Does the Value Circle Exist Within Persons or Only Across Persons?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Personality Psychology

Background:

• The Schwartz value theory proposes a circular structure of basic human values.
• Previous research primarily focused on the value circle's structure across individuals.
• The within-person existence of this value structure remained largely untested.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically test the existence of the Schwartz value circle within individuals.
• To provide evidence for the within-person rationale of the value circle model.
• To explore individual value profiles and their structural consistency.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from five diverse samples (Britain, US, Iran) using various Schwartz value measures (SVS, PVQ40, PVQ21).
• Application of an unfolding model to map individual value profiles in a two-dimensional space.
• Assessment of the model's fit for individuals and subgroups.

Main Results:

• Consistent evidence of the value circle structure was found within individuals across all samples.
• The unfolding model successfully represented the value profiles of most individuals.
• The study identified variations in model fit and value structures among subgroups.

Conclusions:

• The Schwartz value circle is demonstrably present at the individual level, supporting its within-person validity.
• The unfolding model offers a robust method for analyzing individual value structures and subgroup differences.
• This research opens new avenues for investigating the link between individual values and other psychological variables.