Stability and change of basic personal values in early adulthood: An 8-year longitudinal study

Michele Vecchione*, Shalom Schwartz, Guido Alessandri, Anna K. Döring, Valeria Castellani, Maria Giovanna Caprara

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

126 Scopus citations

Abstract

We examined four types of stability and change in values during young adulthood. 270 respondents (aged 20-28, 54% female) completed the Portrait Values Questionnaire at three time points, separated by 4 years. Rank-order stability coefficients of the 10 values averaged 0.69 (T1-T2) and 0.77 (T2-T3). The mean importance of conservation, self-transcendence, and power values increased over time, the mean importance of achievement values decreased, and openness to change values remained stable. For 75% of respondents, the correlations of the within-person value hierarchies exceeded 0.45 from T1 to T2 and 0.61 from T2 to T3. Correlations among individual change scores for the 10 values formed coherent patterns of value change that mirror the circular structure of Schwartz's theory.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)111-122
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Research in Personality
Volume63
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Aug 2016
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

  • Basic personal values
  • Longitudinal value change
  • Value profiles
  • Value stability

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