Your values
Schwartz's 10 universal values: what actually drives you.
Schwartz identified ten values present in every culture, arranged in a circle of built-in tensions: you can't maximise security and stimulation at once, nor power and universalism. You'll see which ones drive you and what trade-offs they imply. Scores are relative to your own average (50): they show what YOU prioritise, not how much you agree in general.
Values · 10
Self-direction
Thinking and acting on your own: independence and freedom of judgement.
Stimulation
A need for novelty, excitement and challenge.
Hedonism
Pleasure and sensory enjoyment as a value in itself.
Achievement
Personal success through demonstrating competence by social standards.
Power
Status, prestige and control over people and resources.
Security
Stability and harmony, both personal and societal.
Conformity
Restraining yourself so as not to upset or violate social expectations.
Tradition
Respect for and commitment to inherited customs.
Benevolence
Caring for the wellbeing of those close to you.
Universalism
Understanding and protecting the welfare of all people and of nature.
Where this comes from
This test draws on published, peer-reviewed instruments. It is not a certified adaptation: the items are rewritten in everyday language.
- [1]Schwartz (1992). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1–65
The original theory of the ten universal values and their circular structure.
- [2]Schwartz et al. (2001). PVQ. J. Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32(5), 519–542
The PVQ questionnaire, the format this test is modelled on.
- [3]European Social Survey — Human Values Scale
The version used in the European Social Survey since 2002.