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List of basic life values. True values ​​of life Correct life values

Hello, dear friends!

Every person living on the blue planet faces the same list of important things every day. Some of them are familiar, banal and even everyday. Others are subject to completely different laws.

Each new day welcomes with new circumstances and rules of the game, which is able to fray already shaky nerves. When difficulties arise, a person’s life values ​​are of great importance, which safely serve him as a kind of guide in the Universal space of choices and decisions.

The value system helps to qualitatively answer the question: “Am I going there?”, “Have I chosen the right path for my full-scale implementation?”

Understanding the essence of your beliefs and position, it is much easier to overcome the difficulties that arise. People know that the conviction that the intended path is correct will not allow them to leave the route.

When the statements, and most importantly the actions of the individual, are in complete harmony with life values, then all aspects of the manifestations become more massive and much more interesting, and therefore, we are satisfied with ourselves.

But when words and behavior diverge from the truths learned by the subconscious, then at that very moment an uncomfortable and “grinding” feeling arises in the soul, as if irritation and panic will tear apart from the inside in a matter of minutes!

This internal sensation reminds the person that things have gone wrong. Moreover, constantly being in such a depressed state is fraught with huge problems not only with the psyche, but also with health!

Only in the case of unshakable faith in congenial values, a person will be able to maintain the required level of self-esteem, confidence and simple, human happiness. But how to determine the correct source of the axioms?

We decide on the main criteria

The main task of an individual is to identify a list of values ​​as early as possible, which is fundamental. This urgency is due to the fact that by taking such a step, a person begins to more effectively shape not only his character, but also his actions and long-term plans.

It is worth understanding that there are no universal laws applicable to the general public. We are all different, and it is precisely because of this that the significant guidelines of one will always diverge from the truths of another, and the fifth or seventh simply will not consider it important.

And yet, by what criteria should the selection be made? I suggest you familiarize yourself with the most common aspects of choice, which to one degree or another, but has a special attitude towards itself.

1. Her Majesty Love

This is perhaps the most well-known truth for women. And the point here is not at all about romance or candlelight dinner. The question does not concern dating, family or the “candy-bouquet” period.

Each of us is capable of experiencing this inspiring feeling. And you can see this in relation to family, friends or work. But now I focus your attention on showing love to other people, to those whom you may never have the opportunity to meet.

Universal love for one’s own kind, and sometimes for the whole race, can instill tolerance, tolerance and compassion in a person. And when we nevertheless come to it, we discover an amazing facet of pure goodness, and not pure negative qualities.

2. Deep understanding

We need to be understood and heard. Think about how many of us can be tormented by malice or anger simply because there is no desire to delve into other people's troubles?

By accepting introductory circumstances and data, reconciling and understanding others, you can not only gain complete control of the situation that has arisen, but also find a special approach to solving it.

3. Respect

This is one of the most important selection criteria. Like most deep values ​​for an individual, this one has its own unique niche. Acting under the auspices of such a respectful motto, you can achieve unrealistic heights.

Perhaps it is respectful to treat many aspects of the life of an ordinary person. It manifests itself in personal relationships, in the work atmosphere and, of course, when communicating with your “I” and needs.

4. Iron discipline

Many people confuse the term with a tedious routine and the banal execution of a mechanical routine. But in fact, discipline closely borders not only on punctuality, but also on respect for other people’s time.

Thus, the habit of bringing things to a logical end, adhering to self-woven rules, an individual characterizes himself as an educated, responsible person.

5. Honesty and fairness

Wanting to be a worthy reason to be proud of his own actions, an individual can make a choice in the direction of this amazing value, which will serve him for many years as faith and support.

The fact is that honest people do not tolerate hypocrisy, rudeness, deception and many negative qualities that persistently strive to flash through their thoughts.

Moreover, the definition of justice as a fundamental leitmotif in life allows us to build others on the same solid foundation.

I can endlessly sort through the layers of human “diamonds” that, with their light, help me walk through the world, receiving support. This list of basic criteria and values ​​can safely include optimism, without which it is difficult to climb up, and patience, which helps to achieve more, and friendship, and forgiveness, and especially gratitude.

All our values ​​are a kind of compass that allows us to navigate the world's oceans of events with an invincible ship. The initial list of such may reach ten. But it is very important to be able to conduct a detailed analysis, keeping no more than 6. Do you have problems with your income level or relationships?

This happens because the model or picture of the internal world, unfortunately, does not coincide with the external one. Do you find it particularly difficult to make decisions? It's all about the lack of clear guidance and an answer to the question: “What do I really want?”

Only by following the whispered guidelines of life will a person allow himself to live fully and consciously. When you have crystallized attitudes in your head, it is much easier to receive support, regardless of the circumstances outside. So, what can be called the basic values ​​of life?

The main ones among the main ones

A psychologically and physically healthy person can allow himself to form 3 main circles of “truths”, gradually adding “particularly personal” ones to it.

1. Relationships and personal life

Hidden here is the most powerful message of a thrifty, respectful attitude towards loved ones. The desire to start a family, have children and live a happy, family life.

We can say that these are the values ​​of inner joy from a partner, romance, entertainment and a colossal charge of energy through travel.

2. Work, life’s work, purely business

Why do you go to work? What do you get in return? And most importantly, are you happy with it? The desire to become better, earn more and strive to conquer career heights, along with the words “home, life and ideal comfort” are combined here. Such value helps to move towards obtaining new status, power and increasing the level of self-esteem.

That is, hidden here is the desire to work hard in order to get to the top of your Everest! This is a value that is directly related to ideas, plans and indirectly touches on the next point.

3. Comprehensive self-development

The main task is to cognize the inner world and tame the outer one, shouting: “Here I am!” It is impossible to build a good business without certain skills and knowledge. Therefore, the value of this order is aimed at accumulative, invisible wealth that helps a person develop the skill in which he sees himself.

We should not forget about spiritual practices that work with completely different vibrations, carrying with them a powerful charge of energy.

Friends, this is where I will end today’s reflection. Subscribe to updates, and in the comments share your opinion regarding the topic of the material.

See you on the blog, bye-bye!

How many are there anyway? The list of all life values ​​is huge, but everything that is too big can be divided into parts. In the synton approach, the basic life values ​​of a healthy personality can be grouped into three main circles of values:

  • Personal life and relationships
  • Business, business, work,
  • Own development

If we divide these parts into smaller ones, we get the following list.

Love, excitement, fun and relaxation.

These are the values ​​of joy - have fun, enjoy, live to the fullest. Travel to a distant, warm country, where there is an azure sea and white sand. Playing in a casino where the bets will take your breath away. The romance of meeting in a cafe, where there is cozy twilight and a wonderful person opposite.

Family, mutual understanding, children.

This is a long-term relationship in a couple, parents and children, friends and loved ones. This is the value of relationships with other people. There is love here too - like joyful care, affectionate attention, warm respect. Here is a man who happily goes home after a day of work - his family is there, his wife and children. Here is a young guy who drops everything and goes to help his parents with their garden - because it’s already hard for his parents, but he loves them. Here is a woman ruffling the child’s hair and sitting down next to her to read a fairy tale.

Home, comfort, money.

This is the value of an orderly life. It lies at the junction of two spheres - after all, “home, comfort, money” are very necessary for the family and will not interfere with rest. On the other hand, money is already an outlet into the sphere of “Business, work, business.” A young couple goes to IKEA for the day to buy furniture for their new apartment. They carefully choose every chair and every shelf - they want to buy a lot, but they have less money than they want.

My business, my projects.

What do you do for a living? What do you do with your time when you go to work? What plans do you make when you fall asleep in the evening? This is all the value of the matter. Everything related to your work, your ideas and plans for creation and development is collected here. The guy has been interested in photography and videography since adolescence. Everywhere I tried to catch something unusual. Ten years have passed - he’s making expensive, high-quality videos and wants to branch out into cinema.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Career, power, status.

This is the value of social development - obtaining a higher social status, new opportunities to influence and do. The man changes his car over and over again, buying more and more prestigious brands. A woman only goes to expensive boutiques. Each of them shows their status and each of them has worked hard to reach such a height.

Education, professional development.

It is difficult to do your job well without education and experience. Therefore, the value of developing skills is in the sphere of “Business, work, business.” On the other hand, any education and professional development necessarily leads to personal development. Therefore, the value of developing mastery simultaneously belongs to the sphere of “I and my own development.” Here is a girl carefully watching what a Hollywood star looks like at the Oscars. The girl is a stylist, she watches the ceremony to catch the most fashionable trends. The girl is at work.

Personal growth, social and psychological skills.

This is the value of personal development. Personal growth can be briefly called the word “wisdom”. This is maturity, balanced conclusions, attention to other people. Social skills are behavior in society, for example, the ability to speak with a worker in one language, and with an intellectual in another. Psychological skills are overcoming your fears, mastering your emotions, purity and clarity of thinking. The girl was sarcastic and hot-tempered, it was difficult to be around her. She took care of herself and became softer in communication, more careful in expressing feelings. People immediately appeared nearby.

Beauty, health, harmonious development.

Appearance, a slender figure, well-developed muscles, the ability to dance and move beautifully - this is all the value of the body. This value lies at the intersection of two spheres - when a person takes care of his health, he necessarily develops, so the value rightly falls into the sphere of “I and my own development.” On the other hand, beauty and health greatly influence relationships and therefore belong to the sphere of “Personal life and relationships”. It is easier for a sporty, fit guy to interest a girl. It’s easier for a flexible and graceful girl to attract a guy’s attention.

Spiritual growth, knowledge of life, realization of destiny.

If you live not only for yourself, if it is important for you to leave a good mark in life, you have the highest motives, you can be called a person with spiritual aspirations. If you are a lover of literature about spiritual practices, which sells a standard set of astrology, yoga, esotericism and healing along with psychotherapy and Eastern teachings, then you are simply a buyer of literature in this genre.

Do you know that 99 of the 100 richest Russians according to Forbes magazine have children?? I'll tell you more about this below.

Are you satisfied with your work, family relationships, health, internal state?? Various problems happen in every person's life, but many difficulties can be avoided if you act in accordance with the right values ​​in life.

Now I will talk about 8 life values ​​and how their satisfaction affects the level of happiness.

8 Life Values

1. Spiritual development. This is your moral state and actions, understanding of life values.

2. Family, loved ones. Your relationship with your significant other, relatives, friends.

3. Health, sports. Your well-being. Regularity in general examinations can also be attributed to this section, since many diseases can be asymptomatic until the very last stage.

4. Financial situation. Satisfaction with financial situation.

5. Career. Career and finances are separated because for many, self-realization in a career is more important than income; for others, it’s the other way around.

6. Rest, emotions.

7. Self-development.

8. Environment. People you interact with frequently, at work and in other social settings.

If you want, you can add your other life values.

Priorities in life values

Maximum efficiency and level of experienced happiness is achieved under 2 conditions:

Your life values ​​are correct;

You are as close as possible to equal satisfaction of all life values.

Now let’s analyze these 2 conditions a little and start with the first: Correct life values. Each life value has its own priority.

The main value in life is spiritual development, i.e. your moral state. The importance is that negative actions have a bad impact on all areas of life: health, leisure, finances, etc. The reason is that bad actions create a conflict with yourself, or rather, with your conscience. Remember how you felt after the fight. Irritability, headache, stress, etc. are the result of any negative emotions.

All bad deeds conflict with your conscience, resulting in the production of stress hormones, which lower your immunity, worsen your mood, etc. If, from a moral point of view, you do good deeds, then happiness hormones are produced, which strengthen the body’s strength and improve your mood, which, in turn, affects all other areas of life.


Let's designate the main life value from above.

The second most important value is family. Problems in the family, as well as in the value of “spiritual development,” greatly influence all areas of life, the principle is approximately the same.

3rd most important value: health, which also affects everything else. Priorities for other values ​​may vary depending on your personality type.

Supporting facts from forbes about success

Many may have doubts about the above priorities, so I will present the facts. Everyone knows Forbes magazine, which annually publishes lists of the richest people in the world. In one of the magazines I found the following interesting fact: In the list of the 100 richest Russians according to Forbes, I counted only 9 divorced men, 1 unmarried, the rest are all married. But the most interesting thing is that 99 out of 100 have children, even divorced ones, adopted or their own. At the same time, the average data for all married men in Russia is much lower, you understand this yourself.

It turns out that the most successful men are married and have children. This is a statistical fact.

How do you like this arrangement? It seems that it should be the other way around, according to the logic of modern man, the more you work to achieve success, the less time you have for everything else. Why is it so difficult for single men and women to succeed? Why do they have to work harder and achieve less?

So, according to statistics, in marriage you are more likely to realize your desires. But let’s try to understand why this happens, because family and children require time, care, and effort!

We are designed in such a way that When doing good deeds, joy hormones (dopamine, serotonin, etc.) are released into the blood.. Remember how you felt when you provided invaluable help to another person. You can look at the faces of people who work in charitable foundations, even from photographs it immediately becomes clear that they feel much happier than others.

Caring for others, in particular, for family and children, greatly reduces susceptibility to stress, because our brain cannot think about several situations at once, it works sequentially. What does this mean? And when we want to help someone, positive thoughts of help prevent negative emotions from developing. If there are no thoughts about how to help your neighbor, then the emptiness will be filled by worries and negative emotions.

This is why after a divorce, so often people start drinking and fall into other harmful illnesses, they simply become more susceptible to negativity. And family people, on the contrary, are less proud, offended, and sick; this happens because when a person takes care of someone, his moral state improves.

That's why family can help not only get the release of happy hormones: endorphins, but also reduce the production of stress hormones by replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.

Success and morale

The foundation of success is your morale. Everyone understands that people avoid cooperation with proud, arrogant, evil people and, on the contrary, are drawn to interact with calm, polite, kind people. Therefore, the most important value is spiritual development, which improves your morale and reduces negative behaviors. As a result, there is less conflict with conscience and fewer negative thoughts that negatively affect through the release of stress hormones.

I’ll share my experience: I go to Orthodox churches, regularly confess and receive communion. This helps improve morale, remove negative thoughts and feel happier.

The family gives a person the opportunity for faster spiritual development, because caring for one’s neighbor makes a person better, his moral state improves, and his actions become correct. Therefore, family and relationships with loved ones are the 2nd most important value in life.

Priorities allow you to make a more accurate analysis and help you better understand what needs to be done to make your life change for the better. For example, satisfaction with your financial situation should not be higher than satisfaction with your spiritual development. Or career satisfaction should not be higher than satisfaction with family relationships. That is, on the wheel of life you need not only to tighten up your sagging needs, but also to make sure that lower-priority life values ​​do not grow higher than higher-priority ones.

Often people work where they don't like. And every day an unloved job brings more and more disappointments and a spoiled mood. Often the reason is neither a bad job nor even a bad employee, but the fact that they are not a good fit for each other. If you approach your choice of work and lifestyle in accordance with your life values, then you will be more successful in any field.

How to evaluate life values

The criterion for success in life is the level of happiness experienced. Perhaps everyone wants to be happy. The more you satisfy your values ​​in life, the happier you will feel.. But in order to understand where to start, you need to know at what stage of satisfaction your current life values ​​are.

Now is the time to evaluate your values ​​in life. To start, take a piece of paper and draw a circle, then divide it into 8 parts by drawing 4 lines through the center. Place a zero in the center of the circle - this is your starting point. Divide each of the 8 axes into 10 parts, graduated with marks. There will be a zero in the center of the circle, and 10 at the edges where the lines intersect with the circle.

Label each intersection of the line with the circle described above with the 8 life values.

Ask yourself: Are you satisfied with the work you have done to improve your health, relationships with your family, etc. For each item, rate your level of satisfaction on a 10-point scale and mark on each axis.

It is important to add that the question should not be asked related to satisfaction in general, but to how you worked on each area. It is not the final goal that is important, but your desire and movement towards it.

I'll explain why: Life constantly limits us in some way and there are situations when it is impossible to achieve what we want, but we can achieve satisfaction from the work we put in. For example, a person does not have a leg, of course, everyone would like to have full-fledged limbs, but for now this is impossible, so if such a person always points to the health axis as a low result, this will demotivate him, because he wants to, but cannot .

And if you put your movement towards the goal on the wheel of life, for example, a person without a leg trains every day to feel as natural as possible on an artificial leg and indicates high numbers on the health axis, then this will motivate him to further training. Therefore, 10 points on each axis is the value of the maximum result that you, and not someone else, can achieve in a given life situation.

As a result, you should get a figure similar to a circle. If this did not work out, then look at all the sagging areas of life. First of all, it is necessary to satisfy the most lagging values ​​in life, because... it is always easier to saturate the base level than the higher one, i.e. to get a uniform circle. In addition, balance in life is extremely important for a person. Only a balanced life will bring happiness.

Now you know how much your life values ​​coincide with the real state of affairs and what needs to be changed first.

You need to determine your life values ​​regularly; draw the circle of life at least once a month, preferably once a week.

The figure you need to strive for is a circle. When you determine your life values ​​and the degree of their implementation, it will be much easier to prioritize your activities, your life will become more balanced, and you will feel happier.

P.S. If you have difficulties or questions about the article you read, as well as about the topics: Psychology (bad habits, experiences, etc.), sales, business, time management, etc. ask them to me, I will try to help. Consultation via Skype is also possible.

P.P.S. You can also take the online training “How to get 1 hour of extra time.” Write comments and your additions;)

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Values ​​in human life: definition, features and their classification

08.04.2015

Snezhana Ivanova

The most important role in the life of an individual and the entire society as a whole is played by values ​​and value orientations...

The most important role not only in the life of each individual person, but also of the entire society as a whole is played by values ​​and value orientations, which primarily perform an integrative function. It is on the basis of values ​​(while focusing on their approval in society) that each person makes his own choice in life. Values, occupying a central position in the structure of personality, have a significant impact on the direction of a person and the content of his social activity, behavior and actions, his social position and on his general attitude towards the world, towards himself and other people. Therefore, a person’s loss of the meaning of life is always the result of destruction and rethinking of the old system of values, and in order to find this meaning again, he needs to create a new system, based on universal human experience and using forms of behavior and activity accepted in society.

Values ​​are a kind of internal integrator of a person, concentrating around themselves all his needs, interests, ideals, attitudes and beliefs. Thus, the system of values ​​in a person’s life takes the form of the internal core of his entire personality, and the same system in society is the core of its culture. Value systems, functioning both at the level of the individual and at the level of society, create a kind of unity. This occurs due to the fact that the personal value system is always formed based on the values ​​that are dominant in a particular society, and they, in turn, influence the choice of the individual goal of each individual and the determination of ways to achieve it.

Values ​​in a person’s life are the basis for choosing goals, methods and conditions of activity, and also help him answer the question, why does he perform this or that activity? In addition, values ​​represent the system-forming core of a person’s plan (or program), human activity and his inner spiritual life, because spiritual principles, intentions and humanity are no longer related to activity, but to values ​​and value orientations.

The role of values ​​in human life: theoretical approaches to the problem

Modern human values- the most pressing problem of both theoretical and applied psychology, since they influence the formation and are the integrative basis of activity not only of an individual, but also of a social group (large or small), collective, ethnic group, nation and all humanity. It is difficult to overestimate the role of values ​​in a person’s life, because they illuminate his life, while filling it with harmony and simplicity, which determines a person’s desire for free will, for the will of creative possibilities.

The problem of human values ​​in life is studied by the science of axiology ( in the lane from Greek axia/axio – value, logos/logos – reasonable word, teaching, study), more precisely a separate branch of scientific knowledge of philosophy, sociology, psychology and pedagogy. In psychology, values ​​are usually understood as something significant for a person himself, something that gives an answer to his actual, personal meanings. Values ​​are also seen as a concept that denotes objects, phenomena, their properties and abstract ideas that reflect social ideals and therefore are the standard of what is proper.

It should be noted that the special importance and significance of values ​​in human life arises only in comparison with the opposite (this is how people strive for good, because evil exists on earth). Values ​​cover the entire life of both a person and all of humanity, while they affect absolutely all spheres (cognitive, behavioral and emotional-sensory).

The problem of values ​​was of interest to many famous philosophers, sociologists, psychologists and teachers, but the study of this issue began in ancient times. So, for example, Socrates was one of the first who tried to understand what goodness, virtue and beauty are, and these concepts were separated from things or actions. He believed that the knowledge achieved through understanding these concepts is the basis of human moral behavior. Here it is also worth turning to the ideas of Protagoras, who believed that each person is already a value as a measure of what exists and what does not exist.

When analyzing the category of “value,” one cannot ignore Aristotle, because it was he who coined the term “thymia” (or valued). He believed that values ​​in human life are both the source of things and phenomena and the reason for their diversity. Aristotle identified the following benefits:

  • valued (or divine, to which the philosopher attributed the soul and mind);
  • praised (bold praise);
  • opportunities (here the philosopher included strength, wealth, beauty, power, etc.).

Modern philosophers made a significant contribution to the development of questions about the nature of values. Among the most significant figures of that era, it is worth highlighting I. Kant, who called will the central category that could help in solving problems of the human value sphere. And the most detailed explanation of the process of value formation belongs to G. Hegel, who described changes in values, their connections and structure in three stages of the existence of activity (they are described in more detail below in the table).

Features of changes in values ​​in the process of activity (according to G. Hegel)

Stages of activity Features of value formation
first the emergence of subjective value (its definition occurs even before the start of action), a decision is made, that is, the value-goal must be specified and correlated with external changing conditions
second Value is the focus of the activity itself, there is an active, but at the same time contradictory interaction between value and possible ways to achieve it, here value becomes a way to form new values
third values ​​are woven directly into activity, where they manifest themselves as an objectified process

The problem of human values ​​in life has been deeply studied by foreign psychologists, among whom it is worth noting the work of V. Frankl. He said that the meaning of a person’s life is manifested in the value system as his basic education. By the values ​​themselves, he understood the meanings (he called them “universals of meanings”), which are characteristic of a large number of representatives not only of a particular society, but also of humanity as a whole throughout the entire path of its (historical) development. Viktor Frankl focused on the subjective significance of values, which is accompanied, first of all, by a person taking responsibility for its implementation.

In the second half of the last century, values ​​were often considered by scientists through the prism of the concepts of “value orientations” and “personal values.” The greatest attention was paid to the study of the value orientations of the individual, which were understood both as an ideological, political, moral and ethical basis for a person’s assessment of the surrounding reality, and as a way of differentiating objects according to their significance for the individual. The main thing that almost all scientists paid attention to is that value orientations are formed only through a person’s assimilation of social experience, and they find their manifestation in goals, ideals, and other manifestations of personality. In turn, the system of values ​​in a person’s life is the basis of the substantive side of the personality’s orientation and reflects its internal attitude in the surrounding reality.

Thus, value orientations in psychology were considered as a complex socio-psychological phenomenon that characterized the orientation of the individual and the substantive side of his activity, which determined a person’s general approach to himself, other people and the world as a whole, and also gave meaning and direction to his behavior and activity.

Forms of existence of values, their signs and features

Throughout its history of development, humanity has developed universal or universal values, which over the course of many generations have not changed their meaning or diminished their significance. These are values ​​such as truth, beauty, goodness, freedom, justice and many others. These and many other values ​​in a person’s life are associated with the motivational-need sphere and are an important regulating factor in his life.

Values ​​in psychological understanding can be represented in two meanings:

  • in the form of objectively existing ideas, objects, phenomena, actions, properties of products (both material and spiritual);
  • as their significance for a person (value system).

Among the forms of existence of values ​​there are: social, objective and personal (they are presented in more detail in the table).

Forms of existence of values ​​according to O.V. Sukhomlinskaya

The studies of M. Rokeach were of particular importance in the study of values ​​and value orientations. He understood values ​​as positive or negative ideas (and abstract ones), which are in no way connected with any specific object or situation, but are only an expression of human beliefs about types of behavior and prevailing goals. According to the researcher, all values ​​have the following characteristics:

  • the total number of values ​​(meaningful and motivating) is small;
  • all people’s values ​​are similar (only the levels of their significance are different);
  • all values ​​are organized into systems;
  • the sources of values ​​are culture, society and social institutions;
  • values ​​influence a large number of phenomena that are studied by a variety of sciences.

In addition, M. Rokeach established a direct dependence of a person’s value orientations on many factors, such as his level of income, gender, age, race, nationality, level of education and upbringing, religious orientation, political beliefs, etc.

Some signs of values ​​were also proposed by S. Schwartz and W. Biliski, namely:

  • values ​​mean either a concept or a belief;
  • they relate to the individual's desired end states or behavior;
  • they have a supra-situational character;
  • guided by choice, as well as assessment of human behavior and actions;
  • they are ordered by importance.

Classification of values

Today in psychology there are a huge number of very different classifications of values ​​and value orientations. This diversity has arisen due to the fact that values ​​are classified according to a variety of criteria. So they can be united into certain groups and classes depending on what types of needs these values ​​satisfy, what role they play in a person’s life and in what area they are applied. The table below presents the most general classification of values.

Classification of values

Criteria There may be values
object of assimilation material and moral-spiritual
subject and content of the object socio-political, economic and moral
subject of assimilation social, class and values ​​of social groups
learning goal selfish and altruistic
level of generality concrete and abstract
way of manifestation persistent and situational
the role of human activity terminal and instrumental
content of human activity cognitive and subject-transforming (creative, aesthetic, scientific, religious, etc.)
belonging individual (or personal), group, collective, public, national, universal
relationship between group and society positive and negative

From the point of view of the psychological characteristics of human values, the classification proposed by K. Khabibulin is interesting. Their values ​​were divided as follows:

  • depending on the subject of activity, values ​​can be individual or act as values ​​of a group, class, society;
  • according to the object of activity, the scientist distinguished material values ​​in human life (or vital) and sociogenic (or spiritual);
  • depending on the type of human activity, values ​​can be cognitive, labor, educational and socio-political;
  • the last group consists of values ​​based on the way the activity is performed.

There is also a classification based on the identification of vital (a person’s ideas about good, evil, happiness and grief) and universal values. This classification was proposed at the end of the last century by T.V. Butkovskaya. Universal values, according to the scientist, are:

  • vital (life, family, health);
  • social recognition (values ​​such as social status and ability to work);
  • interpersonal recognition (exhibition and honesty);
  • democratic (freedom of expression or freedom of speech);
  • particular (belonging to a family);
  • transcendental (manifestation of faith in God).

It is also worthwhile to dwell separately on the classification of values ​​according to M. Rokeach, the author of the most famous method in the world, the main goal of which is to determine the hierarchy of value orientations of an individual. M. Rokeach divided all human values ​​into two large categories:

  • terminal (or value-goals) - a person’s conviction that the final goal is worth all the effort to achieve it;
  • instrumental (or value-ways) – a person’s conviction that a certain way of behavior and action is the most successful for achieving a goal.

There are also a huge number of different classifications of values, a summary of which is given in the table below.

Classifications of values

Scientist Values
V.P. Tugarinov spiritual education, arts and science
socio-political justice, will, equality and brotherhood
material various types of material goods, technology
V.F. Sergeants material tools and methods of execution
spiritual political, moral, ethical, religious, legal and philosophical
A. Maslow being (B-values) higher, characteristic of a personality that self-actualizes (values ​​of beauty, goodness, truth, simplicity, uniqueness, justice, etc.)
scarce (D-values) lower ones, aimed at satisfying a need that has been frustrated (values ​​such as sleep, safety, dependence, peace of mind, etc.)

Analyzing the classification presented, the question arises, what are the main values ​​in a person’s life? In fact, there are a huge number of such values, but the most important are the general (or universal) values, which, according to V. Frankl, are based on the three main human existentials - spirituality, freedom and responsibility. The psychologist identified the following groups of values ​​(“eternal values”):

  • creativity that allows people to understand what they can give to a given society;
  • experiences through which a person realizes what he receives from society and society;
  • relationships that enable people to understand their place (position) in relation to those factors that in some way limit their lives.

It should also be noted that the most important place is occupied by moral values ​​in a person’s life, because they play a leading role when people make decisions related to morality and moral standards, and this in turn speaks about the level of development of their personality and humanistic orientation.

System of values ​​in human life

The problem of human values ​​in life occupies a leading position in psychological research, because they are the core of personality and determine its direction. In solving this problem, a significant role belongs to the study of the value system, and here the research of S. Bubnova had a serious influence, who, based on the works of M. Rokeach, created her own model of a system of value orientations (it is hierarchical and consists of three levels). The system of values ​​in a person’s life, in her opinion, consists of:

  • values-ideals, which are the most general and abstract (this includes spiritual and social values);
  • values-properties that are fixed in the process of human life;
  • values-ways of activity and behavior.

Any value system will always combine two categories of values: goal (or terminal) values ​​and method (or instrumental) values. Terminal ones include the ideals and goals of a person, group and society, and instrumental ones include ways of achieving goals that are accepted and approved in a given society. Goal values ​​are more stable than method values, therefore they act as a system-forming factor in various social and cultural systems.

Each person has his own attitude towards the specific value system existing in society. In psychology, there are five types of human relationships in the value system (according to J. Gudecek):

  • active, which is expressed in a high degree of internalization of this system;
  • comfortable, that is, externally accepted, but the person does not identify himself with this value system;
  • indifferent, which consists in the manifestation of indifference and complete lack of interest in this system;
  • disagreement or rejection, manifested in a critical attitude and condemnation of the value system, with the intention of changing it;
  • opposition, which manifests itself in both internal and external contradiction with a given system.

It should be noted that the system of values ​​in a person’s life is the most important component in the structure of the individual, while it occupies a borderline position - on the one hand, it is a system of personal meanings of a person, on the other, his motivational-need sphere. A person’s values ​​and value orientations act as the leading quality of a person, emphasizing his uniqueness and individuality.

Values ​​are the most powerful regulator of human life. They guide a person along the path of his development and determine his behavior and activities. In addition, a person’s focus on certain values ​​and value orientations will certainly have an impact on the process of formation of society as a whole.

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What is important to you and what is it? Each person who is asked such a question will answer it individually. One will say that the most important thing in life is career and wealth, another will answer that this is power and status in society, the third will give the example of family, relationships and health. The list could go on for quite a long time, but we just need to understand that what is important to a person controls his actions. Based on what his priorities are, he will make friends, get an education, choose a place of work, in other words, build his life.

And the topic of this article is life priorities, or, more precisely, life values. Next we will talk about what they are, what kinds of values ​​there are, and how their system is formed.

What are life values?

So, a person’s life values ​​can be called the scale of assessments and measures with the help of which he verifies and evaluates his life. During various periods of human existence, this scale was transformed and modified, but certain measures and assessments were always present in it and continue to be present now.

A person’s life values ​​are absolute values ​​- they occupy the first place in his worldview and have a direct impact on which areas of life will be a priority for him, and what he will perceive as secondary.

What are the life values?

First of all, it should be pointed out that a person’s system of life values ​​can consist of several elements:

  • Human values
  • Cultural values
  • Individual values

And if the first two elements are determined mainly by people’s general ideas about what is good and what is bad, what is important and what is secondary, as well as the characteristics of the culture in which a person was born and raised, then the third element can be attributed to purely subjective worldviews peculiarities. Although in this case, something in common can be identified that unites the life values ​​of all people in general.

Thus, the general system of human life values ​​includes:

  • Health is one of the main values ​​in life, shared by many people and valued quite highly. But health can include not only spiritual well-being, but also social well-being, expressed in the absence of social crises in life. Particular attention is paid to indicators of physical and social well-being, which are reflected in external attractiveness and in attributes of social status, such as social status, possession of certain things, compliance with standards and brands;
  • Success in life is another value that has been held in high regard for a long time. Receiving is the key to a stable future, a successful career, availability and public recognition - all this is important for many people. But at the same time, the number of adherents of the so-called downshifting is also quite large - a phenomenon in which people who have already managed to achieve success and social status come to the understanding that they no longer have the strength to endure social pressure, retire from business and go into a simple life. in order to maintain peace of mind and integrity. Today, the skill of adapting to different conditions and circumstances of life and the ability to earn money without being hired are especially valuable;
  • Family remains one of the main life values ​​for people all over the world, despite the fact that today there is a tendency to refuse marriage, especially early marriage, refusal to have children, as well as the promotion of same-sex relationships. In addition, even the fact that in our time money can be used to obtain an endless number of sexual relationships and the appearance of love cannot be compared with the fact that a real family and the need for procreation are still significant for people;
  • Children - and here we can again say that, despite the propaganda of abandoning children (childfree), for the vast majority of people children continue to remain the meaning of existence, and the birth and upbringing of offspring turns into. And great importance here is given to the opportunity for a person to leave behind offspring as a trace, as well as the transfer of his life experience and the consolidation of his individual “I” in something that will continue to exist longer than himself.

Guided by all this, we can conclude that the system of people’s life values, which they are guided by throughout their lives, in most cases is represented by their desire for self-realization, and its transmission over time.

But, in addition to the listed life values, we can name a number of others, which are also very common:

  • Closeness with loved ones
  • Friends
  • Freedom of judgment and action
  • Independence
  • Work that matches your life purpose
  • Respect and recognition from others
  • and opening new places
  • Creative implementation

Differences in life values ​​and priorities are explained by the fact that people differ in. This suggests that your system of life values ​​is completely individual, but what matters most to you, and what you value as the most important thing in life, for someone else may mean absolutely nothing or nothing at all. absent from his value system. Although, of course, things that are significant for everyone, like moral values, have a place to be, regardless of where a person was born and at what time.

Now let's talk about how the formation of a system of life values ​​occurs.

Features of the formation of a system of life values

The system of life values ​​of each person begins to form from the first years of his life, but it is finally formed only upon reaching a responsible age, i.e. by about 18-20 years, although even after that it may change in some ways. The process of its formation itself takes place according to a certain algorithm.

Schematically, this algorithm can be expressed as follows:

  • Aspiration > Ideal
  • Aspiration > Goal > Ideal
  • Aspiration > Values ​​> Purpose > Ideal
  • Aspiration > Means > Values ​​> Goal > Ideal

However, subsequently, between all these points, another one appears - ethics, as a result of which the whole scheme takes on the following form:

  • Aspiration > Ethics> Tools > Ethics> Values ​​> Ethics> Goal > Ethics> Ideal

From this it turns out that first of all, the ideal and the very desire for this ideal arise. An ideal, which can also be called an image, if there is no desire for it, is no longer such.

At the first stage, which is most often instinctive, the ideal is neutral from an ethical point of view, i.e. it cannot be assessed in any way, and it can be formed in the form of a sensory-emotional substance, the content of which is quite difficult to determine. The meaning that is attached to the ideal is formed only at the stage of transformation into a goal. And only after this, reaching the third stage, the formation of values ​​occurs, serving as resources, conditions and rules for, which leads to the ideal. And the entire algorithm ultimately ends with the so-called inventory of the necessary and available means to achieve the goal.

Each element of the presented algorithm is extremely important, but you need to pay attention to the fact that the ideal, goal and means are formed and selected under the influence of not only needs, but also ethical norms, which seem to “filter” all stages of the algorithm. At the same time, ethical standards may exist in the human mind, as well as in the mass consciousness, representing the results of the action of previous algorithms, and therefore be perceived as “existing objectively.” In addition, they can also be formed as new ones, being conditioned by a newly emerged ideal and the corresponding algorithm.

The life of any person, as we have already mentioned, from childhood begins to obey this algorithm, and it does not matter what it concerns: the choice of a future profession, a loved one, political or religious views and actions performed. And here “ideals” play a special role, regardless of whether they exist in a person’s consciousness or in his subconscious.

To summarize, we can say that a person’s system of life values ​​is a fairly stable structure, despite the fact that it is subject to changes, both small and global. And a person’s awareness of his own system of life values ​​is the first step towards understanding his own.