Basic values: How they motivate and inhibit prosocial behavior.

In this chapter, I describe some of my efforts during the past 30 years to accomplish this "impossible" task. I outline my general theory of basic values and the implications of this theory for the full range of prosocial behaviors. I first discuss the nature and content of the basic values that both motivate and inhibit prosocial behavior. I then explain the structure of congruent and conflicting relations among these values, analyzing how trade-offs between competing values in this structure affect prosocial behavior. I next examine the dynamic roots of this near-universal structure to clarify why particular values affect prosocial behavior as they do and follow with an exploration of the mechanisms that link values to prosocial behavior. I end the chapter with a set of studies that use values to predict a variety of prosocial behaviors and attitudes. My values theory concerns the basic values that people in all cultures are likely to recognize. It identifies 10 motivationally distinct values and specifies the conflicts (e.g., benevolence vs. power) and compatibilities (e.g., conformity, security) among them. The structure of values refers to these relations of conflict (opposition) and compatibility (congruence). Similar value structures exist across culturally diverse groups, suggesting that there is a universal organization of human motives. But even if the types of human motivation that values express and the structure of their relations are universal, individuals and groups differ substantially in the relative importance they attribute to particular values. That is, their value priorities or hierarchies differ. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)