing a structure of contrastive and non-contrastive values. Several deviations from a circumplex structure were found which indicated that the proposed value structure needed further revision. Study II tested the final value structure proposed in this thesis. In Experiment 1 the contrastive values formed a structure which was closer to a pure circumplex than has been found in comparable data testing Schwartz’ value structure. This was believed to result from the fact that the contrastive values have clearer opposites than the values in Schwartz’ value structure, and that the non-contrastive values are excluded. In Experiment 2 the non-contrastive values were with one exception positioned inside the circumplex. Study III confirmed that almost all contrastive values were related to specific positive and negative emotions. It was also shown that the salience of the opposites affected the negative emotions connected to the contrastive values, and that the non-contrastive values led to more positive and less negative emotions than the contrastive values. This thesis has presented and successfully tested a partially new structure for how human values can be categorized, how they are related to each other, and how they are related to emotions.