The Owner's Manual for Values at Work: Clarifying and Focusing on What Is Most Important

By Pierce J. Howard

In the 1970s, an educational movement called Values Clarification (VC) invigorated school curricula across the United States and elsewhere. As a school consultant, the author of The Owner’s Manual for Values at Work was immersed in the VC literature and engaged in the practice of training teachers to use the seven-step VC model. H

• Language: English
• Publisher: Center for Applied Cognitive Studies
• Release date: May 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9780692671382

Pierce J. Howard

Pierce J. Howard grew up in Kinston, North Carolina, the youngest of seven, and attended public schools before studying at Davidson College (B.A.), East Carolina University (M.A.), and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Ph.D.). While studying at Chapel Hill, he taught English at Chapel Hill High School and later at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. After his studies at Chapel Hill, he took a position as head of School Services at the North Carolina Advancement School in Winston-Salem-a special program for research and dissemination regarding underachievement among teenagers. It was during this stay in Winston-Salem that he began using Values Clarification concepts and materials. He moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to teach and administer in a school-within-a-school at West Charlotte High School. Since that time, He has worked as an organization development consultant in a variety of settings around the world, while continuing to teach undergraduate and graduate students at Queens University of Charlotte's McColl School of Business, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Pfeiffer University at Charlotte. He has lived out his values with his wife, Jane; daughters Hilary and Allegra; acquired son, Will; and grandchildren, Liam, Stella, Rowan, and A.J. At the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies, he devotes most of his time to his roles of co-founder and innovation officer (also known as director of research and development) and is involved in re-search, writing, and product development, mostly focused on the five-factor model of personality. He balances his professional life with model railroading (n-scale), playing chamber music, building models with grandchildren (next is a 19th-century schooner), singing in the choir (at Providence United Methodist Church), walking the incomparable streets of his Dilworth neighborhood, reading classics and lighter fare, indulging his gustatory senses through cooking and dining his way through the world's cuisines, traveling with Jane and their family to the great national parks of the U.S. and to bucket list destinations around the world-from Petra to the Terracotta Army of Xi'an-advising students on research projects, attending professional meetings, attending family and school reunions, and, in general, staying young. Or, as he describes in his book, dressing his elephant in ways that express his values.

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"Once again Dr. Howard has compiled relevant concepts and presented them in a practical and well‐documented fashion. This book combines the right literature on the subject of values in a way that is useful for practitioners, students and scholars. It also documents a contemporary framework for viewing values. The Owner’s Manual is a must read for anyone exploring this field and working with these concepts."

John L. Bennett, Ph.D., Associate Professor; Director, M.S. in Organization Development and Coaching Programs; McColl School of Business, Queens University of Charlotte

With his usual wit, charm and extraordinary insights, Dr. Pierce Howard has taken on the difficult topic of values and turned it into a book that is clear, comprehensive and a significant contribution to the literature. Pierce challenges the reader in the conclusion, ‘Know who you want to be and make that who you are.’ This book is the perfect tool to do just that.

Judy Nelson, J.D., M.S.W., Certified Executive Coach, Redondo Beach, California

What a book! I wish I had it when I started as a manager. This would have been a great road map to manage myself and those around me. Pierce has a way of breaking down even the most complex topics into bite‐size comprehensible pieces. I will share this with others in the industry. Thank you!

Ashley Lesko, Ph.D., Instructor, Harvard Extension School

"With an easy relaxed balance between personal examples and concepts, theory and application, work and life, Pierce Howard has created a well‐organized values guide that is unlike any in the genre. This material stands alone, but it is not a thin slice. The Owner’s Manual for Values at Work integrates and aligns well with other topics that make us whole. Happiness, personality, and optimizing human performance are artfully woven into the values conversation to add layers to our understanding. Howard excels as both an expert and a writer. Perfectly orchestrated, beautifully done. A genuine pleasure to read."

Pamela Ey, Ph.D., Founder, Center for Innovative Decision Making

Dr. Howard offers another well‐researched book written with the intelligence, wit, and humour we have come to expect and appreciate from him. Pierce, thank you for updating the values clarification literature from the 1970s and redefining it for the 21st century. This book will be an invaluable resource when working with our clients as they explore their values and those of their organizations.

Liz Leal Conrad, Learning and Development, Talkcampus; Amherstview, Ontario, Canada

"The Owner’s Manual for Values at Work is a masterfully comprehensive, compelling and important body of work. The model and companion elements are brought vividly to life by Pierce Howard’s poignant and personal narrative. Pierce Howard doesn’t just write, he elucidates with demonstrated mastery and a sometimes acerbic wit. The book and companion Toolkit are invaluable resources for practitioners. Combining the book and tool kit with the WorkPlace Big Five helps us understand our true Self and others. This book will surely become the standard‐bearer for this field."

Judy DeLuca‐Ford, President of Managing Partners, Inc., Bonita Springs, Florida

As amalgamated creatures, humans present a major challenge to scientific processes, especially concerning such indeterminate characteristics as desires and motivations. Pierce Howard rethinks earlier attempts at values clarification and injects his ideas into a most usable format for people at almost any level. By employing Dr. Howard’s process, one may certainly understand him/herself better, affirm their values, and/or utilize the suggested techniques to make desired, fundamental changes to deeply held life patterns. In any event, it can be of seminal use for personal and professional growth. Creating such a practical tool from theoretical constructs denotes genius.

J.C. (Ted) Troutman III, D.Min., Senior Pastor; Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church, Greensboro, North Carolina

Ever the researcher with a commitment to application, Dr. Howard leaves no stone unturned when exploring the subject of Values at Work and delivers us a book that is comprehensive, insightful, personal, engaging, and highly applicable. Reading this book has transformed my notion of values from nebulous to sharp, from after‐thought to front and center, from bland to exciting. As a practitioner, this new understanding has allowed me to complete, expand, and solidify my view of The Person as a living organism with a unique stable core and high potential for evolving and changing over time. If Traits uncover our built in qualities, values provide us with a window into what’s important to each of us at a particular point in time. I now see that both of these perspectives are critical for sound decision making not only at work, but also in life. Thank you for enlightening us yet again, Dr. Howard!

Monica Vergara, President, Business Impact Associates, Grand Rapids, Michigan

"A hallmark of Pierce Howard’s writing is clarity and sense‐making and this is what he brings to the discourse on values. Values as a term is used so frequently with many different meanings that to many people it becomes meaningless. Ask someone what their values are and they may give you an answer. Ask them what is a value and most people cannot tell you. After reading The Owners Manual of Values at Work I think I can answer that question. Moreover, this book lays out a clear direction of what to do with this knowledge and how it can help you at work and other aspects of your life."

Mark D. Whitmore, Assistant Professor M&IS, College of Business Administration, Kent State University

I truly admire the work Dr. Pierce Howard has done with the series of books titled The Owner´s Manuals." This new book, The Owner´s Manual for Values at Work, is no exception. It is a thoughtful, comprehensive book about what we hold dear in our lives. What could be more important than knowing our purpose in life and what really matters to each one of us in this journey called life? Dr. Howard´s book is full of insight, filled with profound knowledge as well as examples and practical information. I think this book is deeply needed in today´s world."

Martha Konigs, Partner, IIAD, Mexico City, Mexico

This book is an excellent guide to the highly important world of values. Pierce offers a wonderful overview of the history and definitions of values research, and many practical insights and tips for working with values. Highly recommended!

Jarkko Rantanen, Partner, WorkPlace Finland

The Owner’s Manual for

Values at Work

Clarifying and Focusing on What Is Most Important

Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D.

CentACS—Charlotte

The Owner’s Manual for Values at Work:

Clarifying and Focusing on What Is Most Important

Copyright © 2016 by Pierce J. Howard

All Rights Reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Permission to reproduce or transmit in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any means as yet uninvented, or by an information storage and retrieval system, must be obtained by writing to:

CentACS Press

4701 Hedgemore Drive, Suite 210

Charlotte NC 28209‐2200

Phone 704‐331‐0926

Fax 704‐331‐9408

www.centacs.com

Library of Congress Preassigned Control Number

Howard, Pierce J.

The owner’s manual for values at work: Clarifying and focusing on what is most important /

Pierce J. Howard

Library of Congress Preassigned Control Number: 2015921218

ISBN 978‐0‐578‐17547‐8 (pbk)

eISBN 978‐0‐692‐67138‐2

The author may be contacted through

Center for Applied Cognitive Studies (CentACS)

4701 Hedgemore Drive, Suite 210

Charlotte NC 28209‐2200

Phone 704‐331‐0926

Fax 704‐331‐9408

[e-mail] or www.centacs.com

A CentACS Book

Design: Pierce J. Howard

Editing and indexing: Alix Felsing

Cover: Errick Dadisman

Art: Jeanne P. Barefoot

Printing: Ingram

Font: Calibri

First Printed: March 2016

Preface

Every book I have written—whether alone or with a partner—has been a response to needs of our global consulting network at the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies (CentACS) in Charlotte, North Carolina. I don’t write them for fun, but I have fun writing them. Ten years or so ago, we began receiving inquiries about whether we might consider developing an assessment tool for values in the workplace. We did, and we launched it in the spring of 2013. A year or so later, it became apparent that little to no published material was available for how to work with values in the workplace, so I decided to mount my writing steed and begin the journey. I began background research in the summer of 2014, and started writing the following summer. One book became two—a text to explain the domain of values, and a toolkit for professionals to use with clients who want to clarify their values and bring them to maturity. This is the first of those two books, the text.

Some comments on style:

1.We have resolved the thorny issue of referring to unspecified genders by eschewing the awkward s/he and his/her constructions. We prefer the singular their as recommended by the Manhattan Institute’s John McWhorter in his 2008 book, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue. Hence, "The client who focuses on developing their values can grow professionally."

2.For ease of reading, we have chosen to use the simple scientific footnote style, whereby, when citing a source, we list the author’s last name and the year their work was published, e.g., Howard (2013). To fully identify the source, refer to the Bibliography.

3.This book’s punctuation comes mainly from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. However, readers of this book will range from academics who mainly use Chicago style to a general audience accustomed to AP style. Therefore, this book uses a mixed collection of punctuation rules, chosen for their ability to communicate without distracting readers from the narrative. I have striven for consistency within the book, but not necessarily consistency with respect to any one style manual.

Thanks to colleagues who have read my manuscript and offered suggestions: Judy Nelson, Maria Teresa Gastón, Will Sparks, John Bennett, George Quek, Pam Ey, Emma Soane, Ashley Lesko, Liz Conrad, Judy DeLuca‐Ford, Ted Troutman, Monica Vergara, Mark Whitmore, and Martha Konigs, and to the CentACS team for making it possible for me to take time to write.

One suggestion, dear reader: If you have not taken The Values Profile™, I encourage you to contact us through our website, www.centacs.com, and request a link to take the assessment (for a modest fee). Having your report in hand will make your reading experience more meaningful.

Special thanks go to Alix Felsing for editing my original manuscript into a humblingly more readable, useful, and appealing work. Any errors and oversights are mine.

I dedicate this book to Jane Ellen Mitchell Howard, my wife and business partner. Jane, you inspire, support, critique, and leave me alone—in a good way! You allow me full expression of my values!

Pierce J. Howard

March 1, 2016

About the Author: Pierce J. Howard

I grew up in Kinston, North Carolina, the youngest of seven, and attended public schools before studying at Davidson College (B.A.), East Carolina University (M.A.), and the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (Ph.D.). While studying at Chapel Hill, I taught English at Chapel Hill High School and later at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. After my studies at Chapel Hill, I took a position as head of School Services at the North Carolina Advancement School in Winston‐Salem—a special program for research and dissemination regarding underachievement among teenagers. It was during this stay in Winston‐Salem that I began using Values Clarification concepts and materials. I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to teach and administer in a school‐within‐a‐school at West Charlotte High School. Since that time, I have worked as an organization development consultant in a variety of settings around the world, while continuing to teach undergraduate and graduate students at Queens University of Charlotte’s McColl School of Business, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Pfeiffer University at Charlotte. I have lived out my values with my wife, Jane; daughters Hilary and Allegra; acquired son, Will; and grandchildren, Liam, Stella, Rowan, and A.J. I am the author of The Owner’s Manual for the Brain (4th edition, William Morrow/HarperCollins), The Owner’s Manual for Personality at Work (2nd edition, with Jane), The Owner’s Manual for Personality from 12 to 22 (with Jane), The Owner’s Manual for Happiness, The Professional Manual for the WorkPlace Big Five Profile 4.0™ (with Jane), The Professional Manual for the SchoolPlace Big Five Profile™ (with Jane), the Professional Manual for The Values Profile™ (with Jane Howard and Emily Hansen), and The Professional Manual for the WorkPlace Performance 360™ (with Jane).

At the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies, I devote most of my time to my roles of cofounder and innovation officer (also known as director of research and development) and am involved in research, writing, and product development, mostly focused on the five‐factor model of personality. I balance my professional life with model railroading (n‐scale), playing chamber music, building models with grandchildren (next is a 19th‐century schooner), singing in the choir (at Providence United Methodist Church), walking the incomparable streets of my Dilworth neighborhood, reading classics and lighter fare, indulging my gustatory senses through cooking and dining my way through the world’s cuisines, traveling with Jane and our family to the great national parks of the U.S. and to bucket list destinations around the world—from Petra to the Terracotta Army of Xi’an—advising students on research projects, attending professional meetings, attending family and school reunions, and, in general, staying young. Or, as we will describe it later, dressing my elephant in ways that express my values.

About the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies (CentACS)

The vision of CentACS, the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies, is to optimize people through a global professional network. The company is the primary location of our work and research with the WorkPlace Big Five personality profile, which we developed. It is an information‐based e‐commerce company, developing and publishing materials, training and certifying consultants to use the Big Five and the CentACS 16 Values, and conducting research to support the values, five‐factor model of personality, and other brain‐related research designed to help people learn, work, and grow more effectively.

Managing Director Jane Howard, MBA, and I, as director of research, established CentACS in Charlotte in July 1986. At this writing, CentACS has nine full‐time employees and a growing network of more than 5,000 certified and qualified Big Five consultants around the world, trained by us and by other CentACS master trainers. In 2014, we welcomed Lisa Struckmeyer as our business partner, and she has directed the day‐to‐day operation of the company since that time. In 2015, we welcomed George Quek of Distinctions Asia in Singapore as an investment partner and manager of our Asian network.

The mission of CentACS is to establish personality assessment and brain research standards for the 21st century by building a global network of internal and external consultants and international affiliate companies who use the five‐factor model of personality, the Human Resource Optimization Model, and related brain research in their work. CentACS provides cutting‐edge information, high‐quality products, and support services through in‐class and online certification and advanced training programs, learning conferences, valid and respected test instruments, online services, a scoring services bureau, consulting and selection projects for clients, and other resources.

The company primarily operates within the United States and has certified consultants located from California to New York, and from Florida to Wisconsin. Many Fortune 500 companies, medium to small companies, government agencies, university MBA and undergraduate programs, public and private high schools, and large and small consulting companies are customers of CentACS. Outside the United States, CentACS has master trainers in Europe, Asia, and Central and South America who work with the CentACS assessments in their respective geographic areas.

For further information about how you may use The Values Profile™, The WorkPlace Big Five Profile™, The SchoolPlace Big Five Profile™, and other CentACS assessments (such as multi‐rater feedback) in your school, organization, or in your work; or to contact CentACS or its affiliate companies; or to inquire how your organization may become an affiliate, please refer to the following information:

United States and all other countries not listed below:

Center for Applied Cognitive Studies

4701 Hedgemore Drive, Suite 210, Charlotte, NC 28209‐2200, USA

Contact: Optimization Officer Lisa Struckmeyer

Telephone: 704‐331‐0926

Toll‐free in the U.S.: 800‐BIG‐5555

Fax: 704‐331‐9408

Email: [e-mail]

Website: www.centacs.com

The Values Profile™, The WorkPlace Big Five Profile™, The SchoolPlace Big Five Profile™, and The Workplace Performance 360°™ project set‐up form and related products and materials are at www.centacs.com.

Additional copies of this book are available through CentACS or through Amazon.com, and are available as an e‐book through iTunes.

International contacts and master trainers:

Brazil: Fernando Cardoso, Integraçaõ

China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore: George Quek, Distinctions Asia

India: Jayant and Chatura Damle, Chatur Knowledge

Japan: Nori Furuya, IBG Network

Mexico: Roberto and Martha Königs, IIAD

Nordic/Baltic Region: Jarkko Rantanen and Hilkka‐Maija Katajisto, WorkPlace Finland

Table of Contents

The Owner’s Manual for Values at Work:

Clarifying and Focusing on What Is Most Important By Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D.

Preface

About the Author: Pierce J. Howard

About the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies (CentACS)

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part 1: Understanding Values

1.What are Values? Toward a Semantic Map of the Self

2.Memes and Genes: The Origin of Individual and Cultural Values

3.Values Today: The CentACS Model of 16 Values and Where It Came From

4.Values as Building Blocks: Happiness, Morality, and the Interpersonal Circumplex

5.Defining the Self: A Matter of Style

Part 2: Working with Values

6.The Values Clarification Model: A 1970s Model Matures

7.Applying the VC Model: Introduction to The Values Toolkit

8.Values in Stories: As Told through Facts and Fictions

9.Values and Motivation: Working with Individuals, Relationships, Teams, and Beyond

10.Applying Values Clarification to Subject Matter: Values‐Based Lifelong Learning in the Workplace and Higher Education

Part 3: Getting Personal with Values

11.Narratives: How the 16 CentACS Values Appear in Everyday Life

12.Confirming Your Style: And Training Your Elephant in a New Dance

Appendices

A.Definitions

B.Classification of Virtues According to Peterson and Seligman

C.Traits Associated with the 16 CentACS Values

D.Checklist for Howardian Person

E.Table of Contents for The Values Toolkit

F.Index to Tables and Figures

G.Photo and Image Credits

H.Values Quotations

References

Bibliography

Index

Introduction

An unseen power controlling our destiny becomes the power of an ideal.

— John Dewey, A Common Faith

I dislike book introductions—let’s go directly to the content! — so I’ll keep this brief, then on to Chapter 1.

First, this book is actually two books—very much like a college textbook plus a manual of exercises and activities for the learner to use in exploring the content of the text. You are now reading the textbook of the pair. In this volume we will define the term values and how it relates to similar terms (such as morals, traits, beliefs, and so forth). We will also take a brief tour through the work of earlier researchers who have studied values, concluding with a presentation of the 16 values in our model here at the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies (CentACS). An understanding of these 16 values is one of two core elements of this text. The other core element is an understanding of the Values Clarification model—a popular model from the 1970s schools of education now updated to the 21st century and the world of work. By the time you reach the end of this volume, we trust that you will have a firm sense of how your values style is composed, and whether you need to teach your elephant a new dance.

The second book is named The Values Toolkit. It is a how‐to manual replete with 49 (and counting) scripts and activities meant to be used in a variety of contexts—coaching, team building, organizational strategy development, succession planning, leadership and sales development, and personal growth experiences. The emphasis throughout the Toolkit is on a) how to teach the 16 CentACS values and b) how to apply the Values Clarification model to everyday work and personal life.

If you are already familiar with the 16 CentACS values and the Values Clarification model of the 1970s, then you might want to go right to the Toolkit and begin using the scripts and activities therein. Otherwise, take a deep breath, relax, and begin Chapter 1.

1

What are Values?

Toward a Semantic Map of the Self

It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.

— Roy E. Disney

Guide to this chapter:

•Definition of Values

•Related Terms

•How Values Differ from One Another

•Keeping It All Straight: Toward a Semantic Map

Roy E. Disney, nephew of the famous Walt, stole my thunder. I almost quit this book project when I found his comment. Then I realized that, while he made my point in one sentence, he didn’t stick around long enough to take questions. This book answers those who have wanted to ask, Roy, just what do you mean?

Definition of Values

Start with the word itself: values. (I’ll take it from here, Roy. Thanks for the sendoff.) We’ll start simply and gradually add detail. A value is something of importance. Something as specific and concrete as a painting (to Liz in Jojo Moyes’ 2012 novel The Girl You Left Behind) or as general and abstract as global climate change (to Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ (Praise Be to You)). One’s values are the set of everything one finds important. That’s it—values are what is important. For me, to ask someone, Don’t you have any values? means Is nothing important to you?

We don’t know who got there first, but the Greeks and the Romans both created words for the idea of valuing. The Romans coined the word valere to characterize something or someone as being strong, well, healthy, or in some other way useful and being worth something. Implicit in valuing something is the notion that a price is attached. We calculate how much something or someone is worth to us in much the same manner that we price yard sale items. Your highest values, by definition, would be priceless: You would not exchange them for anything, whether that important something be your Aunt Bea’s spoon collection or your reputation. On the other hand, your lowest values would be cheap or free: Go ahead, take it if you want, it doesn’t mean anything to me. (Of course, as we will see with some frequency, values are hard to generalize about. For example, often one gives away things not because they mean nothing but because one believes that as many people as possible should have them because of their high value. Gideon Bibles, for example.)

And value is more than monetary worth. Things of value cost not only coins, but time, energy, thought, attention, and the loss of other things that you might have were you not expending your resources on your primary value(s). I once was ribbed by a teaching associate for making a trip with my wife to Europe. I wish I had your kind of money, he quipped, with a jealous grin. You do, I came back, but you spent it on your Cadillac. I drive a 5‐year‐old Volkswagen Beetle! My trip to the Old World was paid for by not caring about luxury cars.

Value is not a property inherent to things in the world; rather, it is a property that we as individuals and groups assign. A trowel is of value to a gardener but not to a painter, while an easel is of value to a painter but not to a gardener. We assign value to things, people, places, and ideas to the degree that they are important to us, for whatever reason. They may be important for conducting good, for conducting evil, or for conducting business neither good nor ill. Knives can kill or cure. Televisions can inform or deaden.

The Greek word for worth or value was ἀξίᾱ, or axia. Hence, axiom, axiology, and axes. The academic study of axiology has traditionally been limited to ethics and aesthetics. The traditional study of axiology is often referred to as the study of values. However, my use of the term expands axiology beyond aesthetics, religion, and ethics into the world of materialism, the pleasure of the senses, the craving for power, and beyond.

Don’t confuse values with religion or morals. Values are to religion as animals are to mammals. Values is the larger category—it includes religion, it includes morals, but it includes much, much more. One can have moral values as well as nonmoral values. More on this in a moment. My use of the word value is broader than this traditionally proscriptive meaning. When I ask what your values are, I do not mean how you decide right from wrong. I use the original Greek association with worth, in the sense of what price tag one puts on something. And price means more than money: It means how much you’d be willing to fight to protect it, how much time you’d be willing to devote to it, how hard you work to develop your skills in order to express it optimally, how much you would study to expand your knowledge about it in order to be the best possible advocate for it, how many and what kind of allies you would try to round up to join you in your pursuit of it, the degree to which it would take precedence over other things that are also important to you.

Not only are values about the things that are important to us, but it is important for us to have values. To lack values is to lack life, to lack motivation. When Alice (in Wonderland) asks the Cat which way to go, and he asks where she wants to go, her response of I don’t much care where… is met with a terse Then it doesn’t matter which way you go. Alice’s apparent indifference sharply contrasts with the bustling millions who daily pursue things of importance. When I researched my book on happiness, I counted 235 words or phrases that various thesauri gave as synonyms for happiness. I tried the same with value/s and lost count. There were thousands of synonyms from adore to worth (couldn’t find a Y or Z word—zealous?). One of the tenets of the controversial Sapir‐Whorf hypothesis is that the more important a concept is to a culture, the more words they have for it. While experts have debated the exact number of words for snow in the Eskimo family of languages, they agree that there are dozens of words to reflect the significance of the different types of snow in a culture where snow affects everyday life and death.

Related Terms

Other words are used interchangeably with values—preferences, norms, virtues, needs, drives, morals, ethics, principles, creeds, religions, traits, and beliefs. However, while they may refer to values, each of these terms carries meaning that is different from my primary meaning of importance.

•Values. I have defined them simply as what is important to us. Others say the same thing but in more formal language: Michael Hechter (in Joas, 2000, p. 15) writes that they are relatively general and durable internal criteria for evaluation; George Mandler (in Hechter, Nadel & Michod 1993, p. 234) states that they are a standard that guides actions in much of the individual’s everyday life, and values are hierarchically organized along a continuum of importance; again, Mandler (p. 233) writes that they are some representation that shapes our likes, dislikes, preferences, prejudices, and social attitudes, that informs (but does not constitute) our moral judgments….

Barry Schwarz (in Hechter, et al., 1993, p. 155) writes, I take values to be principles, or criteria, for selecting what is good … among objects, actions, ways of life…. I would agree with this only if, by good, Schwarz means important or of value. Good implies right or wrong, as if all values entailed a moral imperative. Values are espoused not necessarily on a moral basis, but because the individual for some reason deems these choices important, as having value or worth. Their reasons for assigning value may be ethical, but being ethical is not a requirement for being of value. Important simply means it wins out over something else. If it is important, I want to keep it, be known by it, maybe able to trade it for something even more important, something having more worth, whether the worth be based on having more monetary value, more power, more status, or the like. Successful pursuit of a value results in placing us higher in the pecking order within that value. Raymond Boudon (2001, pp. 1‐2) relates that Nietzsche emphasized the nonmoral nature of values, and that

values should be held to a large extent as illusions. … In fact, there are in many cases no ways of showing that something is good or bad, so that X would be in such cases, suggests Nietzsche, neither good nor bad. My belief would be a rationalization, as Freud would have said later. I believe that X is good, because believing so serves my psychological interests.

Key to understanding values is that they are voluntary. Whereas virtues and norms are culturally mandated, and whereas traits and abilities are for the most part inherited, values reflect personal choices over one’s lifespan. Earlier in one’s life, values are less optional, as parents and other authority figures urge their values on the young. As we age, however, we may review and eschew, or review and embrace, what is handed down. More on this later, in Chapter 2.

•Preferences. Hechter (in Joas, 2000, p. 15) contrasts preferences with values, saying that preferences are labile rather than durable, and particular rather than general. Preferences for clothes, wine, and cars are more changeable and particular than the more permanent and general values of Pleasure and Status. Any old preference is not revelatory of a value—in order to be considered a value, the preference must originate in a strong sense of being necessary and beyond criticism. A preference may or may not make a value statement. My preference for lunch will only make a value statement if 1) a menu option is available that reflects one of my values (e.g., morel mushrooms for Pleasure, nonanimal protein for Spirituality, no sugar and trans fats for Health), and 2) I have the time, money, and desire required. If I grab a vending machine sandwich, it is highly unlikely that I am expressing a value! I am only addressing a hunger pang. Don’t make anything of it. Wait to observe my choice when I have time, options, budget, and a happy stomach.

Joas (2000, p. 16) comments that We are all familiar with the discrepancy between ‘values’ and ‘preferences’, not only in the sense of a difference between shortterm and long‐term goals, but in the deeper sense that we do not experience some of our desires as good or, conversely, that we do not succeed in making something we evaluate as good into a vital desire in our lives. ‘Values’ evaluate our ‘preferences.’ What Joas is reminding us about is the struggle to align our preferences with our values. We too often make choices that do not reflect our values: The good we would we do not, and the ill we would not we do. (Romans 7:19)

Preference is frequently said in the same breath with taste. In consumer behavior, one is said to have a preference for a certain category of things, but what one chooses within that category is a matter of taste. We may both share a preference for red wines over white, yet have different tastes when it comes to reds. Usually taste implies a value judgment on the quality of one’s choice, as in They do not have very good taste in merlots, meaning the critic doesn’t find their choice palatable. Or, They have very expensive tastes. Like preferences, tastes can change, whereas values are more firmly established than either. My value for Pleasure is lasting, but my former preference for merlots has given way to a preference for malbecs. My taste in malbecs is similar to my wife’s, as we tend to agree when one malbec is more pleasing than another. And we prefer classical