Rokeach M 1973 The Nature Of Human Values Pdf Top [2021]

The Hierarchy of the Soul: Understanding Milton Rokeach’s The Nature of Human Values

In the landscape of social psychology, few works have managed to bridge the gap between abstract philosophy and empirical science as effectively as Milton Rokeach’s 1973 masterpiece, The Nature of Human Values. While philosophers had debated the concept of "the good" for millennia, Rokeach attempted something radically different: he sought to measure values, categorize them, and demonstrate how they predict human behavior.

• Examples: A Comfortable Life, Equality, Freedom, Happiness, National Security, Salvation, True Friendship, Wisdom.

Methodology and empirical approach

• Emphasized both theoretical clarity and empirical validation.
• Used surveys, comparisons across groups (e.g., ideological, occupational), and longitudinal designs to study stability and change.
• Investigated value-behavior linkages, value conflict, and socialization of values.

• Schwartz’s Theory of Basic Values (1992) – expanded to 10 universal value types.
• Value self-confrontation technique – used in therapy and persuasion.
• Political psychology – value basis of ideology.
• Consumer behavior – value-based market segmentation.
• Cross-cultural management – Hofstede and others integrated values into organizational research.

8. Methodological Innovations and Criticisms

Innovations:

The Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)

The practical genius of the book lies in the methodology Rokeach developed, known as the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS). Instead of simply rating values on a scale of 1 to 10, Rokeach forced subjects to rank them in order of importance. rokeach m 1973 the nature of human values pdf top