Schwartz Value Theory

The Schwartz Value Theory discusses values at both the individual and the national level. Individual-level values are desirable goals that serve as guiding principles in people's lives. Schwartz identified 10 basic motivations, represented by 10 value types, yielding a circular model. The circular structure of values could be summarized into two main conflicts: self-enhancement (power, achievement, hedonism) versus self-transcendence (benevolence, universalism) values and openness-to-change (self-direction, stimulation) versus conservation values (tradition, conformity, security). The Schwartz model has been tested in extensive cross-cultural research providing support for the theorized content and structure of values. At the cultural level, Schwartz identified three bipolar dimensions of values that allow for comparing societies. The embeddedness versus autonomy dimension focuses on the regulation of relationships between the individual and the group; the hierarchy versus egalitarianism dimension focuses on the regulation of responsible behavior among societal members; and the mastery versus harmony dimension focuses on the relationships between humanity and nature. The three bipolar dimensions form a circle in which cultural values that share compatible assumptions are adjacent whereas values that reflect conflicting assumptions oppose each other.