How a 50-year-old theory of values explains today’s political gridlock and our personal contradictions.
Measurement and Methodology One of Rokeach’s most significant contributions is operationalizing values for empirical study. He developed the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), a self-report instrument that asks respondents to rank a set of terminal and instrumental values in order of personal importance. This forced-ranking method yields an ordinal value profile, allowing comparisons across individuals, groups, and cultures. Rokeach defends ranking as superior to rating because ranking reveals priorities and trade-offs more clearly. He supplements the RVS with behavioral observations, experimental manipulations (e.g., cognitive dissonance paradigms), and analyses of value change, providing a multifaceted methodological program to study values empirically. How a 50-year-old theory of values explains today’s
When someone says, "I want to find meaning," or "I want to be rich," they are expressing a terminal value. This forced-ranking method yields an ordinal value profile,
While the RVS became a standard tool in sociology, marketing, and organizational behavior, it has faced criticism. Some scholars argued that the list of 18 values was culturally bound to mid-20th century America and lacked universal applicability. Others noted that forcing a strict ranking (ipsative scaling) makes statistical analysis more difficult than rating scales (like Likert scales used in later models, such as Schwartz’s Theory of Basic Values). When someone says, "I want to find meaning,"
A central argument is that values predict behavior . Rokeach reviews studies showing: