Human values ​​in psychology. What is it, definition, examples

What is important to you and what is most important in life? Each person who is asked such a question will answer it individually. One will say that the most important thing in life is career and wealth, another will answer that this is power and status in society, the third will give the example of family, relationships and health. The list could go on for quite a long time, but we just need to understand that what is important to a person controls his actions. Based on what his priorities are, he will make friends, get an education, choose a place of work, in other words, build his life.

And the topic of this article is life priorities, or, more precisely, life values. Next we will talk about what they are, what kinds of values ​​there are, and how their system is formed.

The concept of values ​​in psychology

The concept of values ​​in psychology has a dual explanation: first of all, they are determined by the society in which a person is formed, but on the other hand, they are a unique personal perception of the world.

Values ​​are the basis for the formation of subjective beliefs and worldviews, which are determined through the personal experience of each person.

Values ​​are an important aspect in psychology for understanding the basic factors influencing a person’s actions, aspirations and guidelines:

• they create a lifestyle;
• indicate priorities and fears;
• determine development criteria at each stage of life.

The value system develops throughout life, in stages, and covers all levels of human development. For example, preschool age is a critical period for the successful socialization of a child at school.

At this time, the child develops basic values, the internal basis of personality, and the first signs of cognitive change and the development of cause-and-effect relationships arise.

Everything that in the future will form strong beliefs and moral judgments about such concepts as good and evil, respect and work, one’s own destiny.

Thus, based on the process of socialization of the individual and the successful satisfaction of his own needs, a person develops his own values, ideas about how society exists, by what means one can achieve what one wants and how to build relationships with others.

Values ​​are an integral part of the worldview in psychology, which shapes the beliefs of every person. Personal values ​​are the main catalyst for actions, assessments of events and self-realization.

Human values ​​in psychology - what they are, how they manifest themselves.

The problem of values ​​is always relevant and multifaceted - with its help in psychology one can analyze why a personality is formed in one way or another, or study the direct influence of the external environment as one of the key factors that decides the fate of an individual.

Introduction

What are the values, so are both society and the individual. It is no coincidence that the problem of values ​​always comes first in transitional periods of social development. This is precisely the time our society is going through today, with its instability, sharp social shifts, disorientation and disidentification of the individual. All this finds expression in the process of revaluation of values. It should be borne in mind that behind the denial of old values ​​lies the denial of the old forms of life of society and the individual.

The study of value issues is also relevant because values ​​are the most important points in understanding and determining who we are and how we act. Values ​​determine how we see ourselves, others, and how we interpret the world as a whole.

Since values ​​change along with the development of society, they are formed on the basis of needs and interests, but do not copy them. Values ​​are not a cast of needs and interests, but an ideal representation that does not always correspond to them.

Types of values

Types of values ​​have different classifications and always depend on the field in which they are used, be it philosophy, axiology, sociology or political science. In psychology, values ​​are initially divided into material and intangible.

They in turn have many subgroups. The main criterion by which certain values ​​are formed in psychology is the degree of need for something.

All human aspirations can be divided into 5 classes:

• material;
• spiritual;
• social (social and professional);
• thermal;
• instrumental.

Material values

Material values ​​in psychology describe the cultural and moral needs of a person.

The formation of material assets is more influenced by:

• the environment and the ideals and aspirations widespread in it;
• personal reasons;
• social opportunities.

In the long term, material values ​​shape human life goals and motives for activity, and help determine the area of ​​employment and one’s own interests. The need to satisfy the needs for money and other material items of existence is different for each person.

People have different attitudes towards the desire to purchase their own home, means of transportation and other comfort items. But for many people, it is material values ​​that are the foundation for development.

After all, having provided material needs, a person can either stop developing, or begin to develop spiritual or social values, the balanced development of which is the basis for the harmonious existence of a person in society.

To talk about the triviality of satisfying material values ​​is fundamentally wrong. Despite the fact that each person simultaneously develops his own values ​​in different areas, if the issue of satisfying material values ​​is closed, the development of other values ​​occurs faster and with better quality.

On the other hand, not every person needs to have a lot of material wealth (for example, a monk), or, on the contrary, a person may not want to develop beyond the accumulation of material wealth. The vector of development is always individual aspirations, which are influenced by many different factors.

Spiritual values

Spiritual values ​​are one of the decisive factors that determine the behavior and aspirations of every person. The definition of a person’s spiritual values ​​refers to his needs, beyond material and physiological needs, that is, to the ethical, aesthetic and cognitive spheres of activity.

The main spiritual values ​​of a person include such aspects of existence as:

• the possibility of expression of will and creative implementation of one’s own ideas;
• manifestation of all selfless actions;
• intellectual development;
• awareness of social norms of behavior;
• showing respect for other members of society.

This category of values ​​is more abstract, since it is not aimed at achieving visible and prestigious manifestations of human actions, but rather refers to any intangible manifestation of human existence in the world.

The main goal of spiritual values ​​is to maintain willpower and morale in difficult moments and in conflict situations.

Social values

Social values ​​from a psychological point of view characterize any manifestations of interpersonal relationships.

They form optimal norms of behavior in the environment, helping to take a certain position in society, express one’s own opinion and evaluate what is happening, without fear of being judged by others.

Social values ​​are laid in the foundation of every person’s consciousness; future goals and aspirations for self-realization and satisfaction of one’s own needs grow from them.

Social values ​​are a set of complex attitudes, and psychologists distinguish their three-component structure, which influences the thinking, behavior and reactions of a person in the environment. The formation of a person’s social values ​​is influenced by the character and needs of a person, but they are a reaction to such environmental conditions.

Namely:

• historical context;
• cultural environment;
• having one’s own interests and searching for opportunities to manifest them in society.

Also, social values ​​have a wide sphere of influence. On the one hand, they extend to political, legal, economic and any other human activity in which he interacts with other people, that is, social values ​​regulate the system of behavior of weak ties in society.

On the other hand, social values ​​regulate the relationship of an individual in his professional activities, interpersonal relationships with family, friends and in relationships in a couple, that is, they determine the rules of behavior in a close communication environment.

The most striking examples of social values ​​that help maintain harmonious relationships are:

• Love;
• respect;
• friendship;
• kindness;
• devotion;
• utility;
• highest social ideals.

On the other hand, many people have negative social values, such as selfishness, aggression, hatred and envy.

Adhering to such criteria, each person tries not only to develop his own interest in life in society, he also tries to be useful to others.

Terminal and instrumental values

Thermal and instrumental values ​​in human psychology describe the optimal means of achieving goals and aspirations in life. They are the fundamental beliefs of the individual and form the vector of development of human aspirations and goals.

Thermal values ​​lay the foundation for understanding what a person strives for at one time or another in life. Instrumental values ​​relate more to the means and ways of achieving what is desired.

From a functional point of view, instrumental values ​​are realized as standards and criteria for one’s own behavior on the path to achieving thermal values. Instrumental values ​​evaluate conditions and plan steps to achieve final values.

So, for example, decorating a house is an instrumental value, and the resulting feeling of comfort is a thermal value. Playing sports is an instrumental value on the way to achieving the final (thermal) goal - good shape or improved health.

What it is

Each of us has unique guidelines, thanks to which we understand what is more and what is less important, what is acceptable and what is not. This is a set of beliefs, ideals and principles that we follow when performing a particular action. Using these internal "quality standards" you can determine what is most significant in your personal universe

Using these internal “standards of excellence” you can determine what is most meaningful in your personal universe.

Sometimes a person establishes these coordinates himself, relying on his experience, and sometimes they are acquired by him from the outside with the easy supply of society and firmly grow into his worldview. If an individual betrays his basic attitudes, he will face intrapersonal conflict, which will entail a state of depression.

Definition of the concept and signs

Life values ​​are a kind of absolute that occupies a primary position in worldview. We are guided by them, setting certain goals for ourselves, and through their prism we evaluate our actions, desires, as well as the behavior of other people. With their help we set priorities.

To become a value guide, an existing phenomenon of reality must receive an emotional response and a rational explanation of its significance for a particular person. Therefore, you cannot impose your coordinate system on another.

In the process of formation and development of personality, values ​​can and will certainly change. In childhood, some things come to the fore, in youth, others, and in adulthood, absolutely opposite ones. A person’s priorities directly depend on the events he experiences and the influence of certain ideas on him. Some situations can turn your mind around, look at your life from a different angle and completely rethink your hierarchy of guidelines.

List of main features of value attitudes

Significance

They have weight and importance in the eyes of the one who owns them. At all costs, the owner strives to comply with and protect them.

Awareness

As a rule, people are aware of what is important to them. Based on this understanding, they build a certain model of behavior, which they adapt to existing internal norms and rules with the help of self-control and self-discipline.

Self-sufficiency. Personal guidelines do not need the approval or advice of others. Positive character. These beliefs are not perceived by the individual as obligations. They are not burdensome, but evoke only positive emotions.

The importance of personal values

Values ​​are a fundamental aspect of the formation of a person’s essence in personality psychology.

No less important is the fact that regardless of whether a person is aware of his own values ​​or not, they express the significance of his actions, determine the reliability of a person’s decisions, form the mechanisms of interaction with other people, and also are the basis for self-realization.

Values ​​in psychology play an important role in the development of a person’s individual character traits. Moreover, values ​​are the result of the interaction between an individual and the environment in which he lives.

Their development is influenced by the constant relationship between the influence of subjective perception and environmental factors:

• the family component as a fundamental aspect of unconscious copying of norms of behavior in society and cognitive models of information perception;
• media influence;
• group values ​​(religious, national, youth and political)
• social status of a person, his family;
• career success;
• educational activities (school, university, vocational education and hobbies);
• level of personal development, success of differentiation and maturation of a person.

Values ​​in human psychology are also a good explanation of his social, cultural and political behavior: in every area important to a person, values ​​perform a specific function of activity that helps to realize the desired and avoid the unacceptable.

Stable individual values ​​have a strong influence on such aspects of personality as:

• self-awareness and stress tolerance;
• understanding your own strengths and weaknesses and their development;
• understanding the social value of one’s own actions;
• ensuring a high level of communication and team activity;
• strategic planning, turning plans into reality;
• adequate analysis of what is happening;
• self-reflection and willingness to change.

Thus, the assimilation of certain values ​​occurs from early childhood, but due to the active rethinking of life experience, the values ​​of each person can change.

The main catalyst for such changes is new life experience, the process of active rethinking of what is happening, changes in the needs and subjective perception of a person.

Thus, at the level of individual consciousness, values ​​govern a person’s life and activity, underlie any assessments and perceptions, and also influence final decisions.

Attitudes, their types and role in human life

Attitudes are an ambiguous concept; in psychology it is used in two meanings:

• as a certain, predetermined perspective of perception of reality, events, people;
• as a predisposition to a certain behavior or type of social activity.

In general, an attitude can be considered as a person’s readiness to perform certain actions and actions. For example, before crossing the road, a person usually automatically checks to see if a car is moving. This triggers an attitude formed in childhood. Or another example: seeing through the window that it is cloudy and windy outside, we dress warmer, as the setting is triggered - if there is wind, then it is cold.

These are the so-called everyday attitudes, and ideological attitudes are in many ways close to beliefs, connected with them and often formed in inextricable unity. For example, a person with nationalist beliefs has attitudes toward perceiving people of other nationalities as less valuable, flawed, and endowed with unpleasant qualities.

Unlike beliefs, attitudes are less conscious. For example, there is such a widespread attitude that the higher a person’s social status, the smarter, more educated, and more professional he is. Therefore, without realizing why, we trust the opinion of our boss more than that of a subordinate or even a colleague.

Types of installations

In psychology, there are 3 types of attitudes depending on their influence on a certain area of ​​activity:

• Meaningful attitudes relate to the content of our consciousness and include several components: behavioral – associated with the willingness to act in accordance with beliefs; informational, forming a person’s belief system; evaluative, influencing a person’s attitude to the world and expressed in emotions of sympathy and antipathy.
• Goal settings define the process of goal setting. This type of attitude includes, for example, the idea of ​​the importance of career growth and the need for hard work to achieve success, or the conviction of a girl who associates her future exclusively with marriage. Goal settings support a person’s activity in case of failure and encourage him to start moving towards the goal again and again.
• Operational settings control the choice of ways and means to achieve a goal. This type is perhaps the least stable. Attitudes change under the influence of the learning process, personal experience, advice from others, information from various external sources (books, the Internet, etc.). No matter how inert a person’s thinking may be, he will never endlessly perform actions that do not bring results, but will try to find something more effective.

The identification of these types is rather arbitrary; in the real consciousness of a person, all attitudes are intertwined and interconnected.

What are group values, examples

Group values ​​in psychology refer to the norms of behavior accepted in a particular society, organization or environment, with the goal of maximizing existence and understanding.

Group values ​​can have different origins:

• group values ​​as a result of cultural and historical experience (unconscious copying of tradition);
• group values ​​purposefully created to support the existence of a formal organization (for example, corporate culture in), or an informal movement (for example, rules of solidarity among climbers or youth groups).

Regardless of the scale of group values, their main goal is to create a language of communication and norms of behavior that is understandable to everyone.

Therefore, they regulate social behavior, set criteria for the most important aspects of human existence, give a specific idea of ​​good and evil, justice and beauty - aspects, attitudes towards which may differ in different group cultures.

Regardless of the goal, group values ​​will determine optimal behavior among participants and set the boundaries of what is acceptable and desirable. They are also characterized by stability in consistency and a rigid nature of variability.

Usually, a change in some values ​​by others is accompanied by a crisis and the creation of new rules of behavior. It is also equally important to consider that values ​​acceptable to one group may be assessed by other people as destructive, harmful or false.

Hierarchy of values

In the process of personal formation, each person sets his own hierarchy of values ​​and forms a certain ideal of behavior. Therefore, the question of the difference in the hierarchy of values ​​lies in personal experience and needs, which everyone consciously or unconsciously supports as the main norms of behavior.

By forming a certain hierarchy of values, one can refer to different selection criteria (pleasure, safety, benefit or virtue), because of which the value picture will differ even among peers of the same social group.

For example, health, family or religious values ​​often form the basis of the value hierarchy of the older generation, and they are inferior to others - professional, social or material.

On the other hand, among the younger generation, the emphasis will be on patriotic, professional or material values, while political or religious ones may be completely absent.

It is equally important to consider that the hierarchy of certain values ​​always helps to understand what a person values ​​most and what he is willing to sacrifice in the event of a conflict of value guidelines.

List of used literature

1. Ivin A.A. Axiology. – M.: Higher School, 2006.
2. Ivin A.A. Fundamentals of social philosophy. – M., 2006.
3. Karmin A.S., Bernatsky G.G. Philosophy. Textbook for universities. 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2006 - 560 pp.: ill. - (Series “Textbook for Universities”).
4. Rickert G. Sciences about nature and sciences about culture. – M., 1998.
5. Spirkin A.G. Philosophy: Textbook. – 2nd ed. – M.: Gardariki
6. Philosophy: Textbook for universities / Ed. prof. V.N. Lavrinenko, Prof. V.P. Ratnikova. 4th ed., revised. and additional – M., 2008.

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How a person’s behavior changes if you know personal values

The value system of each person is able to show what is natural and acceptable for him, and, on the contrary, what a person is not able to tolerate. Therefore, if you know the personal values ​​of each person, then this knowledge can have a double meaning.

Firstly, they help to maximize a person’s professional potential, and secondly, they can also be successfully manipulated.

Thus, if you know a person’s personal values, it helps to predict his behavior, understand priorities and aspirations in his career, relationships, and self-development.

How to apply the created priorities?

Very often, without realizing it, a person may ignore his own basic values ​​(for example, family or hobbies) due to social pressure and the illusory desire for success.

After realizing your own values, it is usually easy to build a hierarchy of priorities, assess your own strengths and weaknesses, and identify potential directions for development and a harmonious life.

Psychology also emphasizes the importance of constantly reminding yourself of what values ​​are important and meaningful to yourself.

Such a reminder is an important technique that always helps you stay on the right path, not get upset over trifles, and maintain your dignity in stressful situations.

Practice "Comparison"

Take a piece of paper, a pen and write down the seven values ​​that first came to your mind. It may become more difficult at the third point, but you can’t stop. If it doesn’t work out at all, sit comfortably, relax, breathe, meditate, look out the window - get distracted and return to the list again.

Have you written seven points? Now it's time to compare them. Compare the first with the second - next to the one you like better, put a tick

It is important at this time to rely not on the mind, but on your feelings. Try to feel the internal reaction to each point: cold, warm, breathing harder or easier... So compare all points sequentially: the first - with the second, with the third, with the fourth, with the fifth..., the second - with the third, with the fourth, with the fifth... After After comparing all the items and checking all the boxes, see which item has more of them

This will be the greatest value in your life, the one you most often rely on.

This is a simple but very powerful way because when you focus on values, they start working. Everything that “turns you on” is your energy potential, because values ​​are like the sun, which charges you with new energy. Value is a tool that helps you understand everything.

If after completing the practice you feel unsure that you have determined your own values, and not those imposed by society, parents, or the environment, extend the practice for a longer period. Every other day, write a list of 20 values ​​and compare them. Gradually you will find exactly those that will resonate within you and you will understand that they are yours.