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their simplest values are those things we want to have
in our lives so much that we put them above other things.
So if I was a person who placed high value on looking
great I might well spend a pay rise on a new outfit whereas
someone else who valued excitement might spend it on water
skiing lessons.
In
1979 Rokeach defined values as “abstract ideas”
that represent a person’s beliefs about modes of
conduct or ideal end states, but are not associated with
any particular object or situation. More recently Schwartz
(1992) suggested that values represent concepts or beliefs
about desirable end-states or behaviours that transcend
specific situations, guide selection, or evaluation of
behaviour and events, and are ordered by relative importance.
Michael
Henderson and Dougal Thompson from Values at Work say
that values are simply “the sum of our preferences
and priorities”. Preferences are what we would rather
have in our lives than do without. Priorities indicate
how important each preference is in relation to another.”
There
are 128 distinct values held dear by people all over the
world. Each person has their own unique overall values
profile but everyone has a key set of central values that
are the principle invisible drivers of their attitudes
and behaviours. One way of uncovering exactly what those
values are is to complete the AVI – an online questionnaire.
If you would like to know more about the AVI let us know.
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