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Rokeach M — 1973 The Nature Of Human Values Pdf

Milton Rokeach’s 1973 work, The Nature of Human Values, established that underlying "core values" drive human attitudes and behavior, proposing that individuals hold a small, hierarchical set of values. The text introduced the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), which measures 18 "terminal" (goals) and 18 "instrumental" (modes of conduct) values to predict social and personal actions. For more details, visit UCL Open - ScienceOpen. Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)

Here’s a short, helpful story inspired by Rokeach’s 1973 work The Nature of Human Values — it weaves the book’s core ideas (terminal vs. instrumental values, value systems, and value change) into a simple narrative you can use for teaching, reflection, or as a vignette.

The Clockmaker’s Values

Old Ana owned a tiny clock shop at the corner of Linden and Third. Each morning she wound the shop’s brass clocks and read the hand-written notes customers left on the counter. The notes weren’t repair tickets—they were little confessions about what people wanted from life: “happiness with family,” “professional success,” “trustworthy friends,” “personal freedom.”

One rainy afternoon, a young apprentice named Marco arrived, eager but impatient. He loved speed, prizes, and visible success. He asked Ana bluntly, “How do you know what’s worth chasing? I’m good with gears, but I want to build a career fast.”

Ana set a pocket watch on the counter and drew two concentric circles around it in chalk. “Look,” she said. “The innermost circle holds the ends—what people ultimately want. The outer circle holds the means—how they get there.” She tapped the glass: “Terminal values are like the center: peace of mind, family security, a sense of accomplishment. Instrumental values are the hands that move the gears: honesty, ambition, tolerance.”

Marco frowned. “So you mean I should pick my center first?”

“Not always. Sometimes the hands shape the center.” Ana wound the watch and let it tick. “People form clusters of values that guide choices. My customer, Mr. Diaz, came for a repair because he wanted ‘respect in business’—a terminal value that made him emphasize punctuality and fairness. But another, Lena, wanted ‘personal freedom’ and so valued creativity and independence as instrumental ways to get there.”

That evening, Marco stayed late to fix a grandmother clock. He met a woman who’d come to pick up a repaired heirloom. While she waited, she told Marco about leaving a high-paying job to teach. “I wanted my life to mean something,” she said. “I had money, but not fulfillment.” Her story nudged something in Marco. He thought of his own impatience and the trophies on shelves that felt hollow.

Over weeks, Ana taught Marco a simple practice: when faced with a decision, ask two questions—“What final state do I want?” and “Which behaviors will get me there?” Marco tried it. When a lucrative offer came with long hours, he mapped his values. He realized his terminal goals were “close family ties” and “being respected for craft,” so he declined the job and took a steadier role where he could apprentice under a master clockmaker and still visit his sister each Sunday. rokeach m 1973 the nature of human values pdf

One winter, a town council proposed removing the old clock tower to clear space for a mall. The town divided: some wanted progress and jobs; others wanted heritage and community rhythm. Ana organized a meeting where neighbors listed what they valued. The lists revealed the town’s hidden value structure: some prioritized “economic prosperity,” others “community identity,” and many used shared instrumental values—“cooperation” and “respect”—to find compromise. In the end they redesigned the plan to keep the tower and add a small market. People felt heard because their deepest ends and feasible means were acknowledged.

Years later, Marco took over the shop. He kept Ana’s chalk circles and taught his own apprentices that values aren’t fixed trophies; they form systems that guide decisions and can change when life nudges them. He learned that values sometimes shift slowly—when a child is born, “family security” rises to the center; sometimes they change quickly after loss or triumph. Most important, he learned the Rokeach lesson Ana loved to repeat: knowing the difference between what you ultimately want and how you get it makes choices clearer and life more intentional.

If you’d like, I can:

The Nature of Human Values (1973) is a foundational work by social psychologist Milton Rokeach that transformed how social sciences understand human belief systems. Rokeach argues that values are deeply ingrained, stable beliefs that serve as the primary guiding principles for an individual’s entire life. Core Framework: The Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)

The book introduces the Rokeach Value Survey, an instrument that categorizes values into two distinct sets of 18 items each:

Terminal Values (Desirable End-States): These represent the ultimate goals a person would like to achieve in their lifetime.

Examples: World peace, freedom, equality, family security, and self-respect.

Instrumental Values (Desirable Modes of Conduct): These are the behaviors or means through which an individual achieves their terminal goals.

Examples: Honesty, ambition, responsibility, courage, and being broad-minded. Key Theoretical Contributions Milton Rokeach’s 1973 work, The Nature of Human

Predictive Power: Rokeach posited that by measuring how individuals rank these values, researchers could predict a wide array of behaviors, including political affiliations, religious beliefs, and social attitudes toward issues like racism or poverty.

Value Hierarchy: Unlike earlier theories that treated values as isolated, Rokeach viewed them as a hierarchical system where individuals prioritize certain values over others.

Stability and Change: While values are relatively stable, Rokeach conducted experiments showing that making individuals aware of inconsistencies in their value rankings could lead to measurable, long-term changes in their opinions and social behaviors. Applications and Resources

The RVS remains widely used in psychology, marketing, and organizational behavior to understand cultural differences and employee motivations. VALUES LIST OF MILTON ROKEACH, 1973 - MIO-ECSDE

Overview

In "The Nature of Human Values", Milton Rokeach, a social psychologist, explores the concept of human values and their role in shaping behavior, attitudes, and social interactions. The book, published in 1973, is considered a seminal work in the field of social psychology and values research.

Key Concepts

  1. Values: Rokeach defines values as "abstract conceptions of desirable end-states or modes of behavior" that serve as guiding principles for evaluating and making decisions.
  2. Value System: He posits that individuals have a organized system of values, which influences their perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors.
  3. Terminal and Instrumental Values: Rokeach distinguishes between two types of values:
    • Terminal Values: desirable end-states, such as happiness, freedom, or equality.
    • Instrumental Values: modes of behavior or means to achieve terminal values, like honesty, responsibility, or self-discipline.

The Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)

Rokeach developed the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), a widely used instrument to measure individual values. The RVS consists of two parts: Turn this into a one-page classroom handout summarizing

  1. Terminal Values: respondents rank 18 terminal values in order of importance.
  2. Instrumental Values: respondents rank 18 instrumental values in order of importance.

Theoretical Contributions

Rokeach's work contributes to our understanding of:

  1. Value Structures: He identified a hierarchical structure of values, with terminal values at the top and instrumental values at the bottom.
  2. Value Congruence: Rokeach proposed that people tend to be attracted to others who share similar values, leading to social cohesion and group formation.
  3. Value Change: He discussed how values can change over time, influenced by factors like socialization, culture, and life experiences.

Impact and Applications

"The Nature of Human Values" has had significant impacts in various fields, including:

  1. Social Psychology: Rokeach's work laid the groundwork for research on values, attitudes, and social behavior.
  2. Marketing and Consumer Research: understanding consumer values helps businesses develop targeted marketing strategies.
  3. Cross-Cultural Research: Rokeach's value framework has been used to study cultural differences and similarities.

If you're interested in reading the full text, you can find a PDF version of "The Nature of Human Values" by Milton Rokeach (1973) through academic databases, such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, or Google Scholar.

A Practical Summary of the Rokeach Value Survey (from the PDF)

For researchers who cannot access the full PDF immediately, here is the complete list of values from the RVS, exactly as organized in the 1973 text:

Terminal Values (Goals):

  1. A Comfortable Life
  2. An Exciting Life
  3. A Sense of Accomplishment
  4. A World at Peace
  5. A World of Beauty
  6. Equality
  7. Family Security
  8. Freedom
  9. Happiness
  10. Inner Harmony
  11. Mature Love
  12. National Security
  13. Pleasure
  14. Salvation
  15. Self-Respect
  16. Social Recognition
  17. True Friendship
  18. Wisdom

Instrumental Values (Behaviors):

  1. Ambitious
  2. Broad-minded
  3. Capable
  4. Cheerful
  5. Clean
  6. Courageous
  7. Forgiving
  8. Helpful
  9. Honest
  10. Imaginative
  11. Independent
  12. Intellectual
  13. Logical
  14. Loving
  15. Obedient
  16. Polite
  17. Responsible
  18. Self-controlled

Who Was Milton Rokeach?

Before diving into the PDF, it is crucial to understand the author. Milton Rokeach (1918–1988) was a Polish-American social psychologist renowned for his work on dogma, authority, and human beliefs. Unlike many of his contemporaries who focused on attitudes, Rokeach argued that values are the central cognitive structures that determine how people form attitudes and behaviors.

His 1973 publication, The Nature of Human Values, was the culmination of over a decade of empirical research. In this book, he formally defined what a value is, how values organize into systems, and why understanding values predicts social behavior better than situational variables alone.

How to Find the "Rokeach M 1973 The Nature of Human Values PDF" Legally

A critical note on copyright: The Nature of Human Values (1973) is under copyright held by The Free Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster). Copyright duration varies by country, but generally in the US, works published after 1964 remain protected for 95 years. As of 2025, this book is not in the public domain.